I just took out the spark plugs and something freaked me out

[Dan]

There's this silver coloured... mess on the threading of the spark plug. It's not in liquid or solid form but more like sticky sand texture. But it bears no friction. i rub it between my fingers and it just paints my fingers silver. What could it be?
One more thing: the #3 plug seems to have oil spilling into it. Gasket problem? It's only in the #3 (i assume it's the #3 plug, third one in from the front) socket and in no other. Any suggestions as it how i should clean/fix this? Thanks!

Dan

[jsp98m3]

the silver stuff is anti-seize. It' is supposed to be there. Good thing.

The oil in #3 is caused by a leaking valve cover gasket. Not critical but should be fixed.

[arkie6]

Originally posted by Dan
There's this silver coloured... mess on the threading of the spark plug. It's not in liquid or solid form but more like sticky sand texture. But it bears no friction. i rub it between my fingers and it just paints my fingers silver. What could it be?

That sounds like nickel based anti-seize compound.

[Dan]

Originally posted by jsp98m3
the silver stuff is anti-seize. It' is supposed to be there. Good thing.

The oil in #3 is caused by a leaking valve cover gasket. Not critical but should be fixed.

Ahh.. thank you!
Hard to replace the Valve Cover Gasket? It looked kinda easy but is there any site with a DIY instructions? Or is it pretty straight forward removal and replace? Any particular place i should get this gasket?

Thank you very much!

[QuestMCoupe]

You can purchase the gasket from the dealer...not very expensive. Also, its a pretty straight forward DIY. Just take out all the plugs, unbolt the valve cover, pull the old gasket on, put the new one on, bolt it back up, and replace the spark plugs.

Good luck.

[jsp98m3]

There's a thread titled "Hey, Jim Powell" or something like that on this forum where I outlined the steps.

[Dade]

I'm not 100% on this but , shouldn't you leave the plugs in when you 're pulling the valve cover ? It would suck if you missplaced something in the cylinder ,.....

[Dan]

Do i have to replace the bolts too?
http://www.bavarianautosport.com/bas...1121721939.jpg

i found this on the sight and it said that they are Head Bolt Set and they are stretch bolts and have to be replaced. Do i have to do this or am i looking at the wrong part? TIA!

[jb325]

Nope - those are head bolts - they bolt the head to the block and should be replaced when you do a head gasket job. You, on the other hand, are only replacing the valve cover gasket, so you can just reuse the same bolts. Completely different things...