90 cq, oil in the well(s), and nothing in the wallet

[TheRingmeister at aol.com]

Of course this just happens to occur when i'm nearly broke.  Yesterday I pick
up a set of F6TDC's and a cap from work, and head home to change the plugs
and cap, and to do an oil change in hopes of passing my NC inspection, which
includes emissions where i live.  Anyway, I pull the #1 plug wire out of the
well, and it's covered in oil.  Shining a light down there reveals that
barely the top of the plug is exposed, the rest is in an oil bath.  All
cylinders but #2 are like this, and the bottoms of 3 of the ends of the
connectors are all but broken off.  This is on a car that's on it's original
set of wires folks,  at 215K miles, and never had the engine touched for
anything.  I guess I need suggestions as to what's advisable to be done while
i've got the valve cover off (including all that intake stuff again!!!!
aaaagghh)  My thoughts initially are obviously I need a set of wires and a
new valve cover gasket, but should i go so far as to pull the head and
replace that one too?  What about lifters, valve guides, etc?  I've been
noticing a little smoking on startup, and some black specks on the back of
the car in the cold weather when steam was present at the exhaust.
Otherwise, the car runs fine, still gets good mileage, etc.  It's also time
(nearly) for a TB/WP change.

A. Wylie Bean
TheRingmeister at aol.com
abean at flowauto.com
Audi Brand Specialist
Flow Audi
Winston Salem NC
90cq
99.5 A4 1.8Tq Sport Avant