spark plug deposits

[manxbuggy1]

I looked for this in the search but found no answer. My b6me seems to have lost a little of its normal pep and responsiveness the last week or so and I figured a good place to start would be to examine my plugs. Since my gas milage is also down a little I thought maybe it was running a little rich and would be a little fuel fowled. When I pulled the plugs out all four of them had a fairly heavy white deposit on them. The plugs only have about 12,000 miles on them. I was thinking a white deposit meant running lean but I cant remember. I also looked it up on the web and found conflicting answers. I changed them and it seems to be running a little better. Is this something I need to be concerned about? I dont know if it matters but I only run super unleaded fuel, usually Shell brand. If anyone can diagnose my problem I would appreciate it. I drive about 135 miles each day with 75 percent being on the freeway 65 to 70 mph.
Thanks in advance
Rick

[JohnGunn]

When I pulled the plugs out all four of them had a fairly heavy white deposit on them.

When I hear white deposit I think ash. How do your plugs compare to example 6 in the following document?

http://boschautoparts.com/Technical%20Resources/Spark%20Plugs/SparkPlugFaces.pdf

Inside back cover of Haynes manual also shows picture of ash deposits. They say, "Derived from oil and/or fuel additives."

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[FestYboy]

can you post any pics?

[manxbuggy1]

pics of plugs

Sorry for the slightly hazey images but it got kind of cool here last night (45 degrees) and my camera was left in car and is fogging up. This is about how all four looked. I handled the other 3 too much and the deposit is fairly soft and rubbed off some. What do you think?
Thanks : Rick

[Zanzer]

Wow, those do look really ashy. Do you notice any smoke on start-up? Does it use any oil between changes?

[manxbuggy1]

When I first start it up it smells like its running really rich but after a minute or so it isnt so bad. I dont notice any smoke on start up unless I rev it up a little and then it is just a little. I usually change oil at approx. 4000 miles and it might be 1/2 quart low at that time. I am losing some oil from a bad valve cover gasket. So as you can see oil consumption is not really a problem. I ordered my gasket yesterday since the local mcparts doesnt carry it in stock. Onr of the reasons I changed to a b6me is because b3 parts always have to be ordered and I thought since mx3's are more recent, parts would be easier to find. Back on topic though If I rev her hard she does emit a little blue smoke but not much. I do drive pretty spirited and she loves to rev to about 6000 and on rare ocassions I do hit my limiter at about 6200.