Oil on Sparkplug?

[bnsmith1]

I changed the wires and sparkplugs on my 99 this past weekend but when I pulled the plug from cylinder #1 (I may have the number wrong but it was the one closest to the front) it had oil on the threads of the plug. How big of a problem is this? This was the only plug with oil on it. The car had been hesitating before I did the work but is funning fine for now. Is this something I could potentially take care of myself? Im not real experienced working on my car but I like to do the simple stuff when I can to save money.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[idrivemazda]

not to scare you or anything but this happened to my protege at first and i didnt do anything about it but later I ended up staving from oil and then engine went bye bye so i had to get a new one. What im trying to say is that get that check out ASAP!!!!

 

[MiaTurbo]

2 possibilities:
1 (most likely): you need to replace the valve cover gaskets. There are 4 o-rings that go in the cover that seal the spark plug hole. They leak, and oil drips down. if the plug isn't tight or the oil is leaking bad, the oil could work itself down the threads and foul the plug.

2: cylinder #1 is burning oil.

It's hard to say with out looking at the plug, but if the oil is wet, most likely it's scenerio #1








BTW, what's up with all these new accounts with 1 post coming to ask a tech question? Introduce yourselves...