Check this out ! Apparently, water gets onto the engine block, seep through the spark plug cover, flooded cylinder 1 and find it's way down the plugs !

The engine misfires terribly on one day and that's how I find out !

Guess it must had been rusting there for at least 1/2 year ?

 

Wow, was water just sitting on your spark plug?

 

I bet so ! How did water seep thru the spark plug cover in the first place !

BTW, I drives an Airtrek, which uses the same 4G63, but intercooler sit onto of engine block and there's a scoop on the bonnet. So I suspect that's where water enters !

 

never heard of your car, do you have pics you could post?

 

Here it is:
http://www.xtreme-uk.net/Xtreme-AirTrekTurboR.pdf

Basically it's similar to the Outlander, but using the EVO engine.

 

nice airtrek, never even heard of it. i would do some trial and error testing with a hose to find out where that water is coming from

 

More pics of your Airtek then we can troubleshoot

Was one of the plugs loose when you removed them?

Can't see plug images but if you start car and turn off before warm up too often then moisture doesn't have chance of escaping crankcase space.

Most important question that dtermines if it's serious or just leaking from scoop - Does car consume coolant?

 

Basically the Airtrek and the EVO shares the same engine bay, with the exception of a Top-mount Intercooler and a bonnet airscoop.

The plug cables are tightly fitted with no gaps.

Yes, I suspect the problem is prolong exposure to rain with a cold, unstarted engine for days.

As for the coolant, no it's not consuming coolant.

Here's the plugs again:
http://img470.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plugs1br8.jpg
http://img461.imageshack.us/my.php?image=plugs2ui1.jpg

 

Here's the bonnet scoop (the side vents are not stock)

 

Here's the side view, showing intercooler sitting on top of the engine block

 

Man, your are only rusted on the outside area. I thouhgt you meant internal .

I wouldn't worry about that - just replace them

And drive car more often

Nice car- 5 speed automatic and weighs no more than evo -I would rather haver one of those

 

wow!!! the same thing happened to me in my evo when i pulled the sparkplug wire out i found the entire plug submerged under water. replaced the plugs connected the wire back in and the issue has not occured again. im thinking when i changed the plugs last the boot around the ignition wire didnt seal.

 

i know this seems obvious but pressure washing your engine can let water into the plug boot area.

 

At least the bolt held. My beater has to permanent spark plugs as the bolts have crumbled off. Believe me, that would've ruined your day.

 

lol ive seen a few champion plugs break in half and leave just the threads in the head, ****ty man. I actually saw one of these vehicles when i was in jamaica