my 06 mazda has trouble starting up. engine never turns on on first crank!
 

it never starts on the first crank. usually second bt lately it sometimes need a third crank. idk what the problem is. my husband just cleaned the EGR few days ago bcz car was lagging/stalling when i accelerate and bcz of this issue.

Today we just bought some NGk spark plugs and when he was changing the spark plugs, he noticed that the old ones had brown stuff/liquid on the strip part not the tip. kinda smelled like oil bt not a strong odor and wasnt sure if it was just anti-sieze.

if my car's having trouble cranking, could it have been oil and what can i do to fix the issue?!! help plz.

I am having the same issue! Just started within the last month or so. I changed my plugs and had what appeared to be oil (brown liquid) on plug #1. I dug around a bit here and a lot of folks indicated that it might be the valve cover gasket as the cause for the oil on the plug. It was on almost every surface of the plug except for the tip.

The problem is still there for me, so not quite sure what else the problem could be. Another post I read mentioned a wire going to the starter being corroded as a possibility also. Not sure where to turn at this point!

Still have the original battery? If so it's probably toast and should be replaced. If you have replaced it I'd have it checked to make sure it's working well.

If you have oil collecting on the spark plugs you could indeed have a leaking VCG. It's $20 and about 30 minutes to replace yourself. Also check the fuel injectors/fuel rail.... if you have a leaky injector it could be slowly filling a cylinder while the car it parked and give you issues starting.