# Found rusty spark plug - looks like a leak - anyone see this before?



## visdsinerie (May 4, 2008)

Went to replace the sparkplugs today on my 2.5L 2007 rabbit and found the fifth plug to be rusted and the bore showing signs of a water leak. The car has 40,056 miles and is still under warranty but our local dealer is not the best. The coils were replaced under recall about 3,800 miles ago and show only corrosion on the metal housing at the bottom. Has anyone seen this before (could not find when searching forum) and how was it fixed? Since the coils have been replaced does not look like an active leak. Any thoughts would be appreciated before taking to dealer.


----------



## simon-says (Oct 21, 2007)

It could be water from a leaking coil pack. Have you pressure washed your engine recently? I've seen it before.


----------



## visdsinerie (May 4, 2008)

No pressure washing. This a joint for valve cover but see no reason for water to be that high in the head. The seal looks to be just an oil seal


----------



## HIBB 304 (Nov 8, 2008)

Mine did the same thing, bad coil pack seal.And it was before the coils were recalled.
And mine was the same cylinder too.


----------



## visdsinerie (May 4, 2008)

HIBB 304 said:


> Mine did the same thing, bad coil pack seal.And it was before the coils were recalled.
> And mine was the same cylinder too.[/QUOTE
> 
> Did the dealer clean that mess up when they replaced the coil packs?
> ...


----------



## HIBB 304 (Nov 8, 2008)

I was changing spark plugs at 20k cause of a bad start up I had and poor gas mileage. Did it on a weekend discovered the same problem. Drove to the dealer made a appointment and since I cleared the codes they would do nothing about it. Then the recall 10k later for leaking coils causing fires and such. Heres mine.


----------



## tay272 (Aug 22, 2007)

Man I really need to change my coilpacks and plugs after seeing this. I've been kinda putting it off but theyre about 10k overdue so deffinately on my to do list. Havent had them updated yet either but I plan on buying the red Audi ones.


----------



## visdsinerie (May 4, 2008)

Picked car up from dealer and was basically told this happens and they just clean it up when they replace the plug. They did provide me with a TSB on the trouble shooting bad coils when I asked of there is a TSB for this issue. Here is what it says:

* 5. Is misfire identified as always being on same cylinder?
* - Remove coil and spark plug from affected cylinder for inspection.
- Inspect for hidden causes, e.g. water in spark plug access hole.
- If water damage is found, replace the affected ignition coil and all other old version ignition coils.

*! Note:*
Only replace spark plug if damage to spark plug has been identified

- If no water is present..._TSB continues on from here_

Guess I have some cleanup to do on that hole when I replace the plug.


----------



## simon-says (Oct 21, 2007)

simon-says said:


> It could be water from a leaking coil pack. Have you pressure washed your engine recently? I've seen it before.


Coil packs have a gasket type seal. They are designed to keep moisture out. They will leak after time. eace:


----------



## vw93to85 (May 10, 2007)

It's just a little condensation. No need to worry. If you really wanna make sure everything is up to par you could pressure test the cooling system and check for leaks. But unless you're miss firing I'd just slap it back together and call it a day.


----------



## tay272 (Aug 22, 2007)

Thank god I saw this thread and decided to change out my coilpacks and plugs. My engine has just over 60k on it. All the plugs and coilpacks had a bit of that brown **** on them like in the pics above. As soon as I pulled out the #5 coilpack tho, it was all corroded down near the bottom. Pulled that plug out and all the metal above the actual threads was rusted up and corroded pretty bad so I had this same problem. I replaced all the coilpacks with the red audi ones from ECStuning, I hope they are the updated versions.*Dont put this off if you want to keep your engine tiptop!*


----------



## flynavyj (Jan 26, 2007)

Did you go in @ 40k and change your plugs like you're supposed to? And what prompted you to buy new coilpacks, considering the dealer was replacing them for FREE?.


----------



## tay272 (Aug 22, 2007)

Why would I take my car to the dealer to get my spark plugs and coilpacks changed? Thats probably one of the easiest maintenance items to do on this engine and many other newer VW engines. Unless you're not that mechanicaly inclined and take your car in for any kind of maintenance or repair then I guess thats fine for you. Thats like throwin away money in my opinion, I do as much work as I can to save myself alot of money. I bought new ones cause I wanted to dress up the engine bay alittle with the red audi ones and they were still the same price as a set of the regular coilpacks. Not sure if they are the revised edition but Ill be findin out whenever it is I change them again.


----------



## Druggedpolak (Sep 28, 2008)

I have the same problem with my 2.0 fsi.
I was changing my spark plugs a little while ago as I was coming to 30k miles on the clock.
First 3 plugs went fine, but the driver's side plug came out looking like this:




















So the conclusion is no problem/leaky coilpack? I still need to get the coilpack recall done. Guess I will now.


----------



## tay272 (Aug 22, 2007)

Thats almost exactly what my 5th cylinder coilpack and sparkplug looked like when I pulled em. Cant believe they didnt address this problem right away and change them all to the new version in the mk5s. Im pretty sure this has been a problem since the Mk4s came out and they recalled those. Its stuff like this that makes other pple think VWs arent reliable cars, all the stupid little problems they have :facepalm:


----------



## Krieger (May 5, 2009)

it happens on most engines unfortunately, to different degrees of course.

as stated earlier, moisture gets in there and just rusts **** up. not much you can do about it and its not really going to hurt anything unless you never check anything and clean it up every once in a while.

2 of my coils were slightly rusty near the end and I just wiped em off and check em every few months and no rust has come back. :beer:


----------

