oil in spark plug recess on vauxhall corsa 1.2 16v T running on three cylinders possible fault?

Question

I have a vauxhall corsa 1.2 16v Treg and it is only running on three cylinders. I had it serviced and when the spark plugs were replaced there was oil in the spark plug recess on the number 1 cylinder. The car seems to be still running on three cylinders after the service. I wanted to know if that by the presence of oil in the spark plug recess this meant the piston was broken or if it was something simpler?

Answer 1

Where is the oil filler cap in relation to the plugs? Maybe some ran down to the recess, as for the misfire...faulty ignition coil? faulty plug? faulty lead? take them out ( the plugs) look to see if a bit burnt, the one that's not will have a fuel build up on it ...ln fact lots of reasons..good luck sorting the problem.

Answer 2

If there is oil in the spark plug recess it has either dropped on it from above or come out of the cylinder past it, (which is unlikely). If you had the car serviced and it is running on 3 cylinders when you got it back take it back to where it was serviced and tell them to find out why it is only running on 3 and if it was their fault to repair it. Compression test is advisable. There can be several reasons why one cylinder is not firing and without an inspection we can`t tell you the answer but it may be due to low compression or electrics. If the thing is still running a broken cylinder is an unlikely but possible answer, as I have suffered two cases in the last 40 years where a hole in the side/top of a faulty piston has caused pressure in the crankcase to blow oil out of the breathers after high mileage and spray a lot of oil absolutely everywhere, but your problem doesn`t seem to be as serious as that, I hope.

Wish you all the best, Bob.

Answer 3

Usually just a leaking rocker cover - very cheap & simple fix. If the oil's been removed, it doesn't explain why the car's still running on 3 cylinders though. Pull the plug leads off one at a time whilst the engine's running to check which cylinder is misfiring.

Answer 4

soonds like a leaking rocker cover