I have a 1998 Rodeo with 151K miles. Once the vehicle warms up, it sputters when throttle is applied then sputters at idle. CEL came on and read misfire on #1 cylinder. I pulledcoil to find oil in the coil bay. Cleaned coil and oil in bay and cel came off and truck ran fine. I''m thinking either cracked valve cover or bad O rings. Anyone have experience with this?

 

Usually its the gaskets for the plug wells. I know on 1st gen 3.2 you have to remove the intake manifold to remove the valve covers, not sure on 2nd gen. I havent had to do that yet. First check that the PCV valve is working. If its plugged the engine block will pressurize and force oil out of the weakest seal.

If you go to...
http://rapidshare.com/files/167488811/Rodeo99.pdf

You can d/l the factory service manual. Much better then chiltons or haynes and you should be able to figure out whats involved. ''98-99 rodeos are exactly the same.