Yellow gunk in spark plug well

I went to remove my spark plugs today, and found this yellow gunk on the tops, so I decided not to remove them until I figured out what it is and how best to remove it without getting it in the chamber.

what is it? It’s in all the plug wells.

 

It's possible it's ancient dielectric grease from the plug boot

 

Chocolate milkshake and leaky valve cover plug seals.
Any of the same on inside of oil cap?
Happens from water and oil mixing.
May be from condensation in a high humidity and engine not running long to burn off condensation.
Or
Blown head gasket.
Any sweet smell or white smoke/steam from exhaust ?

 

If it's dry, scrape it and vacuum it up

 

None on oil cap, it just had black sludge when I did oil change. Just got the truck two weeks ago with 245k miles, no idea last time they were changed. No smells or smoke/steam from exhaust. If it’s just old grease, then maybe they ain’t been changed in a while and that makes me feel better.

I’ll give that a go.

 

One of my favorite "tools" are the metal inserts from old wiper blades. I pull them out each time I replace the blades and squirrel them away. Would be perfect to send down the tube and try to scrape some of that away (before you remove the plug)...

 

Thanks for the tip. I need to change my wiper blades anyway.

 

You're going to give him a heart attack lol

 

I use and air hose with nozzle to blow it out.
If it doesn’t come out then, break the plug free 1/8 turn and blow it out again.
If it doesn’t come out then, it’s proper not going too.

What it is, I don’t know.

 

You should see the rear frame if you want a heart attack

 

Is it ok to put a bit o’lube down there if a plug feels stiff screwing out?

 

Is the block warm? Let it cool completely.

 

I’ve done it. But it was on a ford.
Never had to yet on a Tacoma.

 

I like to use a blow gun in each one before I pull the plug. Just shove the tip down there and let it rip!

 

yes it was warm. Was gonna do a compression test and I read it was supposed to be done on a warm engine.

 

Have you had them out recently? or did you let the engine get to temp, and then try to remove the plugs for after they've been in there for a long time?

I'd take it easy and let it cool down and reasses- if they come out easy after cooling and the threads aren't damaged then use a tiny dap of anti seize (seriously, a little goes a LONG way) and re try for the compression test.

 

I don’t like to ever pull plugs on a warm engine. Especially aluminum heads.

Some will argue it’s ok. I’d rather play it safe and not damage the threads.

I’ve never done a compression test on a warm engine. I do it on a cool engine.
Dry and wet test both.

 

I dont know when they were last out, just bought it with high mileage and unknown maintenance history.

i will take ya’lls advice. I guess it’s a good the the gunk stopped me. I didn’t have new plugs on hand. I should have planned to change the plugs since I’d have em out anyway and I’ll do that and the compression test on a cold engine.

 

How bad is this? #1 spark plug gave me resistance so I worked it real slow back and forth at fractions of an angle with a few drops of oil over about an hour. Blew out the hole with air compressor every half turn. Here’s what it looks like. Other plugs are fine.

 

Working in a thread cleaner, worked smooth until two turns shy of fully seated. Bottom two threads might be stripped, came up with this mess. If I get it clean and vacuum the hole, I’ll see if the new plug will seat smooth and torque to spec. If it won’t, I’ll try a Heli-coil.