Will swapping out a gasket kit fix my Saturn Ion?

Well, bare minimum you need a valve cover gasket that comes with the spark plug tube seals. If you have already changed the spark plugs, change the ignition coil for cylinder 3. Reset the codes by leaving your battery disconnected overnight and see if the knock sensor gets set off again. If it does, you could have further issues which are causing the tapping.

These are all very simple components you can change yourself, and it shouldnt cost over 100 dollara if uou shop at partsgeek.com. If that doesnt solve the tapping sound, at that point i would take it to a mechanic to have the tapping sound professionally diagnosed.

But as for your misfire and oil leaking onto the sparkplug, those are simple fixes.

No, the oil leak is not causing the Cyl #3 misfire. The misfire is why you are losing power and performance.

If you go to Auto Zone, they will read the codes for free to show you why you are getting a Check Engine Light.

You should learn how to PROPERLY reset codes on your car, so you can see if the same code returns or a different one sets - then you can diagnose the cause of your misfire without spending money.

You can switch the spark plug from # 3 and # 1 cylinder, if the code keeps setting for #3 Misfire, you know it's not the plug. You can swap the spark plug wire between # 3 and its coilpack and the plugwire between # 2 cylinder and it's coilpack. If the misfire code goes over to # 2 cylinder, you know it's a bad plugwire. You can swap the coilpack modules, re-installing the # 1/2 coilpack in the # 3/4 coilpack position and the old # 3/4 module into the # 1/2 position. If the misfire migrates to #1 cylinder from #3, you know it's the #3 coil in that module that has gone bad.

If all the ignition components are swapped out, but #3 cylinder is still the home of the misfire, then you know the problem is not spark components, but is either a bad spark command from the ECU, a bad crank angle sensor input to the coilpack module, a bad ground wire connection from the coilpack to the engine block, or it is a combustion problem in the cylinder itself:

An air leak on the intake manifold gasket going into #3 intake valve port, making the mixture too lean to combust

An air leak at #3 fuel injector o-ring seal

#3 Fuel Injector is losing signal from its injector relay, #3 injector is sticking or has a broken spring.

The tech at Auto Zone can scroll forward to read the STFT disply page on the scan tool. Short Term Fuel Trim shows what the car's ECU is trying to do with Fuel Trim to correct the air-fuel mixture if the O2 SENSOR SAYS. the engine is running too lean or too rich. if STFT is near zero, the mixture is right. if the mixture is too lean, STFT will be a big positive value. Too rich, it will be a big negative value. You can believe the O2 sensor if you are not getting a code set for the sensor itself.

Air leaks make the mixture too lean, and much worse at low RPM. The mixture gets better at higher RPM's you can watch STFT and gun the engine. If it goes down from big positive towards zero, you have an air leak. If it goes from zero to negative, you have an exhaust leak between the upstream and downstream O2 sensors. If it goes from positive to even more positive, the problem is with fuel pressure or fuel injector function.

Like with anything else you can find You Tube videos that show you how the scan tool displays work, and what those displays tell you.

A bad IAT sensor or MAP sensor can give you too-lean air/fuel mixture.

A bad ECU I/O Port driver chip can give you bad spark control to a coilpack, even when the ECU will set no codes for it, because it sees a good logic command going out to the coilpack module, but it cannot "see" the actual pulse coming out of the I/O driver circuit.

There are cheap ways to test for those sensors too, if you are clever.

Good Hunting!

The tapping sound, whatever is causing it, is being picked up by the knock sensor, and the ECM has turned down (retarded) the ignition timing, to try and get rid of the knock, so your performance is low.

The oil on the spark plug indicates something else. Is the spark plug oily on its outside? This is what it sounds like. If so, it's just a leak. It's not related to the problem. If the oil is on the part of the spark plug that sticks into the engine, then you have a problem in that cylinder. Probably the piston, or maybe the piston rings have been damaged.

If it's not something in that oily spark plug's cylinder, then it's something else. Maybe a lifter. Maybe a rocker arm, if it has them. Maybe a crankshaft bearing? Different problems make different noises. I can't hear it. And you don't know the different sounds that an engine makes.

Oil in a spark plug well on the outside of a spark plug doesn't make a noise. You have to find what's making the noise.

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This car wants very badly to go to the junk yard, but you still need it. You can fix the valve cover leak with a new gasket, but the knocking sound won't go away until it's diagnosed and repaired. You didn't say if changing the spark plugs improved the performance. If the timing is not right, you may need a new cam belt since the old one slipped.

Try the gasket first. Less expensive if that does fix the problem. Can't really see what needs to be done from here.

Hi the knocking noise is a lot more serious than just spark plugs of tappets it is a worn engine which is going to cost a a whole lot more.

The oil is probably killing that cylinder. Change the valve cover gasket with the grommets. Clean up the plugs and see what happens.

Sounds like you have bigger issues that just an oil leak.