Leaking from spark plug sockets

[shoehorn_hands]

Hey guys,

I noticed what I assume is oil leaking from my spark plug sockets. What does that mean? Should I be concerned? I’ve attached a couple photos. 
As always, any help is greatly appreciated.

[jonbill]

check and confirm its not water/coolant. Take the spark plugs out - are they coroded? what do the tips look like? (post a pic) 

have you had the valve cover off? it could be oil thats run down from the top. try cleaning it all up running again to see if more emerges. 

[SteveJ]

If the spark plugs were not torqued to spec, that could give you that result. If the same plugs have been taken out and put back many times, the sealing washers could be compromised. 

However, there could be some contributing factors, like failing oil rings. 

In addition to what @jonbillsuggested, do a compression test per the directions in the factory service manual. 

[Racer X]

Like Steve said, are the plugs properly torqued? 
 

Also, it looks like the head gasket is leaking. Have you checked the head bolts to be sure they are properly torqued?

[shoehorn_hands]

Sounds like I need to take the plugs out, check them, and retorque them. They’ve only been put in once, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with the plugs themselves. I’ll report back what I find.

[Racer X]

8 hours ago, shoehorn_hands said:

Sounds like I need to take the plugs out, check them, and retorque them. They’ve only been put in once, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with the plugs themselves. I’ll report back what I find.

For what its worth, I torque mine to 13 ft lbs, and use anti seize on the threads.

[Jeff G 78]

5 hours ago, Racer X said:

For what its worth, I torque mine to 13 ft lbs, and use anti seize on the threads.

Be careful.  Anti seize has been known to cause misfires due to disturbing the ground path of the plugs.

[Racer X]

3 hours ago, Jeff G 78 said:

Be careful.  Anti seize has been known to cause misfires due to disturbing the ground path of the plugs.

Thanks for the comment. 
 

Been using it as long as I can remember. It is important to take care in applying it to not get any on the electrode or insulator, a little bit goes a long way.

Also need to be careful to not over tighten the plugs. Proper use of a torque wrench is important.
 

A quick web search results in much debate about it. I see the plug manufacturers say they use a plating that precludes the need for anti seize. But plating can come off.

[dutchzcarguy]

5 hours ago, Jeff G 78 said:

Anti seize has been known to cause misfires due to disturbing the ground path of the plugs.

Maybe it's a good idea to use a little bit of coppergrease as anti-seize.. (as copper is a conducting material.)

(One could measure the conductance between a plug with and one without some coppergrease and report back here what the difference is!  I'm curious what it would be..  measure the resistance with an ohm meter between the foot of the plug (where normally your plugwrench go's)  and the enginehead after you have found out what the resiistance from the leads itself is and substract those. Preferably use a micro ohm meter if possible..)

[Jeff G 78]

In the early 2000's, Ford SVT bought a used Dodge Viper as a competitive vehicle for our upcoming Ford GT.  It was low mileage and looked good, but it ran like crap once we got it on the track.  We found that a PO had used anti seize on the plugs.  Once everything was cleaned off, it ran great.  At the time, nearly all of us had been using it on our personal car plugs, but I never have since.  I have enough old car gremlins to chase and I don't need another one that is self induced.  🙂

[Zed Head]

I've never had a spark plug get stuck or stripped a head thread.  Seems like a solution with no problem.  Anyway, many plugmakers and automakers recommend keeping the threads clean.

https://ngksparkplugs.com/en/resources/5-things-you-should-know-about-spark-plugs

Don't forget to adjust your torque settings down.  You can strip the threads trying to avoid stripping the threads.

https://www.tirereview.com/video-should-you-use-anti-seize-spark-plugs/

And make sure you pick the right one.  There's a bunch.

https://www.permatex.com/?s=Anti-Seize

[Patcon]

I have had it happen but I agree it's probably very rare. I still tend to do it. I use the copper anti seize. Haven't had a spark issue yet. Is an interesting anecdote though.