Oil in spark plug well

[Agentlongwood]

So last night I decided to put in some fresh plugs, since I bought my car used with 60k miles on it.  Went with SP-534s gapped at .030 if anyone's curious.  Things were going great until I got to the center cylinder on the front valve cover.  When I pulled the coil off it was dripping with oil... I thought "that sucks, a little oil must've seeped out."  It was not "a little" oil, lol.  I could not see very well as the lighting was not great, but there must have been a decent pool of oil in the spark plug well.  When I pulled the plug I heard a little "glug glug" of oil draining into the cylinder.  When I got it back together is sure smoked out the tail pipe a little, but that did go away after some driving.  No Check Engine Light, and everything seems to be running great.  Is this common?  Best I can tell is the rubber seal that sits in the lip around the plug well isn't seated right.  I fiddled with it and couldn't get it to sit evenly.  Could this alone be the culprit?  How severe an issue is this?  I do plan on calling the dealership to have them fix it since the Lincoln Powertrain warranty goes to 70k. 

 

[pmezo33]

Since you weren't misfiring, the oil probably isn't coming from the cylinders and it's probably a valve cover / valve stem issue.

If this were my car, i'd run a compression test.  If you're getting good compression, replace the valve cover gaskets and stem gaskets and you're probably good to go.

If compression is bad, then you've got major issues.

 

[Agentlongwood]

I don't know for certain but none of that sounds like normal wear items.  So to my knowledge that should be covered under powertrain warranty, correct?

 

[pmezo33]

Valve cover isn't covered under powertrain.  That's just the regular warranty, I believe.

If you're getting bad compression and your pistons rings are shot and you need a new engine, that's covered under it.

No misfires and that amount of oil in the spark plug well makes me think gasket issue.

EDIT:  This is what is says about the powertrain warranty.  It does mention gaskets in the engine section, so you may be good regardless.  It's not very specific, so don't want to give you a definitive answer.

Extended warranty coverage periods are available for certain
vehicle parts and conditions. Specifically,
(1) Your vehicle’s Powertrain components are covered for six years or
70,000 miles, whichever occurs first. The extended coverage applies to
the Engine: all internal lubricated parts, cylinder block, cylinder heads,
electrical fuel pump, electronic engine control unit, engine mounts,
flywheel, injection pump, manifold (exhaust and intake), manifold bolts,
oil pan, oil pump, seals and gaskets, thermostat, thermostat housing,
timing chain cover, timing chain (gears or belt),
turbocharger/supercharger unit, valve covers, water pump;
Transmission: all internal parts, clutch cover, seals and gask

 

[Agentlongwood]

Thanks man, I appreciate the info.

 

[sholxgt]

I had the exact same problem.  Valve cover seals.  Took dealer two tries to get it right, but all sealed up now and no problems.  Took some elbow grease to clean up the mess since mine was bad enough to leak out the top and down onto the front turbo.

Reminded me of my Gen 1 and 2 days.  They had valve cover seal issues as well.  Guess Ford will never get some things right.

 

[ZSHO]

Great Info from all above!  FWIW at least it's not the rear valve cover which can be a bit more of a pita and time consuming to gain access to.
FYI -unfortunately the front valve cover needs to be removed .
The seal prevents oil from the inside of the head from getting into the spark plug/coil. Z

 

[sholxgt]

Great Info from all above!  FWIW at least it's not the rear valve cover which can be a bit more of a pita and time consuming to gain access to.
FYI -unfortunately the front valve cover needs to be removed .
The seal prevents oil from the inside of the head from getting into the spark plug/coil. Z

Agree!

To add to that, in case the OP hasn't researched, front valve cover removal also requires removal of the High Pressure Fuel Pump.  All in all a task better left to the dealership if under warranty.  I say this because I considered fixing it myself after they missed on the first try, but decided to let them take the risk instead of me once I saw the task at hand.

On the bright side, most Ford mechanics have done of few of these by now.