Looking at my first e23. It’s in reall great condition but the owner mentioned oil on the plugs. Slight amount, and cleaning them off after 250-300 miles and it’s fine. He said it’s the Valve Guides but I’ve also read that piston rings can cause this. There’s no smoke or spuddering until after driving for the 250-300 miles.
My question is, how to be sure if it’s the valve guide without taking the engine apart and what’s that entail as a repair? Taking the head off and to a machine shop? Any insight is appreciated, thank you.
It'll be much more helpful if you give a little more information about the car, namely how many miles the car has.
Fouled plugs could be a rich condition also and when they foul they could look like oil, sort of.
If the car has bad valve guides the car would almost certainly put out some smoke, usually at start up or under hard acceleration.
Helpful also to know the color of the smoke, white or dark.
If it is the guides then the head will have to come off, a diy if you're mechanical, otherwise a technician.
An easy way to confirm valve guides:
Go downhill, decelerating in gear for a little while. When you get on the gas there will be blue smoke out of the tailpipe.
Another sign is Park it after driving it, then start it about 30min later. You’ll see blue smoke out of the tailpipe upon startup.
Rings will usually smoke on acceleration and higher rpm. Oil smoke is typically blue-ish in color.
You can smell the exhaust and have an idea of what it is burning as well. However, fouled plugs after 2-300miles, you should be seeing a relative smoke show.
Valve guide seals are not an easy DIY job. The entire head needs to be disassembled.
Keep us posted!
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