QuestionQUESTION: I have a 1990 Accord EX which suddenly began using oil about 2 months ago. There are no leaks, but the car ran good regardless of the consumption issue. Recently, it seemed like cylinder 3 stopped working all of the sudden. I replaced all plugs, confirmed spark as well as piston movement in all cylinders. I replaced all plugs and restarted it. It was still missing. So I pulled each plug wire one at a time while the car was running and noticed an expected idle change on all cylinders except #3. There was also quite a bit of oil on the plug in that cylinder as well as oil on the plug in cylinder 2 when I did the plug check/change. Someone suggested that it was likely a blown head gasket? However, the car is losing no water, nor do I notice oil/antifreeze mix in the coolant system or in the oil. Any suggestions on what this might be, or even if it is in fact a possible blown head gasket? I was told that a blown gasket would make the car run the way it is as well as use oil...
ANSWER: harry are there any leaks around the valve cover? If so then change the valve cover,make sure it has valve cover tube seals to, these tubes are for where the spark plug goes. This why you see oil on your spark plugs. Also just because the engine still runs the same even when you pull #3 does not mean you have a blown head gasket, Your wires could be bad ,may want to invest in set of wires first before you assume the worse. Let me know the results
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QUESTION: There are no leaks around the valve cover whatsoever. The previous owner had just had the valve cover replaced, as well as new plug wires installed. The reason he sold it was due to the sudden oil consumption and him not wanting to deal with any further repairs on it. Also, I replaced the cap and rotor as well as PCV valve when I initially acquired it back in January. I also have NOT had any type of compression tests done yet. I appreciate your help.
Answerharry if it has a lot of oil consumption, its leaking oil somewhere, you may want to look under the car ,the housing where the oil filter screws into is common for leaks too, to replace it the oring is about 3.00. If no leaks there, then your seals need to be replaced, it would be a good idea to replace the water pump and timing belt because they are all located in that same area.
