plug powder

[eddie]

I started my TRX project
and stared to clean the engine for painting
so tried to take the plug leads of ......solid..
took me ages to get em of
The plugs were covered in a white/grey powder like talc or salt
never seen anything like it
its not hard just like powder. ..ive got most of it out
but dont have the right plug socket yet
none of my deep reach sockets fit
any ideas why the powder was there...is this a bodge job and i need to worry ?

[alextrx850]

I see you are in the UK Eddie.
Likley the white/grey powder is corrosion from the alloy cam cover, also likley the reason you can't remove the plug inserts too...they are corroded in there.
A liberal use of penetrating oil will be needed.
There is a small hole on the outer left side of the cylinder head, if you have an air compressor and after finally removing the plug inserts, use the air pressure to clean this drain hole out..keep the plugs in tho.

[eddie]

Cheers alex
ive given the plugs a good blast of wd40
il leave it a while to soak in


im no expert on mechanics
so will probably be back with more questions soon