2001 Sunfire 2.2L

Looking at the engine whilethe engine was running, I noticed oil coming out and bubbling from the #4 spark plug hole while the plug is still installed the hole. Any ideas on what the problem could be would be greatly appreciated.


"Marriage is like insurance - you pay and pay, and get nothing in return." - Al Bundy

I had a similiar roblem on my 98 2.4,turned out the plug was bad



15.2@89mph 2.171 60ft. 9.830 1/8 R.I.P. "LULU"

replaced the spark plug with a new one, ran vehicle to operating temp, no oil leaks or bubbles. thanx, bro, for the info.


"Marriage is like insurance - you pay and pay, and get nothing in return." - Al Bundy

WTF??? A bad plug caused oil to bubble out of the cylinder?????

2.2 97 Cavalier......the "Crapalier"

Masin tenn wrote:WTF??? A bad plug caused oil to bubble out of the cylinder?????

I was thinking the same thing....

oil build up in/around the cylinder indicates a dead cylinder ... ie the cylinder is not firing (normally the excess oil is burnt the when the plug ignites the fuel )

yes oil in a cylinder is normal as the piston moves up and down the wall of the cylinder is coated in oil to both cool the engine and lubricate the piston rings

The most likely culprit of a dead cylinder is as followes (not in any particular order) a lack of spark (spark plug, spark plug wires, bad coil in the case of the 2.4 bad coil housing"distributor cap") and lack of fuel to that cylinder (usually a plugged injector)

and or a combination of lack of spark and lack of fuel in this case it is usually caused by a plugged injector and with no fuel to ignite the plug becomes coated in oil


my sister had a geo metro that was only firing on 2 cylinders (i would have noticed the lack of power immediately) she did not mention it for 3 months and by that time the crank was so chewed up by only 2 pistons firing we scrapped the car