Plugs changed and now Blue Smoke

[nigt4003]

I changed out my spark plugs today and put everything back together, except this time I noticed I had smoke coming out of the tailpipe and it smelled of oil. I've heard recommendations from people on Facebook about getting the valve cover gasket replaced. There was only 1 plug that was swimming with oil, the others were dry. The one plug is on the drivers side closest to the drivers seat. I believe this is a common one? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I want to get back to driving!

[PaulZ370]

No common problem. Blue smoke is indicative of oil bypassing the rings on your piston and burning up during the ignition stroke and getting exhausted during the exhaust stroke This has nothing to do with your changing the plugs or the valve cover gasket. In my opinion, it seems to me that you have worn rings on the piston in the one cylinder where you found the soaked plug. This will unfortunately require repairs to the Engine itself, ie: taking it apart and replacing the worn rings on the piston(s). Not a simple remedy...

[sportsman2003]

If I am reading this correctly your plug was wet on the top right ( coil side)?
not wet on the electrode? If there was oil from the valve cover in the spark plug hole when you removed the plug naturally some oil drained into that cylinder.( causing blue smoke now ) The car should be okay to drive but you may want to get the parts together to stop the leak.

Also the smoke will stop once the small amount of oil burns out of that cylinder.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by sportsman2003

If I am reading this correctly your plug was wet on the top right ( coil side)?
not wet on the electrode? If there was oil from the valve cover in the spark plug hole when you removed the plug naturally some oil drained into that cylinder.( causing blue smoke now ) The car should be okay to drive but you may want to get the parts together to stop the leak.

Also the smoke will stop once the small amount of oil burns out of that cylinder.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by PaulZ370

No common problem. Blue smoke is indicative of oil bypassing the rings on your piston and burning up during the ignition stroke and getting exhausted during the exhaust stroke This has nothing to do with your changing the plugs or the valve cover gasket. In my opinion, it seems to me that you have worn rings on the piston in the one cylinder where you found the soaked plug. This will unfortunately require repairs to the Engine itself, ie: taking it apart and replacing the worn rings on the piston(s). Not a simple remedy...

Not OP's issue. Oil around plug went into the cylinder when he removed the plug. Causing the blue smoke. Common problem when the valve cover seal at the spark plug hole starts to leak.

You can also get blue smoke from bad valve seals and guides. Also from a bad pvc valve. Older transmissions that use a vacuum modulator. When the modulator goes bad. It can suck up transmission fluid. Causing smoke. Older GM's were great for this.

[PaulZ370]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Not OP's issue. Oil around plug went into the cylinder when he removed the plug. Causing the blue smoke. Common problem when the valve cover seal at the spark plug hole starts to leak.

You can also get blue smoke from bad valve seals and guides. Also from a bad pvc valve. Older transmissions that use a vacuum modulator. When the modulator goes bad. It can suck up transmission fluid. Causing smoke. Older GM's were great for this.

Yeah, I thought the electrode was covered in an oily film. I did not understand from OP's write up that it was on the coil side. If that is the case, then I agree with Rusty's explanation above.

[nigt4003]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Not OP's issue. Oil around plug went into the cylinder when he removed the plug. Causing the blue smoke. Common problem when the valve cover seal at the spark plug hole starts to leak.

You can also get blue smoke from bad valve seals and guides. Also from a bad pvc valve. Older transmissions that use a vacuum modulator. When the modulator goes bad. It can suck up transmission fluid. Causing smoke. Older GM's were great for this.

Thank you for explaining this, I am going to have a compression test done anyways just to be safe and make sure the rings aren't ******. Appreciate all of the input guys!

[nigt4003]

Originally Posted by nigt4003

Thank you for explaining this, I am going to have a compression test done anyways just to be safe and make sure the rings aren't ******. Appreciate all of the input guys!

Everything's fine, just a bit of oil slipped in from when the plugs were swimming. It's all burned out of the system now and has been great! Thanks for everyone's help!