Pontiac Repair: Throttle plate & bore, oil seepage, combustion chambers

Question
QUESTION: Todd
Tuned up '97 grand am SE, 2.4L, 4 cyl except for throttle plate and bore. Thought I knew where they were but can't find them. Where located? Thinking it's beside the power steering reservoir but can't tell how to access plate. Thanks so much, Don

ANSWER: Hey Don:

The throttle plate is when the air eneters the engine. The the hose off between the engine and the air filter. there are 2 bolts and a hose clamp that hold the air assembly on the throttle body and the 2 bolts attache it to the top of the engine. then use an air inatke cleaner or carb cleaner to clean the bore and plate.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Todd
Thanks for the input about how to find throttle bore. Never would have found it.

Meant to tell you that when I pulled the coil cover to replace spark plugs, there was some oil all along the head, from cylinder 1 to 4. Not much, maybe ½ teaspoon if you scraped it all up. There was oil on the threads of #4 plug but plug wasn’t fouled. All plugs still pretty good shape. No other plugs had oil. Couldn’t see any obvious leaks & everything appeared tight & sealed. Compression is good when drive(haven’t checked with gauge), no smoke from tail pipe, no smoke when travelling 30-40 mph and kick it open like trying to pass a vehicle. Is that oil normal or an impending sign?
Thanks so much.  

Answer
That oil seepage is kind of normal. It'; from the gaskets on the cam carriers. I'm sure when you took out the bolts that hold the coil cover to the engine ther was oil on the threads That's considered normal especially if this enegei nhas a lot of miles on it. The oil you saw was leaking externally not into the combustion chambers. It's nothing to worry about unless it starts to actaully leak out oil and not just seepage.. If it leaks worse the cam carriers will need to be take off the cylinder head and that is a big job. Good luck.