She's getting old and tired Options

[rkelly_83543]

So I have a 1994 Celica GT with the 5SFE and 5 speed manual.
A few weeks ago I started to notice a faint raw fuel smell in the cabin while idling.
I put off diagnosing the issue until I could find a little more time to look into it since it wasn't a serious leak.
Now it has started making a ticking noise (louder than normal for a Toyota). Last time I had the oil changed at the dealership (I didn't have time to do it myself) they mentioned metal shavings in the oil.
Today my wife was driving the car on a city street around 25 mph and she decided to blow the plug out of the third cylinder.
I haven't touched the plugs in a few years so why this would happen now is weird.
The contact at the end of the plug was gone too (spark tip).
Is it time to put her out to pasture?

[Box]

Fuel smell and ticking noise probably means an exhaust leak. The plug could've not been tightened down enough and it just backed out over time. If there hasn't been metal in the oil before and there hasn't been any over-revving or running it low on oil, it could just be dealer blowing smoke in order to get you to pay for more work. If the spark plug threads are still good I say it'd be worth the $10 for a new set of plugs and sourcing down what most likely is an exhaust leak.