94 Trooper Plug change problems

johnfitz

I recently purchased a 1994 Trooper S. I don't know much about it's condition so I've been gradually changing out the easy stuff - filters, etc. Tonight I went after the spark plugs.

I pull the first one and it is dripping oil. All told, 4 of the 6 are dripping, the other two are a little cleaner but still have oil. I figured I have to change the valve cover gaskets. Maybe a stupid question but, there isn't supposed to be oil in the plug chambers right??

Second question - If the chilton and the numbers on the coil packs are both right, this thing shouldn't be running. Anyone know where I can verify the numbers of the cylinders and the numbers on the coil packs? According to coil packs, from left to right, the first has no numbers, the second shows 3 in front left and 6 in rear right, the third shows 4 in front left and 1 in rear right. Chilton shows Left side of engine front to back = 2-4-6 and right side = 1-3-5 so if correct, the wires were connected (coil-cylinder) 1-2, 4-3, 6-5, 3-4, ?-1, ?-6. I'm baffled. I wish I could put up a picture but don't know how.

Lastly, I bought Bosch Platinum +4 but keep thinking of taking them back for NGK, Any advice before I put them in ( assuming I can solve the oil issue). Thanks for all your help.

Oh yeah, plug wires are dripping oil too, can I clean them or do I need to replace. Any other thoughts? Thank You.

johnfitz

I thought of a couple things I forgot. I thought with all the oil I saw in the plugs, I must be losing alot but the dipstick showed it down only half a quart. I smelled it and it either has fuel or some kind of cleaner in the oil. It has a strong chemical or gas smell, it's hard to tell. I had a service done at Sears about a month ago and they put in high mileage Valvoline. Would this be related to the oil in the plugs or point toward something else? Would the high mileage Valvoline have something in it that would smell that way? If I can solve this all, would I need to change out the oil and filter? Thanks again.

tidester

Oh yeah, plug wires are dripping oil too, can I clean them or do I need to replace. Any other thoughts?

Yes, my thought is "Where is that oil coming from?"

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

johnfitz

There is oil pooled up on top of the plugs and they sit down in the valve covers so there are seals in the valve covers around the plug holes I think that must be leaking. The oil is all over the threads and all over the ends as well so I'm thinking it must be seeping down through the spark plug holes. However, the gas smell in the oil makes it seem like there must be bad rings letting gas and oil go where it shouldn't. I don't know if the oil could be coming through the cylinder and up through the spark plugs to get on top of them. Probably both. I think the engine is the 3.2 but I'm not sure how to tell. The chilton shows pictures for the 3.2 that don't look like mine. For one thing, the chilton shows coil packs on each spark plug and I have the 3 side by side coil packs up front with wires to the plugs.

dannyq

Does anything have to be removed to change the sparks plugs?