Oil in spark plug well, now won’t start

[jodene]

I have a 1990 Honda Accord LX F22A1 engine, 150k miles.
I discovered oil in the plug wells & like a dope I let it go inside the plug hole when I removed the spark plugs. I estimate maybe a 7 tablespoons of oil went into one of the holes (the one with the most oil) and a bit less in 2 more plug holes. I cleaned up the plugs & the car ran ok for maybe 5 minutes but then suddenly died. Coincidentally, I was spraying around the Electronic Fuel Injection hoses with carb spray to find vacuum leaks at the exact moment when the engine stopped. I was happy because I thought I found a vacuum leak (at the throttle body hose that connects to the MAP sensor) but to my dismay, the car never started again. I suppose it has something to do with the oil & not the carb spray, but I honestly don’t know. It cranks, but does not start.

I tried to clean the plugs & plug wires as best I can & will replace them as soon as I make sure everything is clean & will not foul up the new set of plugs & wires. After testing, I don’t seem to be getting sparks on any of the spark plugs. The PCV valve also had a lot of oil in it. The oil seems to have gone a lot of places & is keeping the car from running. Are there any other components I should check, replace, or clean out to get it to run?

Topic

[MARK FELDSTEIN]

Personally, I think we could use some additional info as to what precipitated all this including the oil around your plugs. Was the car misfiring initially, running rough, hesitating on acceleration? Were there any diagnostic codes or check engine light before you started checking for vacuum leaks?

Was that oil from a spill while you were adding it or was it coming from somewhere else?

I’m wondering whether you somehow overdosed your MAP sensor on carb cleaner and toasted the thing. So I’d definitely look for codes and check that with a volt meter if it gives you any indication of a problem code. If so, you can test the sensor with a VOM meter.

First test the connector. If that tests ok, remove the MAP sensor and test it. Here’s a good video that tells you how to do that using an VOM/VTM meter.

[college man]

You need to replace the spark plug tube seals. with all the
oil in the spark plugs you may have shorted the ignition.

[jodene]

Thank you for the reply, I’ll check the MAP sensor. Could an error there cause the car not to start?

I was checking the spark plugs & checking for any vacuum leaks bc the car was idling rough & the HC & CO% emmissions were high when under 25mph. There weren’t any check engine lights on.

no, I didn’t spill the oil. It was in there when I looked into the plugs. I don’t know where it came from, but these old hondas tend to need new seals.

[MARK FELDSTEIN]

I like CM’s theory as well on checking out your ignition module. I didn’t think of replacing the spark plug tubes but he’s got that covered well also. Keep us in the loop.
Mark

[jodene]

It was the ignition coil. Replaced it and it started right up. I was so unsure of what I was doing until I hit the igniter with a test light and it seemed to be working correctly, which pointed to the coil being the problem. Thanks everyone.

And thanks to the cops for ticketing my old car for not having tags anymore. If it wasn’t for them I would have just let it sit there another 6 months. Maybe I shouldn’t even pay this thing. What d’u think?

[Bill]

I dunno where you live but where I come from the Cops will haul your ass away when they catch up with you. Besides that when your tags are due you can’t renew until you pay the fine.

Glad you got it running anyway.

[college man]

Glad to hear it worked out.Thanks for the update. 🙂

[David]

Hello, longtime listener, first time caller..Junior’s ’97 Accord died on me the other day, found lots of oil in spark plug holes in cover. Great video on the lower o-ring replacement. Other than cover gasket, I’ve did more aggravating stuff. Question, His car has lots of blow-by. Seller said it had a new valve cover gasket(red flag). Shoulda checked for blow by then. Am going to remove oil from plug holes and check pcv, then give it a coupla weeks. So the oil is more likely coming from the lower o- rings than blow-by? Thanks 220 K miles

[anthony]

Hey guys little late to the party. 91 honda accord lx oil in the sparkplug holes on the valve cover. Going to replace the valve cover gasket asap. But why would oil around the valve cover cause a no spark issue? I have replaced the main relay the distributor new plugs. Went to start the car this morning and nothing. I highly doubt its the distributor after 4 months. It was 20 degrees outside. It ran fine the day before. Help please and thanks.

[Billy]

The high-voltage current grounds through the oil instead of across the spark plug electrodes.

[anthony]

So I removed the valve cover and replaced the gasket and well seals, replaced the spark plugs and cleaned the oil out of the wells. Still no spark. I replaced the ignitor and the coil and still no spark. I tried eric’s method to test spark at the coil while turning over. No spark. The distributor is about 3 months old. I am going to try a few more test. Any ideas whats causing no spark at this point?

[Michael Sackstein]

watch this video: https://youtu.be/9K78XIhhjAQ
there’s lots of things that can cause no spark. more often than not though, I always recommend using Honda oem parts when it comes to the ignition system. Eric emphasizes that strongly in a lot of his videos. The only exception to that would be NGK or Denso (I think) those 2 brands are equivalent to the oem quality parts. If you did that then make sure you go through all the steps that Eric outlines in his video. I believe Scotty Kilmer also has some tips and tricks as well in his youtube videos that might work. Hope that helps.

[Michael Sackstein]

same thing I told the other guy, watch this video: https://youtu.be/9K78XIhhjAQ

there’s lots of things that can cause no spark. more often than not though, I always recommend using Honda oem parts when it comes to the ignition system. Eric emphasizes that strongly in a lot of his videos. The only exception to that would be NGK or Denso (I think) those 2 brands are equivalent to the oem quality parts. If you did that then make sure you go through all the steps that Eric outlines in his video. I believe Scotty Kilmer also has some tips and tricks as well in his youtube videos that might work. Hope that helps.

[anthony]

I figured it out. The oil shorted out the ignitor in the distributor. The fix was a new 145$ distributor slapped it on and fired right up. 3 days of freezing cold temps working on it. Thankyou all for your help. Just wanted to make sure i posted the fix. When installing a new distributor be sure your aware of your spark plug wire configuration as mine was backwards after the distributor install. Online photos show multiple different options that are incorrect.

[Author]

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