Oil on plugs 2 & 6

[General Jack]

I have a nearly stock, well-cared for '98 cobra with 59k miles. I changed out the plugs last weekend and noticed I had some oil on plugs 2 & 6, including relatively fresh looking oil on the top (non-combustion chamber) side. Did a little research and I think it might be a leak in the valve cover gasket, but interesting to me that it was the second plug (front to back) on each side... coincidence?

Anyone have experience with this or other thoughts before I replace valve-cover gaskets?

 

[96dreamer]

If it's on top of the plug it's coming from the valve cover gasket. Nothing more to look into, no coincidence. Driver side can be a pain with the booster but passenger side is pretty straight forward.

 

[98 svt]

Yup, time for new VC gaskets. As mentioned above, driver's side can be a pain. I managed to get mine off without loosening or removing anything else though.
When it was time for me to do the VC gaskets, I removed the upper intake and crossover and had everything powder coated. I also removed and cleaned my IMRCs as well at that time. They have since been deleted.
There's a pic in there of my buddy trying to pull the crossover pipe off.

This was all back in 2010.

 

[boost88]

Repeating what they said. I used a dab of silicon to hold the gaskets in place too getting them back on can be a pain. As Paul said now is a good time to clean the imrc plates as well. Fairly easy process only takes about 30 extra minutes to get the intake off if that. And having the intake off makes the vc job much easier

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

 

[General Jack]

Awesome, appreciate the responses and guidance.

 

[General Jack]

Yeah, the valve cover gasket replacement is a royal pain. After close to 8 hours this weekend I've managed to get the driver's valve cover side off and I have no clue how I'll get it back on there with the gasket in place.

Passenger side fuel and AC lines appear to be an obstacle I'll have to figure out so I have that to look forward to lol.

I had to remove the upper intake, clutch cable and I unbolted the brake master cylinder/hydroboost apparatus but I'm not sure how much that gained me.

This job is much more difficult than I anticipated but its helping me learn the car so there's that I guess.

 

[01yellercobra]

Yeah, the valve cover gasket replacement is a royal pain. After close to 8 hours this weekend I've managed to get the driver's valve cover side off and I have no clue how I'll get it back on there with the gasket in place.

Passenger side fuel and AC lines appear to be an obstacle I'll have to figure out so I have that to look forward to lol.

I had to remove the upper intake, clutch cable and I unbolted the brake master cylinder/hydroboost apparatus but I'm not sure how much that gained me.

This job is much more difficult than I anticipated but its helping me learn the car so there's that I guess.

For mine I had to disconnect the heater lines at the firewall and tilt the engine up to get the valve cover past the A/C lines.

 

[General Jack]

For mine I had to disconnect the heater lines at the firewall and tilt the engine up to get the valve cover past the A/C lines.

How did you tilt the engine up?

 

[01yellercobra]

How did you tilt the engine up?

I put a jack under the bellhousing.

 

[PSUCOBRA96]

It only took me like 30 minutes to remove the driver side, you just gotta take your time and loosen a few things. It has been so long (over ten years) but I think the brake booster is what I loosened to get just enough clearance.

 

[General Jack]

Finished drive side last weekend, tackling passenger side this weekend. Will try the tilt to avoid AC lines.