OK I changed my sparkplugs yesterday and found something unusual. I've never changed my sparkplugs since I bought the car so I thought I would. Well when I took the sparkplugs out of the engine, cylinders 2, 3, and 4 all had motor oil on the ends. But cylinder one did not. Is this normal or what are the options that are wrong?? I can use any help here please. How bad is this problem?? My car does smoke alot and it backfires quite a bit or spits, not sure how to describe it. Thanks for everyones help.

 

plug seals on the valve cover, common and fairly easy/cheap.

 

Yeah if there is oil on the part of the plug that is in the head then you have a problem.There should be no oil in the cylinders.

 

Chances are if he is leaking oil into the cylinder, it wouldn't be reconizable on the plug as oil....the plug itself would be discolored, and you would be shooting blue smoke out your exhaust (it would be noticed as a James Bond style smoke screen behind you).

The valve cover seals are leaking. This is an easy fix, just replace them (consult a manual)

As for your smoking problem (if the seals do not stop the problem), obvious culprets are, valve train, headgasket, other stuff <---anything else get rid of the car/engine while it still runs.