Big surprise when I changed the spark plugs today--oil on plugs 2-5 (left to right). They were well soaked, so much so that I wonder how the car had even been running. Check engine light has been on last two weeks, running a little rough, 60K on the plugs, so I thought I see if that would take care of it. Ran afterward, and I'm guessing a good highway trip is in order to clear things out. But it raises two questions for me:
1) Can the spark plug fire through oil/sludge like that? Was I running on 3 cylinders? Wouldn't the performance be unbelievably horrible with even one cylinder missing? Alternatively, was the oil pooled above the plug and just ran down as I loosened the plug and removed it? Now that I write that, it makes a lot more sense. May have just answere
2) I think the oil came from the filler cap gasket having been failed a long time. When I replaced it in August I took off the black cover over the coils and most of those little pockets and crannies in the aluminum were full of oil. No sign of it when I replaced the plugs today. So my question is if there are other ways for oil to get in the plug cavities like that.
Thanks for any help!
Car in question is a 2002 v70 XC, 178,000 miles
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