oil leaking from spark plugs

[David B.]

Hello everyone, My outboard (1996 evinrude 130hp) has been bogging down lately, it usually does about 42mph but its bogging down to about 32mph. its happened before and was usually a leaky hose, but this time I couldn,t find a leak in any hose (yet) but I did notice a little oil seeping from the spark plugs, is this normal? could it be the reason for it bogging down? maybe the plugs just aren,t tight enough?
Thanks for any ideas!!!!!!

 

[HighTrim]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

Your plugs should be torqued down to 18.5 to 20.5 ft lbs, have you done that?

 

[David B.]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

No I,ve never really ever torqued them before. I guess I should do that. do you think that could be the reason for it bogging?..thanks

 

[HighTrim]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

Well it could be a reason for a missfire of sorts, weak spark or performance loss. Do you have a torque wrench? I would torque them down first, then do a spark test , to rule that out, then look into fuel delivery.

 

[David B.]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

yeah I do have a torque wrench, when I first got my O.B. about four years ago, I asked a O.B. mechanic how much I should torque the plugs and he said that he never torques them, he just tightens them down by hand. so thats the way I,ve done it ever since. but your right, it just makes sence to torque them

 

[HighTrim]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

Let us know what you find.

 

[OptsyEagle]

Re: oil leaking from spark plugs

You will find that 18 to 20 foot/pounds is a heck of a lot more torque than anything you could do by hand. If you are getting some blow by (which is the only reason I can think of why oil would be seeping out of them) on a large number of your compression and/ or power strokes, it will definitely result in a loss of performance.