There is a bunch of dirt and such compacted around my sparkplugs. I am worried when I take the plugs out, all that dirt will fall into the cylinders. Should I just take it to the carwash and try washing them before I do new plugs?

 

Can you clean most of it off by hand with a rag or a brush? Avoid using the car wash, you'll potentially end up with water in the electrical system unless you're really careful. If you can get the dirt loose you can then used compressed air to blow the rest off or a vacuum to suck it off. If it's really stuck try engine cleaner, brake cleaner, that sort of thing. If using brake cleaner be careful not to spray it on plastic parts directly as it deteriorates some types of plastic. Brake cleaner is nice because you can get sensor safe brake cleaner that won't harm electronics, so that should be pretty good around spark plug boots and wiring. It also dries well so you won't get moisture in the ignition system.

 

Leaf blower...........

 

this stuff seems like dirt lightly mixed with oil almost like it is caked around the plugs. I think brake cleaner might just loosen it but not blow it out. It is all around the plugs way down there. I do have an extra can of brake cleaner and see if that loosens it up and then try the shop vac

 

brake parts cleaner wont hurt anything though carborator cleaner can melt stuff.
you can also try compressed air it should work.

 

worked for me... lol

 

hose the area down with a can of engine cleaner. let it soak in. rinse with water hose to remove loose stuff. hit with air compressor to blow stuck stuff out. rinse with water and check again. if crap is still there, hit with air compressor again. poke at it with a screwdriver to break it up and then blow it away with air/water.

If it hasn't come off by this point, it's not going to come off while you're changing the plugs.

 

.................... and if all of that still doesn't help you need one of these