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[frmg0014]

Hey guys.... my car began chugging and idling bad one day after sudden acceleration in the highway.  I got a check engine light for a cylinder 1 misfire.  As soon as I got home, I decided to check my spark plugs.  Upon removing the coil (2001 Caddilac Catera/Opel Omega MV6) for cylinders 1-3-5, I noticed that the spark plug well for cylinder 1 had water.  The water was almost up to the top tip of the spark plug itself.  The water is NOT inside the cylinders itself, but just inside the "spark plug wells", drowning the part of the spark plug that the coil boots attach to.  I drained the water with paper towels, and removed the spark plug, and it looks fine.

Drove it fine for 3 or so months, then it began idling bad again.  Removed the coil again only to find that the spark plug wells for cylinder 1 has filled with water again.  I bought new coils for the car and installed it.  I'm hoping that it may just be a bad boot or seals on the old coils. 

Has anyone experienced this before?  Can a bad headgasket cause water to get into the spark plug wells??

[SilverSurfer]

I don't think a head gasket would do that are you sure none of the hoses arn't leaking?

[tunnie]

common issue, the fault is around the base of the windscreen wiper arm, water gets in between this gap, soaks into the foam underneath the scuttle then drips onto the plenum / engine.

Smear some silicone sealant where the scuttle meets the windscreen wiper arm.

[Rockhampton]

common issue, the fault is around the base of the windscreen wiper arm, water gets in between this gap, soaks into the foam underneath the scuttle then drips onto the plenum / engine.

Smear some silicone sealant where the scuttle meets the windscreen wiper arm.

Mine was the same, but on the 2-4-6 side - Tunnie pointed me in the right direction too - plenty of sealant around the wiper arm holes (both on top and underneath!), and also if you feel just under the scuttle, just to the right of centre (as you are looking from the front of the car) on mine, so probably to the left of centre if yours is left hand drive, you will feel where the scuttle meets the metal bulkhead and the padding - mine was leaking there too - put plenty of sealant there, cured it a treat! 

[frmg0014]

Thanks for the quick reply guys.

When you get this problem...do u guys have all plug holes fill with water, or at least have some water in them?  Because I still kind of fine it weird that only "one" spark plug well gets filled with water, and that is cylinder 1 which is the one farthest away from the windscreen (closest to the front of the car).

[tunnie]

can't see water getting there by other means  :-/

Is your coolant level stable, or does that need topping up every so often?

[Andy H]

Combustion products carry water.

What are the chances that a tiny leak on one of the spark plugs is causing condensation to occur in the plug well?

[tunnie]

Combustion products carry water.

What are the chances that a tiny leak on one of the spark plugs is causing condensation to occur in the plug well?

Would that cause enough to fill the entire well?

[amba]

Had a similar problem here with the entire 1/3/5 bank plug holes being full water..turned out to be badly seal scuttle panel.....dryed out water/fitted 6 new plugs/seal scuttle and no further problems since.

[Andy H]

Combustion products carry water.

What are the chances that a tiny leak on one of the spark plugs is causing condensation to occur in the plug well?

Would that cause enough to fill the entire well?

I don't know :-/

I would have thought that a dripping scuttle would fill up the rear plug well first though  :-/

[Entwood]

I wonder if the CCP module sits tighter on the back two.. and the water just runs andfinds its way into 1    CPP modules are fairly snug fit ...  ??

 :-/ :-/

[tunnie]

Combustion products carry water.

What are the chances that a tiny leak on one of the spark plugs is causing condensation to occur in the plug well?

Would that cause enough to fill the entire well?

I don't know :-/

I would have thought that a dripping scuttle would fill up the rear plug well first though  :-/

Could run down the plenum i guess, but then you would have thought it would run all the way down to the throttle body, and off the engine  :-/

[frmg0014]

No, my coolant is stable.  I never had to top it off at all.  It's at the perfect level and it's been that way since I flushed out my cooling system almost a year ago, and I drive the car everyday at least 30+ km.

I don't know if this may have some connection to it, but my spark plug boot for cylinder 1 was swollen due to that same spark plug well filling with oil when my valve cover gasket went bad.  The boot was pretty much swollen to the point that it still fits in the spark plug hole, but doesn't really wrap or seal nicely with the spark plug itself.

I replaced the valve cover gaskets a little over a year ago.  It wasn't until around Sept/Oct 2009 that I had this rough idle/misfire problem, and noticed for the first time that cylinder 1 spark plug well was filled with water.  I drained the water out, and suspecting the swollen spark plug boot on cylinder 1 was the culprit, I decided to switch the boot between cylinder 1 and cylinder 3.  Now If cylinder 3 filled with water instead of cylinder 1, then it will be safe to say that the swollen spark plug boot was the cause.

Well 3 days ago, the problem began again.  I purchased new coils for both sides of the engine since I knew the one of the spark plug boot was swollen and it was also a good time to replace them since my mileage was getting up there.

Upon removal of the plug boots, it was again cylinder 1 spark plug well that was filled with water.  Cylinder 3 which now had the swollen boot did have very little water, but barely.  Cylinder 5 on the other hand which is closest to the firewall and windscreen was bone dry!  I was hoping cylinder 3 spark plug well would be filled with water instead so I can finally say that the swollen boot must have been the cause.

Anyways, the car now has brand new coils and boots so I'm hoping I don't get this problem again *fingers crossed*. 

[Rockhampton]

Combustion products carry water.

What are the chances that a tiny leak on one of the spark plugs is causing condensation to occur in the plug well?

Would that cause enough to fill the entire well?

I don't know :-/

I would have thought that a dripping scuttle would fill up the rear plug well first though  :-/

Could run down the plenum i guess, but then you would have thought it would run all the way down to the throttle body, and off the engine  :-/

I found that the central plug well was most filled with water when I took the coil pack off, and the rear one (2) was virtually untouched. The front one (6) had a lot of water marks, but only a small amount of water. The water marks spread from the top, and it was clear to see that most of it had been running into the centre well - similarly, that was the coil that the ECU reported as failing (P0304 code), and there were water marks all the way up the boot.
I've since taken the coil pack off to check, and it is now bone dry in there after sealing up the scuttle - wanted to make completely sure, as I did not want to be shelling out for another pack!
BTW - my car is parked downhill, so I figured that did not help matters!

[tunnie]

good to know, cheers