Car won't start and oil in spark plug

Splyzer

Splyzer

Hey guys,

my car ran fine, then next morning went to use my car and she turned but wouldn't fire up.I did some basic checks, added fuel and charged the battery to no avail, when I checked the spark plugs the first one had a lot of oil in the well....I'm going to clean it out and try starting her again.

naturally I need to replace the valve cover gasket and have been informed it's not that hard to do, as i believe this is age related could/should i check or change any other gaskets? is there anything else I need to be aware of and any issues I could run into with the valve cover?
 
I assume the spark plug with the oil in the well is the one closest the oil filler cap .... that wont effect car starting anyway .....
Did you start the car .. move it a few meters and then turn it off again yesterday ?
If so you have the quirky mid 90s starting problem that effected many cars mercs included ....
Basically its flooded with petrol .... you can leave it for a bit and then try and start it .... as it seems you have tried ... ..... So can you smell petrol ?

if you can smell petrol .......
If that doesnt work sometimes you can hold accelertor pedal to floor and turn over for about 10-15 seconds and it will literally chug into life ... clearing the unburnt fuel ... DONT turn over for much longer than 20 seconds as it can stuff up the starter motor ..... and will drain the battery.

If it doesnt even try to fire .. ie just turns over with no firing sounds at all .......

Failing that it could be something failed like the coil .... but then you would need to read the flashing code from the ECU (dpending on what model you have ).... to see what its saying has failed ...
My coil failed years ago and turned over but wouldnt fire ..... read the flashing code ...said coil failure .... someone on here sent me a replacement distributor (coil built in) and fired on first turn of key ....

So if its not even trying to fire ... somethings disconnected or failed .... likely something cheap

Also when mine failed last time, someone mentioned the ignitionckey connections wiring can get loose and not make the ignition connection ... thus the car wont start ...


So let us know what year engine size and mileage it is and its easier to give some pointers....
 
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I would reckon the oil in the spark plug tube will have come from a failed oil seal that goes around the spark plug tubes. (glued into cam cover).

Provided yours has a distributor and is not coil pack. Its probably the distributor. Though as its easy to do, you may as well check the fuses.
 
Thanks Tony and Solarice, yeah it was the spark nearest the filler, I can also smell fuel thing is my cars a 1997 Nissan Micra shape aut with 53k miles, wouldn't trying to use the accelerator while starting cause more issues?

I got her to run rough for like 4 seconds after using the key on and off 6 times and cleaning the spark plug, other than that nothing.

I replaced the valve cover gasket but am thinking of doing it again because I used instant gasket lol a garage said it's easy and I could also seal the spark tubes with it....but to be fair I believe a proper gasket would have been 100x better.

I have checked all the fuses minus 2 under the bonnet as couldn't get them out they're the 2 block like ones bottom left hand corner...I think it's engine con and something else.

I'll take the battery off change and try your method....its weird though she was absolutely fine then the next day boom stubborn wife syndrome....could have been me starting her and not moving her every day before.

where is the ignition wiring located? maybe I loosened them when I attempted to change the radio for a cd player?
 
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Tony, I owe you a beer sir, something so simple! she fired up immediately! and I'm so darn happy, thanks again and to everyone who gave advice :D
 
Regarding the Cam cover .... there is nothing wrong with using sealant although a new gasket is always better as you dont get a load of sealant running about your engine .... so if you use sealant get a nice even layer and not on the edges that face the inside of the engine as it drops off and sails about in the engine ... blocks filters etc.
Always let it get a little dry before refitting ... which provides more tension/ better seal when tightening.
Why did you take off the cover ? I havent ever taken mine off .... 7 years and ummm 60,000 plus miles lol


Speaking of Gaskets I know a biker that never replaces a head gasket on racing bikes ........ he uses the original and sprays about 3-4 coats of primer on it and then reuses it...... never had a failure in his 40 years.

Regarding oil in plug hole ...... is it leaking from plug gasket ... or did you fill up oil and drip some in plug hole ? Be a shame to take cover off again if its sealed and all it was was splash of oil dropping down plug hole by mistake......


Finally holding the accelerator down is merely a trick to clear a flooded engine ... If you imagine when you hold the pedal flat to the floor the butterfly opens wide and the air actually pushes/sucks the fuel sitting in your cylinders out into the exhaust ... so after about 10 seconds it starts chugging back into life .... lots of black smoke and then is perfect !
The MISTAKE people make is they pump the pedal which forces more fuel in ... making it all worse..........So never touch the accelerator pedal unless it wont start and then you floor it and turn over for about 10 seconds keeping foot to floor .....
Also tends to work if you move the micra and switch off aka only running for 20 seconds ...which causes the "classic" flood :)

My 95 Merc did it as well ... just how the Throttles were designed in the old days lol

Obviously ONLY do the pedal to the floor trick if you can smell fuel, so know its a flooding issue.
 
damn mate you know your stuff lol it was the pedal to the floor...I'm more worried because it's a little messy on the outside gasket wise...A mechanic said it was most probably because of a leaking gasket..so I changed it lol but there was a fair bithe of oil in there including in the ht lead. I'll leave it and keep some in the boot incase the worst happens.

I've not had it long and awaiting my test so haven't fully serviced it yet.
 
With using the sealant though check this....in the engine on the left hand side there's to half circle gaps that normally when there's a gasketare filled with half circle bit of rubber...I cut them off my old gasket and sealed them in the holes....do you think that was a stupid thing to do? If you don't get what I mean I'll take a pic and show you lol....It was a real cowboy moment lol
 
Personally I would replace the gasket before you run it again .... if you have cut it .... oil seeping out slowly anywhere wont cause major issues as long as the engine doesnt run out or get low on oil ........ but if it does fail or if the oil ends up on a hot exhaust manifold and it likely will ... it will catch fire and if its in the plug wells that¬s a lot of fire !
So for safety sake .... get a new gasket .... and when you fit it make sure you follow the haynes manual ... use a torque wrench because if you strip a thread that`s expensive.

Its great your experimenting .... that`s how you learn ... but it can be an EXPENSIVE way to learn ... so haynes manual and torque wrench are essential .... and if your not sure ask BEFORE your cowboy moment ...... and lastly I had a cowboy moment and didnt use a torque wrench on thursday and that cost me £30 to drill out and repair the thread .... so we all do it ..... :)

Not sure what you mean by the half circles ... but if you cut the gasket or bits off it ... ... its fubar....... as its in one piece for a reason ... otherwise it would be supplied its bits hehe ... just laughing as you remind me of myself .... used to put mu bike in first gear, start it up and spin my bike wheel propped up on a broomstick and try to make more tread on the tire with a file lol .... the concept of there only being so much rubber seemed to escape me then :)

And make sure when you take the cover off you clean it up ... remove all bits you glued in .... make sure you clean off all the old sealant ....
Good practice with the cover off is to place some cloth in the oil well galleries so if you drop something by accident it doesnt fall into the depths of the engine .......... cos again i dropped an ally washer in my timing tunnel on the bike a few weeks back and being ally i couldnt fish it out with a magnetic stick ..... but lucky sod that i am i hooked it with a coat hanger .... you dont need stress like that lol
And when you put it back on .... dont over tighten it.... states 3 NM in haynes and you have to get the sequence right ..... 3 NM is bugger all and most torque wrenches dont register this low ...... use a screwdriver handle socket ... not a spanner or a ratchet because you will overtighten it using these ... and if you dont have screwdriver type .. just use a socket extension like a screwdriver .. and twist firmly but not like ivan the weightlifter.... you only have to compress the gasket slightly to attain a seal ...

Sorry gone on a bit ... vid here shows basic idea .. you need to put a smear of silicone on the half moon surfaces ... and check out how LIGHTLY its all done up ..... also use some sealant to put spark plug gaskets in place to stop them moving when your fitting ....

 
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lol cheers bud yeah I'll get a new gasket then...to be fair on my first bike, I cowboyed a lot and should have learnt my lesson it was just a "oh crap, I've put the sealant on and there's 2 big holes in the side of the engine and I looked at my old gasket and was like hell yeah, I'm a genius" after I was like why did I do that? that's not going to last haha.

I'll give her a good clean and then put in a new gasket and follow the manual...I'll have to invest in a torque wrench as I'll need one at some point anyway.

With sealing my spark tubes, they seem to have a tiny gap and not too sure where to put the sealant, I watched a video but on my vc it looked like a little gap so ill research that before doing it again.

Now a key question, I only have the one key for my Jenny and found out I can get them cut will the cut key be as reliable as my main key? or should I go to Nissan?
 
You need the round gaskets to go around the spark plugs ... if you have overtightened the cover you will have squashed these too much and will need new ones ..i suspect thats why one is leaking.. ... or you have dropped one on the floor ..... or in the top of the engine ... make sure you find all 4 ...... ... when you replace use a little smear of gasket sealant to hold them in place ...... also make sure you find the old ones as you dont want them washing about in the engine lol ... only one i saw on fleabay that offers the round gaskets was expensive .. hopefully someone else here might know where you can get some from cheap but i suggest you change the lot if you have overtightened it.... not worth killling the engine for the sake of £30 and its a good lesson learned :)
You also have to smear a little sealant around the half moons and about 10cm either side of the half moons

Gasket and spark gaskets can be seen here .... I am not sure this is for your car ... so please check before ordering .... i just wanted to show you the o seals

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rocker-Cover-Gasket-Set-Nissan-Micra-ELRING-457-040-/111402103207?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&fits=Model:Micra&hash=item19f01531a7

Torque wrench .... ideally you need 2 unless you buy very expensive ones that cover the entire range..... Im not minted enough lol

One to cover about 25NM to 100NM ..... this is the main one i suggest you invest in at some point.

One to cover 4NM to 30NM....... this is for the delicate jobs like the rocker cover (not used much on a car ... far more on bikes etc) .... but if you just use common sense you likely not need this one straight away ... , you can see in the video how the bolts are just slightly nipped up......

Keys ... being a later model than mine yours might have a transmitter built into the key ? .... worth asking in a new question or doing a search .... see i dont know everything :)
 
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