oil found on spark plug?

i pulled my #1 spark plug and it keeps fouling from oil,car runs fine untill the plug fouls{about 2 weeks} any suggestions?
can a real bad leaking valve cover cause this?dont have the money to rebuild yet,and like i said the car runs great and doesnt use much oil and doesnt smoke till the plug fouls out, anyway to get longer life from the plug?if it requires a valve job what am looking roughly on the cost?the car is a 85 190E
thanks steve

[Ali Al-Chalabi]

The plug is probably fouling because that cylinder is burning too much oil. This can either be caused by oil leaking through from the valves or worn rings. What is the oil consumption on this car? It is possible that there is only a problem with that specific cylinder if that is the only plug that is fouling and would account for why the overall oil consumption is not too high.

thanks for the replys,i did a compression check today and all cylinders were fine! {140}changed oil,put new plug in runs great
does anyone else agree the valve cover gasket leaking bad can drip in around the plug and cause it to foul?i know the gasket is shot,{i ordered a new one} please help

ps: car will smoke a very little when floored ,but considering its over 16 years old im not to concerned

what color smoke - white - blue or black

white but only when throttle is wide open
do u have any info on the valve cover gasket fouling a plug?

[Mike Murrell]

SBFOREVER420:

There's no way that a properly torqued spark plug will foul due to a faulty valve cover gasket. Most plugs are torqued to about 15 ft. lbs. I suppose that it's possible that a leaking valve cover gasket could get oil on the resistor tips that mount on the spark plug, thereby causing the spark plugs to misfire, but this is a different situation. Oil cannot get in from the outside. If you plugs are oil fouled, you have worn piston rings, valve guides; valve stem seals.