oily plugs

[tweaked]

Hello Everyone!

I little back story on the truck. She's a 58 Series 1 with a 2.0. About 3 years ago I blew some exhaust valves. At that point I broke the top end down and replaced the valves with new. While she was apart I had the head machined and ordered up all new gaskets. Once buttoned back up she was running well until about a year ago when I started fouling a plug on cylinder 1. It seems to have progressively gotten worse. It would sort of come and go. Fast forward to this past weekend, where we had some unseasonable weather in Rhode Island, I decided to take her out to stretch her legs. I ran down to the beach (5 miles), parked, and when I went to start her back up she was really struggling. I pulled the plugs in the parking lot and noticed they were pretty gunked up. I manged to get back on the road and made it back home without issue. Today I pulled the plugs again and took a few pics (see below). This time cylinder 1 and 2 were pretty much dripping. I'm thinking either bad rings or head gasket. Thoughts? Any help is always appreciated. Thanks- Kyle

[mearstrae]

Is it really dripping oil? Or is it gas, or antifreeze, mixed with carbon? If it's oil it could be caused by bad rings. Or lack of crankcase ventilation forcing oil around the valve seals. If antifreeze it could be the head gasket, a cracked head, or block. If it's gas, a choke or carb adjustment could be the problem. Seems strange that all the plugs seem affected to some point, usually only one cylinder is affected at a time by a ring problem, but not always. Check your compression to see if there's something there, a leak-down test for each cylinder might be in order. If all's well there, try a cooling system pressure test before turning any wrenches.

'99 Disco II
'95 R.R.C. Lwb (Gone...)
'76 Series III Hybrid 109
'70 Rover 3500S

[slowmo]

Yes on the compression test. It should answer any questions about the condition of the rings and/or head gasket. That said I wouldn't expect that uniform a look across the cylinders if blow-by is the issue. Nor if the head gasket is leaking.

It leads me to suspect something at the top end is allowing the oil into the cylinder. About the only thing I can think of is worn valve guides. Did you replace them when you put in the new valves?

Finally, check your oil level. If it is really high you might have the problem mearstrae describes.