79 - check out the spark plug
 

Decided to pull one just to see what it looks like. Any comments?? I think I'm going to do a compression test while I got everything pulled off. Can't remember a few things. I'm guessing I should pull the fuel pump relay, pull out all spark plugs, hook up one cyclinder and hit the starter for a few cranks??? Am I missing anything?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1239158853.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1239158936.jpg

That looks like burnt oil. Yeah, compression check will give you a better idea of whats going on.

oil in air cleaner box
 

I snapped a pic of the air cleaner when I first took it off. I found a bit of oil laying there. It seems as though the crackcase might be vented to the air cleaner. I'm guessing this much may not be normal, but I don't know how long it was like this either. Could this be part of the deposits on the spark plugs? Had an old volvo that was so bad I had it go into a plastic oil can. Any suggestions?

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1239227809.jpg

Finished up the compression test. Here are the values:

FRONT OF ENGINE
115 125
125 120
125 115
130 120

Don't know how accurate of readings I was really getting so this is the ball park. Tried to test each one with the same number of cranks. Any one have the specs for the engine to know if I am in the correct range? Any comments?

Also, you won't believe what I found. I was trying to test one of the cylinders and couldn't get the comression tester in the plug hole. Thought I had stripped it because it only went in a few turns. Got the spark plug and same thing...only went in a few turns. Heart sunk a little. Also noticed 3/4 of the threads on the spark plug looked brand new. Got a light and looked down the hole and 3/4 of the hole was full of junk. This plug hasn't been all the way in since who knows when. I rigged up a pick and painstaking chased the threads from top to bottom...took me a few hours because of where the hole is. In the end, I was able to get the spark plug to go freely all the way to the bottom. Can't believe the thing didn't shoot through the hood.

Anyway thanks for all the help so far.

Some oil residue in the bottom of the air box seems normal. The crankcase is vented there via the air/oil seperator. How much should be there is hard to say. I had a lot in there when my cat was clogged, less once I fixed that and even less now that I have a baffle installed under the oil can to help prevent oil from being flung back into the can from the flywheel counterweights.

I've asked about compression tests before and if you were doing that with a cold engine, those are not out of the normal range from what I was told. One of the main things to look for is consistency and you seem to have that.

Good catch on the spark plug threads, that could have been a real mess.

Those are platinum plugs. Get regular plugs and you will have less problems.