So I went to change my spark plugs today to attempt to fix a cylinder 4 misfire and if not move onto coil packs, no big deal. I get the coil packs off the driver side and there is oil in the spark plug tubes, probably about 2-3 teaspoons in each. I soaked as much up as I could from above with shop towels and took the plugs out. The socket and plug came out covered in oil. With how much there was on the plug and socket I'm sure some went in the cylinder. I knew the valve cover gaskets were going to need replacing soon, as I've been smelling burnt oil for a little while, so now that is next on the immediate to-do list.

My big question is, with the oil going into the cylinder is it safe to put plugs back in and have it burn off or will it like compress and break something before that happens? My best guess is maybe 1 teaspoon of oil went into each of the 3 cylinders.
Please help, I really don't know what I should do.

Thank you

2001 A6 - 2.7T - 6-speed manual

 

A little oil in the cylinder is OK. It'll burn off & you'll notice some blue smoke. Your problem is leaking valve cover seals around the spark plug tubes. Note that when checking cylinder compression there is dry test & wet test. The wet test is to squirt ~tsp of oil into cylinder to see if compression goes up. This is no different than what you did by letting some oil drain into the cylinder. You'll probably need to change the cam tensioner seal when doing the valve cover gaskets, as these often go bad too.

 

Gotcha. Like I had said I knew the valve cover seals were leaking some, as it seems to be a common problem on these, just had no idea it was into the plug tubes and there was that much in there.
I'm now planning to have the seals replaced this week most likely, but I need the car back together for a day or two until they can be replaced.

Thanks so much! Who knew a simple plug change would turn into this big a problem...

 

Thank you to everyone!

I was really worried about that amount that had gotten into the cylinder. Got it buttoned back up and it runs fine, burned off the oil in a cloud of blue smoke reminiscent of my old American car.
I plan to get the valve cover seals and such replaced this week hopefully, change to the new plugs then and everything should be ship shape.
Again thank you to everyone for putting my fears to rest.