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My car had been hesitating and hard to start for a month or so. Finally, it shut off completely while I was doing 60 on the freeway. When I took in it for servicing, the mechanics told me that the oil was causing the distributor to work extra hard to spark the plugs until it just went out. I paid $600 for the new distributor, and they want me to pay another $600 to replace the valve gaskets. I read a posting here about leaky valve gaskets, and oil getting down by the spark plugs, and the reply said that it wasn't a big deal, as long as you clean the oil out every month. Is that true? Should I pay for the gasket replacement? I don't want to have to buy another distributor in another month or so. And if I change the gaskets myself, is it that frickin hard to do? mofugginpimp@aol.com

I've got oil in two of my spark plug wells also, I've only had one problem so far when the car wouldn't start, but did once I'd left it a while.<p>So I would like to know what the best course of action is as well...

replace the front by yourself Its an easy, straight-forward job (just dont over tighten the bolts!) If you can do ti do the rear one too. If not have a shop do that and save 200 bucks.

It cost me $45 to get the valve cover gasket set for both sides and 2 1/2 hours of my weekend. $600 for a valve cover gasket? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I think he's talking about the valve seals. That's what's letting the oil into the cylinders. $600 for that job does not seem unreasonable for a dealer. If you can find a "competent" local mechanic it should not be more than $300-$400(Cheaper labour). The parts are not expensive. I think the heads have to come off to do this, so lots of labour. Not a job to do in the driveway

umm, $600.00usd for a distributor? lmao

Thanks for the advice, guys. But, should I be worried enough to fix this now, or can i just keep cleaning out the spark plug wells every month, and save money towards a new engine? Mine has about 150 K miles on it. Will I screw up my distributor if I keep driving it as is?

The distributor is a known problem, they have a weak ignitor internally, the new distributor should have an improved ignitor.
For starters I would suggest retorqing the front valve cover screws, cheap and easy.
the valve cover job was done once on my car by mazda under warranty, the cost would have been just over $600 had I not been under warranty.<p> Yes you can just keep soaking up the oil in the spark plug wells. One of the side effects of the oil in the wells is shortening the life of the spark plug wires, so keep that in mind.
Andy P. 93 GS