Hi guys, first post and first service for my Audi s3! 

Is it normal to find oil in the spark plugs?

any feedback welcome!

 

Edited July 13, 2025Jul 13 by Jax40

A trace of oil may be present in an engine that has just started from cold. However it's not normal in an engine that is in good condition and has been run long enough to warm up. Some black hard soot or coke is usual around the end of the thread; while the contacts usually have a pale grey-brown powdery coating.

Presumably you have oily plugs or you would not be asking about them, so tell us how much and where, or post a detailed picture.

Hi mate,

thanks for the reply 

please find the picture below.

the car was cold I was just doing the spark plugs. The good thing is that it wasn’t in the actual pin so I reckon it’s not from the cylinder(?)also in the video it’s only on the 4th cylinder that it was “bad” so maybe the previous owner spilled the oil?

 

I will monitor it anyway

Edited July 13, 2025Jul 13 by Jax40

The electrodes are exactly as they should be. The oil on the thread has run down from the plug body because a sloppy mechanic has spilt oil into the recess during topping up.

Hello Jax,

Taking it you are DIYing this service -? If so what brand and grade oil are you using, and what brands of oil, air and pollen filters? 
Current mileage and when last serviced? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

Any answers to the most recent post Jax? 

On 7/14/2025 at 9:22 AM, Magnet said:

Hello Jax,

Taking it you are DIYing this service -? If so what brand and grade oil are you using, and what brands of oil, air and pollen filters? 
Current mileage and when last serviced? 
Regards,

Gareth. 

Hi Gareth, thanks for the reply. Life got in the  way.
yes I’m diying. I used the recommended oil grade for uk 5-30 from total energies, I k ow Audi recommends castrol but I went for total as I’m gonna change it every ~5000 miles.

I’m gonna change the air filter to a ramair oversized (surprise 😂). I haven’t change the pollen filter as to I did it know this car had one, so I would appreciate if you told where it’s located. 
 

mileage is 145k and last known service was 7yrs ago… 

I had a huge issue with the spark plugs, I used the bkr7eix which were recommended in a thread in the forums and it was a total disaster. Video will come out soon

Edited July 27, 2025Jul 27 by Jax40

On 7/13/2025 at 2:27 PM, cliffcoggin said:

The electrodes are exactly as they should be. The oil on the thread has run down from the plug body because a sloppy mechanic has spilt oil into the recess during topping up.

I thought the same thing but I think the seal might be leaking. I will post a video for you to see