NSer Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 About 1.5 years ago my car began to skip/slip when the transmission shifted gears. This seems like a common occurrence after reading through this forum and others like it online. This did not always happen but progressively became worse and worse...brought it to Subaru and learned that the Ignition Coil was damaged along with spark plugs. I had all of this replaced (September 2012). Recently, within in the past 3 months, I have noticed similar skipping but not as intense as before. I brought it back and was told that, upon removing the spark plugs--it appeared as though there was fluid at the bottom of the cylinder. Mentioned that there may be an issue with the O ring but did not seem to think that it needed to be replaced/fixed immediately, my main concern is that I may be damaging my car by not replacing the o ring now. I have a 12 hour trip in the near future. Thanks in advance for any thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rooster2 Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Welcome aboard, lots of good people here with great advise to help you the best we can........... It would be helpful to know what year and model Subaru you are driving. Also, how many miles on the car. Thoughts after reading your post, is that you may need new spark plug wires. If so, it is an easy do it yourself swap out installing new wires. Just please be sure to buy good wires, not the cheapie low end line wires from a parts store. New wires, may well solve your problem. Subarus run bad on cheapie wires. It is also possible that you got a tank of gas with some water. That happens some time, if the gas station has a bad seal where the gas is added to their store tanks. If the gasket is bad, rain water can leak into their large tanks, and get sold with their gasoline. Slight water in your gas, can cause the motor to "cough" under acceleration. Add one gallon of E-85 the next time you fill up with unleaded. The E-85 alcohol will absorb water in a gas tank. Doing this has helped my car several times. Not sure what O rings you are referring to. If somewhere around the spark plugs, then I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe a little leakage somewhere, but nothing to worry about, but please tell us more about the O ring story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSer Posted April 24, 2014 Author Share Posted April 24, 2014 Thanks! 2006 Impreza, appox 82,000 miles....I believe the O-ring he was referring to was related to the area they worked on previously (ignition coil). He mentioned that they pulled the out the spark plugs they replaced in 2012 due to the faulty ignition coil and noticed the fluid. I did have these plugs and wires replaced in 2012 along with the ignition coil. I will try the E-85 for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willwright Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 I believe this guy is about to take you for a ride you're not going to like. If there is any moisture and again I say IF, it could only be coolant , if there was enough he could see it in the cylinder, your oil would look milky because that would be a major head gasket failure to be able to see actual liquid. That much would be evident either as steam ( smeeling of antifreeze) out the exhaust or into the engine block resulting in milky looking oil. Major problem I have with his statement is, there is no way he can see down inside that cylinder, its possible to see evidence of liquid on the plug but again, it would have issues like I described above. Plugs don't fail that often unless not the proper brand plugs or there is another more serious issue. I'm sure more people will respond to this but my advice is please get a second opinion unless you're experiencing the issues I mentioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willwright Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Sorry, another thought I have is maybe he could be talking about coolant pipe crossover o'ring ??? Forgive me for being really cautious, most mechanics are very honest but this one doesn't sit well with me. Are you losing any coolant or having to add any? Is it burning oil, I.e. having to add any every couple tanks of gas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willwright Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 OK, my last thought is ... is he referring to oil in the spark plug tube itself , that is the only other o'ring seal and that would not be a major problem requiring immediate attention unless it pouring in to the point its fill I g the spark plug tube. The way you said he described it as being in the bottom of the cylinder is what has set me off so to speak lol. I will shut up now and let your respond. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darsdoug Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Reading between the lines I think he/they were referring to the "O" ring seals in the valve covers that are at the base of the spark plug surrounds. Perhaps identified as "cylinders" in this thread. Those seals have a tendency to leak after a few years and will allow oil to pond eventually enveloping the ceramic area of the spark plugs and causing them to fail. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 Lucky Texan Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 (edited) yeah, most likely valve cover gaskets including the spark plug tubes. Edited April 24, 2014 by 1 Lucky Texan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombieforce Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 If you drive thru huge puddles or live in a really wet area I have seen water seep past the seal at the top of the plug wire and get trapped in the plug tubes. Also if you ever pressure wash your engine bay this can happen. My first thought was oil in the plug tubes but I have seen water in them too. Not a big deal just blow it out with compressed air if its water. If its oil I pull plugs and give it shot of brake clean and install new plug tube seals and v/cs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted April 24, 2014 Share Posted April 24, 2014 Spark plug tube seals, they leak all the time and your mileage is fairly common for that issue. Replace the valve cover gaskets and spark plug tube gaskets at the same time. It's a very easy job and cheap parts. $150 tops. Do it now as it will cause ignition degradation over time as oil gets on the spark plugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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