hello...recently bought a 2009 fit sport and was reading about the issue many were having with spark plugs becoming loose on our cars. so this morning i decided to check mine out. all plugs were pretty snug, however plug #2 and #4 had some oil on threads and looked similar (pic below). the other two looked more what im accustomed to with just light brown "dust". all 4 coils seemed clean like the one pictured.

i have read for other cars that its best to check the spark plug seals under the valve cover. when i try to look up spark plug seals for my car, all i find is the valve cover seal. do our cars not have spark plug seals? i read that oil can leak from valve cover down to plugs, and though my cover seems to have a small leak and dirt stuck to the oil, i dont think this is the issue as the spark plugs are wet from the bottom and top threads of spark plug seem dry.

ive been trying to search through the forum for anything similar, but there is a lot of info!
are these spark plugs condition "ok"?
any insight would be appreciated..thanks!

 

so after checking out all the spark plugs, i reinstalled them and tightened the them to 20 ft/lbs. the next day i pulled them out and checked them again and they were dry and more normal looking, which made me feel better, i guess. maybe they were beginning to loosen? if i had to guess their torque, id say probably around 10 ft/lbs. i watched a ton of "how to read your spark plug" vids to determine if i had an issue. i felt like i was going in circles. the fourth plug had a very faint gasoline smell mixed with the oil smell, so im wondering if my car was running rich before i got it and the wetness was fuel mixed with carbon, which gave it a wet look. the other thing that threw me off is if it was oil fouling, i thought the whole tip would be black/wet/oily.

so since the dealer i got the car from changed the oil/filter, transmission and air filter i decided order new plugs. i ordered a set of ik22, and drove around a few days on "original" plugs waiting for new ones. when i went to swap them, the originals looked dry again. i torqued the ik22 plugs to 20ft/lbs and changed the pcv valve since it was only $5 at autozone and an easy swap. ik22 plugs seem to have made a really slight difference in smoothness, but i havnt had the car long enough to say for sure, but it also wasnt running bad initially. really i just wanted fresh plugs in there.

i plan to pull them out in a few thousand miles and inspect them.

 

The specs in the service manual calls for 13 ft*lbs.

 

saw that, but after tightening it to 13lbs and removing it, it didnt seem tight enough, especially after reading about the issue of several fit owners plugs loosening and creating problems. hoping it doesnt cause problems going tighter, but i went a little further to 20lbs. denso recommend 15-22 ft/lbs on aluminum. was just worried about them backing/blowing out with the lower recommended torque.

 

I think u kust had used spark plugs that gotten lose and they just tied them again mine were completely loose n i had autolites in my fit i tighten them as hard as i could never torqued them but ill recheck when i get the new spark plug boots

 

There are no spark plug seals. That's for cars that have the plugs inserted through the valve covers. Fit's spark plugs thread straight into the cylinder head and not through access holes in a valve cover.

The oil on your plugs seeped up through the combustion chamber. It looks to be mostly carbon fouling and not necessarily raw oil. Modern cars get more carbon fouling than old ones do to the PCV systems and some oil on the threads is not unusual. Especially as the miles get higher.

How many miles on that spark plug? If it's 50-60k or something, it looks normal. As I said, the carbon build up is due to the PVC system. Note that the electrode and ceramic look perfect.

I recommend installing new plugs instead of re-installing the originals because of the crush washer and, as mentioned above, the factory rating of 13 ft/lbs is based on fresh crush washers.

I'm not saying to use the 13 ft/lbs. Just providing that info. I go slightly tighter because we have one plug that likes to back out over time and I don't want it to eject.

 

read the replies right after you all posted them, but forgot to say thanks for the replies next time i logged in. thanks!
cars been running good so far, no issues. plan to pull them out next time i have the cowl off n see condition and also make sure they are not getting loose.