I had a check engine light come on in my 2008 Mini. The error code I was given stated that there was a misfire in cylinder #1. When I went to check my engine coil and spark plug, I noticed that the tube was filled with oil. My research has lead me to believe that the issue is most likely with the valve cover gasket replacement and/or the spark plug tube seal. My question is, how difficult and time consuming will this be for an amateur to DIY, and is there a "band aid" fix that could get me by for two days until I'm off from work? I've seen some type of sealant in the auto store as well as seen it mentioned online. I did order a Bentley repair manual, spark plugs, engine coils, head bolts, and a head gasket so far, but those won't be here for a couple more days...
Well doing the valve cover will be much easier then doing a head gasket. You can suck the oil out of the spark plug tube, the remove the plug and clean it and the wire and reinstall it. The little bit of the oil that goes down in the cylinder wont hurt it but will cause it to smoke till it burns out. It probably took it some time to fill up. Why did you order a new head gasket?
Because I got confused between the valve cover gasket and the head gasket. I got the job done though. Thanks how pointing that out to me...