You shouldn't need any grease for the spark plugs, if anything, you can put some on, then wipe it off with a rag just to get the outer surface a bit slippery for the coil to slide over.
Take a look inside the chamber to see if there is any pooled oil? Seems to be pretty common, especially since you mentioned you just did the valve cover as well.
Could also be an injector I guess?
Would help if you could post the actual codes that you get.
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