I had trouble starting my engine a couple times now. (For those that don't know I am only about 400 miles into breaking in my self-rebuilt engine) Last Sunday it acted like it had either bad gas or wasn't fireing, but with a little throttle it finaly started and ran normal after that, even after shuting it down and starting back up. Monday I was sick and never started my truck and sure enough this morning it did the same, though this time it had trouble idling even after it warmed up. I was able to drive it to work (about 35 miles on the highway) but then after work I couldn't get her to fire even with the throtle open. I could smell gas and was getting sparks through the wires, so that's when I pulled the #4 plug. It was covered in oil! Now there is no visible leak on the exterior of the engine so I pulled the #6 plug and it was even worse. After cleaning those two up a bit I put them back in and was able to get it to startup with a little gas. It is not billowing out smoke when it starts just some faint puffs and they stop as soon as it beigins to idle. I'm not noticably losing any oil so far either. After I got home I checked it again and nothing but a good looking fired plug.

Basically this is what I can figure out:
There seems to be a build up of oil on the plugs when the engine sits after running. What could be causeing this?

 

do a compression/leak down......

 

leaky valve seals? I just replaced mine. (Not too hard a job on a 22re). Don't realy know how hard on a v6. Did you change those when you rebuilt it?

 

I had a shop machine the heads, and do a full valve job. That is the only part I can't put my own seal of approval on. I hope that's not the case, because I have liitle patience with shady work. They will be pulling the heads at their own expence...

 

I think I have a compression tester, but I have never done one before. What kind of things should I be looking for?

 

hehe on your motor i'm not really sure...i'd GUESS look for compression around 130-150 (someone chime in if those are low)...all the cylinders should be about the same +- 5%

 

Let me go give it a shot... Anyone chime in here, though as I will be checking this board as I work!

 

MF!!! It seems that the #4 and #5 cylindars are both low on pressure. Only about 111 and 115. Does this mean bad valves?

 

Actualy I am not sure about my theory anymore... Wondering about rings that did not seat correctly. When I tried to do the 30-50 mph runs I had a bad catalytic converter and it was very underpowered. I just tried running it again (it is running rather well now) and did a few 30-50 mph runs. I will check the plugs in the am and see if oil is pressent, then update.

 

could be spark plug gaskets, same thing ahppened in my integra,

 

If that is the case, where is the oil coming from to cover the electrodes and no threads?