Oil on the top of my spark plugs
 

Need a little help from the gear heads on here.
My wife has a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis 4.6L V8. The car has a miss. The diagnostic machine says that #6 is having a misfire. On #6 cylinder I pulled the coil over pack and discovered that the hole that goes down to the spark plug has a bunch of oil in it. I have looked all around the hole and the valve cover does not seem to be leaking.
How can this oil be getting down that hole on top of the spark plug if it is not from the valve cover?

Gotta be leaking Valve cover.

Pretty much. Maybe the head gasket but it would have to be leaking in a very particular area.

^Literally has to be. Only other option is a cracked head and that would be a very unusual spot for one to crack.

Yeah there is no water in the oil or oil in the water so I don't think the head is cracked. But there is literally no sign of oil running from the valve cover anywhere. I thought that there might be a seal somewhere that has gone bad???

only thing there is the valve cover.

Get ready to shell out $30,000....
Oh wait, that's just me.

yeah im looking at one of those engines without an intake as we speak and there isnt anything but te valve cover gasket that could leak oil there

Yep.

I haven't done much mechanic work on my cars in 20 years. I liked doing it then.

Not so much, now. :)

Refresh my memory. When you get some age on those cork gaskets, they become brittle and smooth, so oil can just leak over the head, under the gasket.
Right?

Has anyone mentioned that it might be the valve cover?

Alright good info. I had a 2.0 zetec 4 cylinder that had those "tubes" or journals that went basically straight down through the valve cover and those had seals. I noticed that these on this 4.6 were basically bored holes between the valve cover and intake.

You should check the cover on the valves.

The aluminum there between those valve cover and intake is dry and clean. There is no oil to the touch. There is not any grunge on the metal like you normally see with an oil leak. That is why I am questioning the valve cover so much. Not saying anyone is wrong. I have done my own little stuff like this for 25 years now. So my instincts are questioning what I am seeing. Normally with a leaking valve cover gasket you have gunky build up of some type.

Gasket gremlins are hard to see. It has to be completely dark and you have to use a black light.

Your wife didn't add any oil recently did she?

http://forgifs.com/gallery/d/217169-...il-laundry.gif