Oil in the spark plug 4.4 v8

There is Oil in the number 1 spark plug right bank and it is causing my car to smoke from the right side exhaust.

It seams as if the oil is there on the tip of the plug without running down the outside of the threads, it has a compression of 150psi and the one next to it is the same.

Has anybody els had this problem? Or any ideas?

I am going to change all the seals and gaskets this week to see if it makes a difference. but I dont think it will as it seems to be internal.

I have been told it may be the valve stem oil seals or a blocked cat, I have checked the oil seperator and it seem fine.
Also, what oil should I be using?

Cheers

Mac

PS Checked the coil and changed the plugs, the oil is getting onto the spark plug tip from the inside.

valve stem?

valve stem oil seals????

God knows, all i do know is that the gaskets have all been checked and the oil is coming from the inside.

That is what LR dealers said to me.

Cheers

Mac

one big sign of vavle stem seals is a cloud of black smoke on start up, but tends to clear.

Mine is like grey smoke, stinks of oil and puffs out every 5 mins.

We have checked all the main parts but no luck.

Mac

Hi mac,
Just wondering about an old post u had 8 years ago! Did you ever get to the bottomof the problem on your 4.4 v8 with oiling the plug. I just have one doing exactly the same thing! Any help would be appreciated! Paul

He hasn't been on this site since 2008....

The only things that should be in there are air and fuel so if it's definitely oil and not unburnt fuel it can either go up past the piston rings hence the compression test or down past the valve stem oil seals but as already mentioned, the valve stem oil seals tend to leak oil when engine is not running and then burn it off with a puff of smoke when first started.
If it's unburnt fuel it could be coil or plug I guess which you can test by swapping components around with other cylinders or could be other electrical issues leading up to the coil.
Do you have any diagnostics?

Hi holiday children, thanks for the reply. I'm going to do a compression test today. The only time it really smokes at all is for the first 30 seconds or so after start up, then stops smoking. I had thought originally maybe valve stem seals, but I was confused as It always remains partly off that cylinder, even after a long drive, which I suppose shouldn't if it was stem seals. Yea, I have diagnostic equipment, It shows codes for cylinder 4 misfire and o2 sensor bank 1 sensor 2 open heater circuit.

The downstream sensor won't cause a problem but the misfire is the cylinder you have the oily plug in ?
What do you mean by it remains partly off that cylinder ?

holidaychicken said:

The downstream sensor won't cause a problem but the misfire is the cylinder you have the oily plug in ?
What do you mean by it remains partly off that cylinder ?

Click to expand...

Up early luv.

Not been to bed yet sweetheart!!

Yea, the misfire is definitely in the cylinder that is oiling the plug its number 4 on the left side rear bank. Its partly off that cylinder as when I lift the coil pack up off the plug when the engine is running it does effect the run of the engine slightly, but if I lift the one beside it up on a cylinder that is running ok, it has much more effect. So it must be firing partly on that oiling cylinder, just not correctly though. I'm having a friend with a borescope look down into the cylinder tomorrow to see if there are signs of scoring on the bore from an oil control ring, or for oil running down the stem of the valve into that cylinder. I'm slightly concerned about the possibility of a slight bend in a con rod, I know some of those 4.4 v8 could have taken a gulp of oil into number 4 cylinder if the breather hoses from the rocker cover became perished, and I see someone has replaced both breather hoses recently! ahhhh!

hmm, worrying times, you could always swap a coil pack and plug with the one next to it to rule out those two items but see what the compression test comes back with. if the bores gone then there isn't a lot you can do with the engine apart from turn it into a v7...