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Condensation inside the spark plug holes

jeepnutz

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I keep getting condensation inside the spark plug holes. I've taken extra caution as not to wash the vechicle between the times when condensation builds up. The plug holes are random, never the same. I've had it in the shop twice paying near $300 each time.... now I dry the holes up with a rag. Any ideas why this keeps happening? I can't find any signs of water leaking.

2002 Ford XLT Explorer
V-8
 



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Condensation in the combustion chamber is normal as there will be some valves which are open, exposing the combustion chamber (and the rest of the intake and the exhaust circuit) to the atmosphere. This is one of the reasons why the air-fuel ratio during warm-up is higher than normal.
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Condensation in the combustion chamber is normal

Surely Ford does not expect us to have to dry out the plug holes every few months. What would the remedy be...... I've never had this problem with other vechicle's.
Thanks for the response......
 






What is the symptom created by having it there? What is the truck doing?
 






The symptom is that the water finds a way to seep down to the plug causing a misfire.......loss of power and bad gas milage.
 






I assume that you're talking about the plug well, above the spark plug? Are you sure that there is no missing water shield, or some other way that the water can be getting there? That's really a lot of condensation considering that most should evaporate when the truck warms up... Weird... :scratch:
 






No missing water shields, we've even put some sealant around the boot caps... and the plug wells will literally fill up....(approx 3" of water). I did a goggle search on this and it appears some other Ford owners have experienced the same problem. :(
 






Wow, never experienced this. Maybe having the boots too sealed is not allowing the moisture to escape. I would have assumed also that the heat of the engine would have evaporated any moisture from condensation.
 






That's a good point. Might be sealing condensation in... How long is your normal commute? Is the truck adequately heating up, or is it a short drive that may create condensation and not stay hot enough to evaporate? (Just thinking out loud, not that you probably haven't been through all of this yet...)
 






The problem existed before I put on the sealant, I only put the sealant on thinking that water maybe coming from above somehow. My wife drives the car to and from work daily, about 100 miles a week. We also put on a couple of hundred miles last weekend with the same problem. I'm at a loss :(

Thanks for all the feedback.
 






Just to be clear, It's water not antifreeze/coolant.
 






Wow- this is a stumper...

Have you seen this guy around your truck? :D

2844421.jpg
 






It appears to be just water........Yikes, haven't seen him around my truck but I may have been sleeping :)
 






so how fast does it fill up?....for instance, if you dry it out, then drive it for a longer distance, how much water will be it it? to and from work daily( I'm assuming 5 days a week) for a total of 100 miles is not very far, 10 miles each way....is it 10 miles stop and go, or 10 miles at highway speed?
 






Takes around 1500 miles before one will fill-up.... approx 3" of standing water in the plug well. Most all driving is highway driving.
 






Are there any AC lines near the spark plug holes that could be dripping condensation? You shouldn't be getting any kind of condensation on the engine from anything except the AC lines as they are the only thing right now that will be cold enough to cause condensation.
 












is the car garage kept? the reason I'm asking is if the fuel in the tank is cold, the fuel rails could be getting condensation on them, however I would think this shoud be minimal...really grasping at straws here. WOW is this a stumper!!!
 






AC lines are not the problem..... the car when not driven sit's in the driveway. If I find out why this is happening I'll post up for future post on this.
 



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is it always the same plug?

also you might want to try to remove the v8 cover over the engine.... i think it lines up with run off right on top of the cops.
 






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