Hello again, I may or may not have a problem on my hands. Well it was that time to change my spark plugs today with new Bosch Platinums, but when I took out the old crappy AutoLite copper ones that the last tune-up place put in, I noticed a lot of oil or something dripping from the electrode area. Is that normal or not? If it's not, what could it be? Thanks. Mark Light 1995 Ford Probe SE

Its possible the gasket on the cam cover is leaking. Id clean it off and check later to be sure. If thats it, you just need a new cam cover gasket. Take a peek down the spark plug wells and look for oil. I dont think its normal, didnt see any when we changed the plugs. Dedric Ramsey dedric@...

In response to the original question as well, This problem is not what you would call "normal". Dedric is right by saying that it is from a leaking valve cover gasket. I read on a Probe tech web site from some dude in the U.K. that a common problem with Probes is that the integrity of the valve cover gasket is easily lost after some time. This results in leaks that, in many cases, have caused oil to pool in the bottom of the spark plug wells. I noticed that when I was inspecting my 1994 Probe GT, I saw oil in the #1 plug well (and lots of it , too). This can cause misfiring if the oil depth is high enough to reach the electrode. On another note, you might want to check the torque of your valve cover gaskets. The v-covers on my car were leaking and I went to check how tight the bolts were and they were extremely LOOSE. This is probable cause of vibration. But it could've also been the negligence of the previous owners of my car. I tightened them up and it solved my oil leak, so you might consider SNUGGING the bolts down some; don't overtighten. Surf around to techie web sites that have to do with Probes and look for more data on this issue. Use the search engine "Dogpile.com for the most finds (just go there, it uses 20 other search engines for your query, you'll see). Dusty Douglas Dusty.Douglas@...