Dear Tom and Ray:
I have
a 1987 Honda Civic wagon.
Over the last few years I've
had the valves and
rings
replaced, oil seals
replaced, head checked for
cracks, and maybe more. I
can't remember. But the same
problem keeps popping up.
The number four spark plug
gets fouled with oil, and
the car starts to run like a
choo-choo train. If I take
out the plug, clean it or
replace it, the car will run
fine for a few days, then it
happens again. What's your
diagnosis? -- Cynthia
Tom:
Gee, Cynthia. If I had to
guess, I'd say you have a
bad number-four intake
valve guide.
Ray:
The valve guide is the
sleeve through which the
valve stem slides when the
valve opens and closes.
Tom:
And that valve guide (and
the seal that surrounds it)
is supposed to keep the oil
at the top of the engine
from getting inside the
cylinders. If the oil does
get inside a cylinder, it
can do. . . what? Foul the
spark plug! And that's what
I think is happening.
Ray:
This assumes, of course,
that the ring job you had
was done correctly -- or
done at all. Because a car
in need of a ring job could
also foul the plugs.
Tom:
But if the rings are good,
then I'd look for a bad
valve guide (or if you're
really lucky, just a bad
valve guide seal), Cynthia.
The guide will cost you
several hundred dollars to
replace. Or, alternatively,
pick yourself up a good
spark-plug wrench and a
family-size bucket of spark
plugs.
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