HELP! oil in cylinders :( Options

[5S-GTE]

so the other day i pulled the plugs out of my 1997 celica's 5s-fe and looked at them and found some oil on the one in cylinder 2 and ALOT of oil on the one in cylinder 4

im wondering what possible causes there are for oil to be in only cylinder 2 and 4 ..

[Spectorious]

deffinitly not in the correct place to be posting this question...but idk one of my plugs was oily when i took it out one time..car still runs though

[blu94gt]

Was the oil in the cylinders, or in the spark plug tubes? If it's in the spark plug tubes then you just need to replace your valve cover gasket. If you're accumulating oil inside the cylinders in heavy amounts, well you have bigger issues.

[playr158]

spark plug tubes (as previously stated) valve cover gasket is likely

inside the cylinders, sitting on top of the piston, valve seals/guides or piston rings

[5S-GTE]

ya the car still runs fine for the most part.. it just has a puff of blue smoke on start up then clears right up..

thanks for the tips.. ill double check on if it was just from in the tubes tomorrow, i just remember when i pulled plug 4 it was actually DRIPPING oil

im hoping that its just a valve cover gasket.. not a head gasket or the valves or rings dont wanna rebuild the motor just yet as i dont have the money..

[5S-GTE]

replaced the valve cover gasket today and the tube gaskets.. those were pretty old and crusty looking.. so im hoping that that fixes the oil prob!! ill keep updated and tell ya if its all cleared up!

[Soulend]

my father (eventually passed it down to me) ran our car (also a 97 but an ST) for several years with a similar problem... it eventually started billowing out smoke... eventually this happened: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTWFLFDgtow

so if you are having oil in your cylinders I'd suggest looking into at least getting a head gasket kit... it'll be a good amount of work, but it should help a bit. this will also give you a chance to look at the condition of the cylinders and pistons...

good luck,

Kevin

[5S-GTE]

just did a compression test.. the shop manual says its suppose to be 178.. but mine came out to be 180-190-190-190
so im guessing no blown head gasket or rings but still oil in 2 and 4.. even after i replaced the valve cover gasket and the spark plug tube gaskets..

any ideas?
thanks

[5S-GTE]

oh and here is some pics

with the valve cover off..


and i decided to paint the valve cover

[MrNate]

Most likely valve seals. Not too bad to do yourself if you have the book, the right tools, and some mechanical inclination.

[TerBeau]

pos head gasket if it smokes when u start it thats the oil burning up and blowing out.