Oil in Cylinder Chambers

[Mike]

So I’ve still got that lawn ornament of a 99 Honda Accord 4cyl (190k miles or so) in my yard. Last time I checked in I’d just done an ECU swap but had fried the Main Relay. Put the new main relay in and started the car, seemed fine! Let it idle awhile then drove it in a big circle. Did OK for maybe a minute or two, then stopped and has never started again.

The immediate cause seems easy to diagnose: oil on the spark plug electrodes.* Pull the spark plugs out, clean them off, put them back in, crank it for a bit (it may catch a little) then pull them back out and they are covered in oil again.

Since two compression tests have come back roses, I’d suspect the problem is up top. But here’s my question: why all 4 cylinders? If leaky valve gaskets were the problem, for instance, how likely is it that they’d go bad in all 4 cylinders? Is there something else that could cause an oil leak in all 4 cylinders that’s a more likely explanation?

*If you remember, my previous problem with no start had been thick carbon build-up on the spark plugs electrodes, which was blamed on poor timing. It seems very possible to me the problem has always been this oil leak, but it’s somehow gotten worse.

EDIT: Where I had previously written “terminals” has been corrected to “electrodes”.

Topic

[Richard Kirshy]

Hook up a fuel pressure gauge.
Turn on the ignition and prime the fuel system.
Clamp off the supply and return lines to the fuel rails.
Turn off the ignition.
You should maintain pressure for 20-30 minutes.
If you see a sudden loss of pressure you got one or more leaking injectors.

[Mike]

Ok, interesting test!

I will need to find an adapter to adapt my regular fuel pressure test kit to this Honda, this may take a few days.

[Mike]

Update: I tested spark again yesterday, but in bright sunlight. I knew it was there, but I couldn’t really tell you how often it was firing. Relevant because I checked it again today (One guy asked me to see what color it was, yellow/orange or blue/white). Today’s overcast, and I can see clearly that I’m barely getting any spark. Tested all 4 wires, cranking it for about a full second, and saw only a few orange sparks. So I’m suspecting something with the distributor or igniter.

[Richard Kirshy]

Possibilities:
Cap, rotor, wires, coil
For weak spark

[Joseph C]

Orange spark is weak

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[Richard Kirshy]

In many cases.
But you should check the spark using this:

As I said:
Possibilities:
Cap: look for carbon tracking, cracks, burnt contacts
Rotor: Carbon tracking, burnt contacts
Wires: Cracking, arcing, loose or broken contact, damaged boots
Coil: Weak output
For weak spark

Might try spraying water on these components while the engine is running to see if moisture can affect the engine

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[Mike]

Got the HEI spark tester in. After testing around the distributor a few times, I get consistent, rapid blue-white spark at the 1 & 2 distributor points. Little or no spark (and which looks more orange) at the 3 & 4 distributor points.

Checked ignition coil just to see how it sparks, and it seems fine.

There is a little bit of oil inside the distributor cap.

So distributor likely should be replaced, but I’d like to understand what’s going on.

Edit: Did some more research…seems it’s possible for individual distributor towers (which I called “points” in the above) to go bad. Found a mitsubishi (OEM) distributor on ebay for $80. Hopefully that’s my ticket to a working car.

[Mike]

Got the new distributor in. installed it, and now no spark at all! Rechecked connections, fuses, tried it with both ECUs, and nothing. (And obviously this is different from the problem before. I had good spark on two towers. Now, no spark at all.)

This new distributor is the exact same shape as the old one, but I don’t think it’s a Hitachi. Still, came from a top-rated Ebay seller who claimed 500 sold. But, I’m sure it’s possible I got a bad one, however unlikely. I’m reluctant to open it up and check the coil inside, because, new. I’ve been searching for a way to test the thing without opening it up. Any ideas?

EDIT: Re-installed old distributor. Same old spark. new one must be bad.

[Author]

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