Spark plug problems...pics..

[Acorus]

So I've been having some problems recently with the car bogging a little. So, I changed the oil (need it anyway), did a nice sea foam(ing), and changed the spark plugs. (NGK V-Powers) While changing the spark plugs I saw that the first two cylinders were filled with oil. I'd say about 3/4 an inch full. So, I cleared out the oil, changed the plugs and ran the car. (oh, and at this point I noticed oil had managed to get onto the head.) So, I assumed the dip stick had come out a little bit, and thrown a little oil or something. (Hoped I guess) And so, a few weeks later I'm staring at these results....I've also noticed the strut bar above the wheel well is cut on the inside, pretty badly all the way around the bolt. Making the engine shake and idle pretty hard. Making me thing the head gasket is leaking..I'm just praying someone is going to tell me otherwise...





(oh, and I noticed the sleeves the spark plugs sit in on the first two have risen above the others for some reason. I've tried putting them down farther, but I don't want to force something I'm not sure of.)






Thanks for the help!

[jckevns]

Replace the rubber things on the VC. Can't remember excatly what they are called but they are little circular rubber things that go on the underside of the VC. They go around the opening that the spark plug wires go in.
As for the tubes beeing higher than the others, hammer them back down. Most likely when you pulled the wires out the tubes came with them a little bit.

[OB]

Well, oil sitting on the pistons usually means that the rings are bad and allowed the oil through from the crankcase. This is more common of higher mileage engines. A simple compression test will eliminate this possibility. If compression is good, there arent too many other ways oil could get into the cylinders. The valvecover could somehow be leaking, but even then it would have to get through the head via either the valves or the spark plugs to enter the combustion chambers.

A bad head gasket would likely result in coolant getting into the motor via the head rather than oil. Perhaps you mistaked the fluid for oil due to color? Keep in mind that 3/4" of liquid in a cylinder would likely result in hydrolock. That's a serious amount of oil if that is the case. The top of the pistons should be clean and relatively dry.