I just bought an Evo IX a few weeks ago and it is throwing code P0100. If I clear it it comes back after 2-3 days usually while under light throttle driving. First thing I wanted to do was make sure timing was spot on (this car has HKS 276 cams). So I pulled my plugs to set my motor to TDC using a dial indicator and found a significant amount of rust in the tube/on the boot/on the plug.

I know a fair amount but I don't quite know how this much rust could have formed...especially since the car has the SpoolinUp COP kit and there are gaskets sealing each boot. Should I be worried? Pics to follow

Is that rust on the top of the piston? I should note that the car runs great and made 340awhp and similar torque on 28psi on a buschur 3582r and manifold. I should note further that the car has seen water/meth injection. Could this be a sign of a failing headgasket near the first/second cylinders? There are no signs of oil in coolant/coolant in oil nor does the tailpipe smoke or smell strange.





Finally, I know there's some play with timing belts, but here's a picture of the timing marks on my exhaust cam. The intake cam was almost in the same exact position.



Looks dead on to me, but some confirmation wouldn't hurt.

Regards,
-Duo

 

looks like headgasket to me. that **** is green like coolant

 

Did you clean the tip of the plugs? They look too clean to have a failure. All the rust is above the compression gasket to the top of the plug.

Looks like just water sitting on top of the plugs. If the water was still in there when you pulled the plug, then the rusty water will drain onto the piston.

You can do a compression test and find out if you have a weak head gasket.

Its really hard to tell from the pics tho. It could be a head gasket, but a quick comp. test will tell all.

 

Didn't clean the plug whatsoever, they all read like healthy plugs. The thing that gets me is the spark plug hoot and tube was desert dry although I would expect it to be after driving the car around.

Ill be doing a leakdown test this afternoon.

 

looks like someone sprayed the engine bay down and water seeped past the boot into the spark plug hole and corroded everything...

 

You don't have any signs of a headgasket issue. Please don't scare this guy if you don't know what you're talking about.

Looks like water coming in from the top as Freddy mentioned. Put new plugs in, wipe down the coils, and put a little bit of dielectric grease around the tips to prevent future moisture from getting to the top of the spark plugs.

 

Compression test wont tell you if your head gasket is bad, leak down test will. Im also saying water got down there. The plugs look fine and if your not smoking or overheating and your coolant level is fine then i would just put new plugs in and some dieletric grease. If you wanted to go over the top you could pull the valve cover off and clean it really good to get the rust build up off and change the plug gasket. Just my .02