Mi16 - Oil drawn into spark plug holes

[skeggyrik 3]

On the way to a slalom event yesterday I hit a big puddle and the Mi16 engine cut out seconds later.

I have had this once before when the foam RamAir filter got soaked after a big puddle hit. I was trying to be careful but hit this one this one good and proper and also caught a wave from a car passing on the other side of the road.

 

On investigation I found the air filter was dry. Next check was the dissie cap and that was also dry, popped the cap off and it was all dry inside.

On lifting plug cover I then found water in all 4 plug holes.

 

I had a spare set of leads with me so I swapped the sopping wet ones for the dry ones and used some blue roll to soak as much water as possible out from the spark plug holes. I then removed the spark plugs and dried them the best I could before placing them on my mates warm engine.

While the plugs were drying I span the starter over with the plugs out to get rid of any remnants of water that would have dropped into the bores when the plugs came out.

 

Plugs dry they went back in and the spare dry leads connected.

It did try and fire initially but then nothing. A squirt of easy start still failed to rouse it.

 

It was cold an pouring down with rain so we decided to tow it to the event and try again once there.

En-route while being towed, I ran it in gear for a bit which span the engine at about 2500rpm in third, still no signs of life. I tired this again several times but to no avail. I probably ran it for 2-3 minutes in gear in total. 

 

On arrival at the event we then found all 4 spark plug holes full of fresh clean engine oil.  I am presuming running it in gear has somehow caused vacuum sucking  oil out of the cam cover? That or the seals failed as result of the water dowsing the engine when hot? We were all very confused at this point. Has anyone had this happen before? Before the puddle there were no signs of oil leaking into the spark plugs.

 

We removed as much oil from the spark holes as possible before again removing the plugs. Engine still span over fine and sounded right. With the plugs out, turning it over saw no oil coming out the bores, no nasty noises.

 

Tried to get plugs cleaned on gas flame but no joy, it wouldn’t go. So it got towed back home.

 

I have since cleaned up the plugs and leads with brake cleaner and have left them dry and cleaned out the spark plug holes the best I can.

 

So next I plan to lift the cam cover and check the 4 spark plug o-ring seals and the 3 other bolt seals. If I need to replace them, where do I get these from? Any suggestions? How much oil can I expect to be sitting under the cam cover? Will it have drained out of the head or will I lose a load of it down the back of the head when I lift it?

 

Only other thing we noticed during all this was that the coil was sparking slightly, not sure if this is because it’s dying or a result of no spark possible at the plugs? It’s not been a problem before. If I do need one of these are the cheaper Lemark ones any good, or do I need to stick with an NGK one?

 

So peeved I missed the event but more concerned and confused about the oil.

 

Any thoughts or recommendations for the parts as above anyone?

 

[welshpug 1,657]

sounds like a bad coil or crank sensor, oil is a separate issue caused by the seals going hard with age & heat cycling.

 

is it on mi16 management?

[skeggyrik 3]

Yes it is on Mi16 Management. 

 

Odd that it decided to fill all 4 plugs with oil ( and i mean fill) in the 10 minute tow to the event. Can you get the seals without buying from Spoox?

[welshpug 1,657]

I believe bakerbm have looked into doing them but not sure they are available yet, or they are in many head gasket seal kits I believe, Miles may be able to help you with that,

[Bakes100 20 1 Cars]

The only thing I can possibly think of is that you ended up pressurising the crankcase because the throttle body + AFM were closed & the breather outlet in the inlet hose had nowhere to 'breathe' to? The spark plug seals were probably the easiest route out if they weren't sealing too well.

 

I just bit the bullet and got mine from Spoox, old ones were rock solid.

[farmer 328 1 Cars]

I have some new Mi16 rebuild kits coming shortly from Italy

 

I am hoping these sort of seals will be in them 

[Miles 331 1 Cars]

If you get stuck I do have them, But generally some RTV around them seals them up fine, even when old

[wicked 103 3 Cars]

Did you check for sparks after checking the dizzy cap? 

Did you check the connecting contact from the coil was still ok? (did not drop out while refitting?)

(Right picture; contact in the middle, from the coil)

 

[skeggyrik 3]

OK so I am up and running again. 

 

I lifted the cam cover and found some very hard seals, I replaced all 7 with new ones and replaced the cam cover following the tightening sequence. 

 

Checked dissie cap contacts were all present an correct.

Checked the leads were all orientated correctly.

Checked for a spark and found nothing coming from the coil. 

Replaced the coil and it went straight off the key as usual. 

No oil leaks as yet. 

 

So the water killed the coil and in doing so I then discovered the oil leak it seems. 

 

 

Edited January 9, 2018 by skeggyrik