Glow plug removal, 4 down, 2 to go....

[mijfife]

Today was my first mechanical venture on my E300 today, replacing the glow plugs I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to remove the manifold with the how to on PeachParts, very handy (thanks Olivier )
So far, four of the glow plugs have come out easily, one is turning a wee bit but feels very tight and the other hasn't moved at all yet. I've soaked these two in plus gas and will return to them tomorrow.
Id like to run a reamer down to break up any carbon, is it possible to hire one of these?
I definitely want to change all 6 as it has been fitted with NGKs and Ive read about how unreliable they are on here, wish me luck...........

Cheers Jim

 

[Olivier]

Hey, hey. Glad it all goes well , beside the 2 left, fingers cross. NGK...No good indeed...
Its not that complicated, just a wee bit time comsuming.
Did you attempt to retreive the spring that sprung
Jim, could you keep the NGK for me, I like to have a look at them and also waiting on a reply from them about mine and the early failure, the more I got to show them, the better
Cheers.
Olivier

 

[mijfife]

Hi Olivier, spring retrieval is scheduled for the next couple of days, providing all goes well in the glow plug & O ring changing department

Cheers Jim

 

[lynall]

What about trying to undo plug when engine hot? or just keep pouring kettles of hot water over it



Lynall

 

[mijfife]

Hi Lynall, I'm not sure that would help to be honest, wouldn't the glow plug expand more than the alloy surround it with the heat? I might have this the wrong way round, chemistry was never my strong point at school!

Cheers Jim

 

[lynall]

Jim you are probably right, but im sure i read the other day about cdi glowplugs being easier to remove when hot, i realise yours is not cdi but its still a diesel.



Lynall

 

[momomo]

Lynall you are correct, mijfife generally if you get the engine really hot and then try to glow plugs it does make it easier.

 

[andymerc]

Yes you are right fit the 4 new glow plugs you can run the engine with manifold off ,get the engine up to running temp normally does the trick.

 

[mijfife]

Thanks guys, I'll maybe give that a try. I didn't realise I could run the car with the manifold off though I've been soaking the two stubborn ones all night with plus gas so hopefully that will help. I suspect it's a carbon build up on the electrode as they are turning a wee bit then going tight again.

Cheers Jim

 

[johnsco]

Try using Halford's "Shock and Unlock".
It contains penetrating fluids and also freezes the part to a very low temperature.
It helps to crack any frozen threaded components.
If you get the engine warm and them apply the S&U to the glow plug, it may help.

 

[SilverSaloon]

Hi Jim,

glad to hear you're making good progress.

This a a job i'm going to have to do now aswell - a couple of days after your visit mine stopped working

you have a PM on the veg forum by the way

if you need a hand or whatever just shout.

cheers

Derek

 

[mijfife]

Thanks for the input guys, been at it all day now and one of the two stuck glows came out, the other rounded. Used a mates set of Irwin socket extractors but this meant we could only slacken it and not work it back and forth. Yep, it sheared
I've spent all night drilling it out as per the guide on PeachParts. So far, I've managed to get the threaded bit out without doing too much damage to the threads. Tomorrow I'll drill and tap the central core and make the extractor to hopefully pull the rest out.
Thank god I took 2 days off work to do this
Silver saloon, sorry to hear yours have packed in too, I couldn't have been a jinx as you car wasn't there at the time

Cheers Jim

 

[alexander patie]

good luck jim. at least the 606 glow plugs are a lot easier to fettle than the cdi ones, being a larger diameter. what is the (peach parts) plan then? drill, tap and extract? what size tap - 8 x 1.25mm presumably, or possibly 7 x 1.00mm? might be a good idea to reduce the length of the plug by half. dont worry about the threads, i find they are hard to destroy, a clean out with a 10 x 1.00mm tap will always restore them to useable condition.

 

[abs]

thread docotor removed my rounded one same way good luck

 

[mijfife]

Few, what a job!!! Fortunately the drill & tap method worked and the broken glow plug finally came out :bannana:
Alexander, the method I used is detailed here PeachPartsWiki: Broken Glow Plug Removal
I worked my way up to an M8 tap as I had some threaded bar that size which made a great puller using a long socket, a couple of washers and a M8 nut.
I'm so relieved that the head didn't have to come off, I can tell you. I'm assuming these two being firmly stuck in is why only 4 were changed last time.
I'm glad I had the foresight to take a couple of days off work to do this, hopefully it'll help give others a glimmer of hope if they are in the same situation. My glow plug light now operates as it should and I'm hoping the Bosch Duraterms should give good service.
Thanks again to everyone for their input, advice & encouragement, it really helped, especially Olivier's regular texts throughout the job I'm off for a long hot shower now.........

Cheers Jim

 

[SilverSaloon]

great that you got it sorted!

 

[johnsco]

Fantastic news.
Well Done !

 

[Olivier]

This is brilliant news.

 

[230K]

Hi

Well done, fancy a mini holiday in Belfast???

230K

 

[mijfife]

Hi 230k, a mini holiday in Belfast sounds great, as long as I don't have to go near a glow plug while I'm there

Cheers jim