SO Much For a Quick Plug Change

[fullofvenom]

Thought I would have a nice easy time of swapping my plugs last night until I open a whole new can of worms. The first cylinder I pulled was #6 and I found a nice puddle of f***ing oil sitting in the plug hole. I guess the seal on the plug is shot. I've got the whole thing ripped apart now. I figure its best to just replace all 8 of those suckers. I'm kind of glad I didn't get through 7 of them to find that I hade to rip the whole thing apart anyway.

The only bright spot is that I planned on removing the intake assebly to clean the IMRCs sometime soon. Now seems like the best time.

Question about gaskets. I've read many threads that say they reused the old gaskets. I know they are pretty well designed (for once) on the DOHC motor, but should they be replaced anyway since I've got it apart?

Also, do the fuel rails need to be removed?

Thanks!!

 

[Mac25]

Same issue here. Seems this is becoming a common issue for most of us. I picked up the vlave gasket and 4 of the spark plug gaskets from ford. They had to order them, only took a day to get here. I figured if its leaking I would replace them just in case.

http://www.svtperformance.com/forums/showthread.php?t=198761

 

[RioRed4v]

smething here on my passenger side, just havent got around to fixing it yet.


i helped a buddy with a 98 cobra replace his passenger side gaskets since he had the same problem as well. its not overly hard.

we just removed the intake tube, the tb, and then the valve cover. it took a bit of work to get the cover since they are so large, but it wasnt overly hard. getting the new gaskets to stay in place while put the cover back on is the "fun" part. overall, its not to hard, just time consuming.

 

[BPA]

that sucks

 

[fullofvenom]

I had no luck with getting the gaskets right off. Seems noone stocks them. Even made the mistake of trying the dealer, what a waste. Sounded like I was being a pain int he ass to him just asking to check the computer to see. I'm glad they didn't have them cause it would have been 2X as much. I ended up getting the upper and lower intake gaskets too. Should be interesting to see how the runners look with 75K on them.

 

[fullofvenom]

I had no luck with getting the gaskets right off. Seems noone stocks them. Even made the mistake of trying the dealer, what a waste. Sounded like I was being a pain int he ass to him just asking to check the computer to see. I'm glad they didn't have them cause it would have been 2X as much. Bastard. I ended up getting the upper and lower intake gaskets too. Might be in tomorrow, if not I have to wait til monday. Should be interesting to see how the runners look with 75K on them.

I was getting a slight bog at some RPMs. I'm wondering if the oil in the hole was the problem. Guess I'll see.

 

[98 svt]

my car has oil in one plug hole. is it actually damaging anything?

 

[Mac25]

Fullofvenom- good luck to u. I replaced the gaskets. Taking it off was no problem. Getting them back on took a bit more skill. I am still having the same "bog" issue in higher gears. Car starts to shake and all...hope this fixes your issue.

 

[fullofvenom]

Thanks Mac. I finally got the intake cleaned up and put back together. The valve covers were a b**ch to get off. Man. The driver's side was really tight taking off. Not sure what its going to be like getting them back on. I still haven't got my gaskets yet. Looks like Monday she'll be back on the road.

The IMRCs were filthy. I'm glad I went all the way while I had it open. WEnt through a ton of cleaner, but the whole intake system looks nice and clean. The intake gaskets were in great shape so I'm going to reuse those. I didn't want to wait for ever to start putting it back together, so I did the intake cleaning and reassembly.

I can't wait to crack it open to see what it runs like. Should be a bit different.

The plug that was submersed in oil could not have been firing. It looked to clean compared to the others. Does oil conduct eletricity??

Also noticed that the valve cover was leaking on the driver's side exhaust manifold/pipe. Hope I can get that gasket and cover on nice and tight.

Its a heck of a lot of fun and enlightening doing this sort of stuff. I really glad I have the time (and another ride so I can leave the Snake in the garage) to do something like this. These cars are an awesome piece of engineering!!!!

 

[sLOWDOHC]

I wish I had another car, not so sure this is something I can knock out bymyself in a day. It really needs to be done, though.

Be sure to keep us updated.

 

[Mac25]

It took me about 3 hrs and I was taking my time. Mine were easy to get off though, too easy :shrug: Getting them back on took some skill and patients.

 

[sLOWDOHC]

Im no mechanic. Ive did everything up to this point with my fathers help. Hes now 800 miles away. One day when I can get off early have the next 2 days off, I might give it a try. Half of my tool box is still here at home anyway...

 

[fullofvenom]

I wish I had another car, not so sure this is something I can knock out bymyself in a day. It really needs to be done, though.

Be sure to keep us updated.

haha, yeah, I'm on day 2 (totalling about 5 hours). I'm taking my time and making sure I don't f*** anything up. Got about another 1 1/2 or 2 to get it all buttoned up.

There's no way I could go from start to finish in 3 hours.

 

[Mac25]

That was just for the valve covers. :banana: Total about 5 hrs with taking all the other stuff off and back on.

 

[COBRASVT]

my car has oil in one plug hole. is it actually damaging anything?

ONe of mine has been leaking since I bought it in 01....have yet to fix.

 

[fullofvenom]

Finally finished up the project last night. One thing is for sure, the driver side valve cover sucks. Way too tight in there. Luckily, I was able to get it on though.

She fired right up. Ran a little rough at first with a little smoke out the pipes, probably because I cleaned the internals a bit. The oil from the heads that leaked ont he exhaust minfold was scraing me a first (my wife too). First thought was "get the fire extinguisher", but the oil burned off and the fog cleared.

Took it for a spin and I must say, whatever I did solved the problem. Could have been the IMRC clening or the new plugs, don't know. Also cleaned up the plug wires (especially the one that was laying in oil). It ZOOMS right up to 6K with no bog down and plenty of go. I'm happy as a pig in shit right now. Maybe more so because the damn thing actually works after I stuck my hands in it!!!