Burning off carbon?

I had a starting problem which turned out to be a bad distributor cap. The problem was not really evident on idle. It has been fixed. However, my spark plugs got carbon deposits. Black all over, but the layer is thin everywhere. Will this burn off with a bit of highway driving, now that the cause is fixed, or is it a permanent problem? I am reluctant to replace the plugs as they are not very old.

Ref: 1998 Chevy Tahoe 5.2L, 127k.

Unless you can visually see a problem with this bad distributor cap it’s unlikely the cap is the cause of a starting problem and the sooted up plugs are due to some other fault.

What was the matter with this cap? Being badly cracked is about the only possible thing that could be behind a starting problem.

The number of distributor caps I have replaced in the last 30 years that were actually “bad” is probably under 5, replaced plenty because it was easy to sell the job to the customer, no resistance at all to “put a new cap on her”.

Replacing the (obviously corroded) cap fixed the problem.

If the engine is running right, the plugs will clean up in about thirty miles.

Was this corrosion inside the coil terminal tower? If so, that could cause a problem with arcing, etc.

If the corrosion is on the terminals inside the cap I don’t see that as being the cause of a hard start problem.

If it’s the former then I would say a bit of driving may clean them up.
The only bad caps I’ve ever seen (and very few at that) were caps that were cracked due to dist. shaft wear which allowed the rotor to contact the cap terminals.

Is the engine missing? If not, does it seem to have less power at either the lower gears or at highway speeds? If not, what if anything is wrong? If the car runs well, don’t worry about carbon deposits.
Otherwise I think you are asking if you need to do eighty miles per hour on a highway for a half-hour to clean up your spark plugs. If so the answer is no. You do clean out carbon build-up in moving parts like cylinders by going very fast, but the spark plugs are not going to experience any change. If they are fouled, it’s cheap enough to just replace them and forget about risking your life travelling at high speeds in an attempt to clean them. It will cost you about $20 and an hour or less labor in most cars.

I looked at the question with a bit of the “good ole days” poking through