Found something not so good

[Dan318-is]

removing and replacing my spark plugs and number 3 was covered in oil, all the others were fine

any ideas?

[smithy318i]

valve stem oil seals.
or cylinder rings leaking

[Dan318-is]

first one what is that

second one, Shit

[smithy318i]

The valve stems have an oil seal over the top of the valve guide.

[jonmsm]

Stem seals are the seals that are suppose to stop oil leaking from the head, where the cams sit, down the valve guides when the valves are moving up and down, into the intake port. if they are shot the oil will slowly leak along the valves and into the intake ports above the valve crowns and then be pushed into the cylinder by air moving past the valve.

Not sure which of the two it could be but certainly the stem seals are easy to sort compared to rings and you can probably do it yourself in a weekend. if it was pistons rings it is unlikely to just be ONE piston thats got badly worn rings. has the engine been rebuilt at all in the last 10k?

Jon

[Dan318-is]

no engine rebuild im pretty certain of that
i dont have tools to do valve stems myself if that is what it is

will my car run badly/get damaged??

how much will a garage charge?

[Jimbob]

either way it's a lot of hassle!

[Simon13]

it's none of that, it's the rocker cover gasket leaking into the chamber, cos they are centrally mounted in the head and sealed with an 0 ring per spark plug.

Has this problem with mine which caused random mis-fires, new gaskets jobs a goodun.

soak all the oil up with tissue paper stuffed down there, make sure theres no oil on the HT leads too

Are all your rocker cover bolts ok? 2 of mine had the threads stripped which was causing the leak as the cover couldn't be tightened down enough in that area. That is another stroy though!

[Simon13]

forget all that! the tip of the plug had oil on it?

[E30BeemerLad]

Does your car let out a puff of smoke when you start it up? that's usually a sign of valve stem seals as the oil seeps down the valve stem from the top of the head when the engine is off and gets into the cylinder, so when you start it, it burns the oil that has leaked into that cylinder.

Piston rings gone would usually show a symptom of smoke when you cain it and also when on overrun/ let throttle off and engine braking. Mine smokes slightly when I am at 6K revs +

Whichever one it is would be head off job, so by the time you have paid for headgasket and bolts plus other bits and labour, a garage will prob want Ԛ£300+ out of you to do valve stem seals, if it was just one set of rings you are prob into similar money. It would be daft not to do valve stem seals whilst the head was off anyway in the event it was a piston ring. This is assuming the reason for the oily plug is either of the above 2 reasons.

[korky63]

When you say covered in oil, do you mean the electrode? (inside the cylinder) or just the threads and outside of the plug? If so it could just be a leaking cam cover gasket letting the oil run into the spark plug hole...

Korky

[jonmsm]

Sorry, didnt read it properly, its on a 318iS so you have twin cams (i guess) and 16 valves, so your spark is in the middle of the head there so it could very possibly be just the rocker cover leaking oil into the plug slot which everyone else has said, which is extremely easy to fix. If its not the thread thats oily but the electrode itself im not entirely sure.

Good luck sorting it, I hope its an easy to fix

Jon

[Dan318-is]

theres no smoke when it starts i dont think

how hard is the rocker cover to fit does the head need to come off?

[Jimbob]

the rocker cover is bit that covers the opening of the head!! the seal between this is the rocker cover gasket, the thing Simon13 is saying to replace (had the same prob myself when i first bought my 318is)

[Jimbob]

Im glad you're asking the zone these questions and not your course tutor

[Dan318-is]

can u show me a diagram please

i took my head cover gasket off an it was already leaking tho an i didnt run it so was it already leaking

[Jimbob]

buy another gaket and put the rocker cover back on!!

[Dan318-is]

rocker cover = cam cover?

IM CONFUSED

[Jimbob]

[Martinaston]

Ever get that feeling someone is not suited for the job they do?


Work your way through here http://www.realoem.com/bmw/

[Dan318-is]

i live on that site

[Simon13]

so everyone is still none the wiser to your problem or if any of us have answered your query either

[Karan]

i think its either a craked head... this does happen on iS engines and mine did this when i had my iS

or possibly one of the gaskets that seals between the cover and head around the spark plug holes (these are rubber on the iS and not torqued that highly)

Karan

[Dan318-is]

karans sounds best so far

it is only one spark that has oil on it

[Jimbob]

the rocker cover is bit that covers the opening of the head!! the seal between this is the rocker cover gasket, the thing Simon13 is saying to replace (had the same prob myself when i first bought my 318is)

isn't that almost EXACTLY the same as what Karan said, but posted about 6hrs again, ffs mate fckin sort it out.

[Dan318-is]

jimbob calm down, didnt have my glasses on

if thats the case, and hes rite, why does only one spark have oil on

[Dan318-is]

and whats with insulting my lecturers??

[Karan]

jimbob calm down, didnt have my glasses on

if thats the case, and hes rite, why does only one spark have oil on

cos the i engine has a separate gasket around each plug hole... so only one is leaking probably

[Dan318-is]

perhaps its that then i was thinking of the rocker gasket im so fuckin confused all these gaskets

il look 2moro n let yal know the problemo

[Simon13]

as jimbob and myself have said now karan has said it and u notice at the 3rd person saying the exact same thing as said twice before

Are mine and jimbobs advice not good enough?! i'm not going to take offence if u think so

mate u are hard work and if u can't read what people are saying to u then, i'm certainly not going to bother anymore

[Karan]

some1 should post a pic.... this is getting very funny!

[Dan318-is]

funny 4 u guys im a fookin novice

jimbob an u have been gd help so far tho cheers

il take pics 2moro

[Karan]

can u take a pic of this plug for us please

[Dan318-is]

ye an il do some of the head too 2moro

[Richy325iTouring]

some1 should post a pic.... this is getting very funny!

no keep explaining its even funnyer

rocker cover camcover gagsets are the same thing

just different people use different names

whats this kid do in college again i think he might need a carear change