Glow Plugs - 2 out at same time ??

[ninanina]

Hi all
First post here so be gentle, and yes I am a girly !!

I have a beloved W124 300D which has just clocked 300,000 miles, and I love her but I have just had a problem with my glow plug light on the dash, it now doesn't come on until AFTER the car has started, and then for 1 minute. With a bit of searching I know what this means and I have gone through the whole of the tests on this site: Mercedes Diesel Glow Plug Repair (apart from removing the plugs)

Doing these tests told me that No.4 and No.6 glow plugs, or their wires, are bad. What I can't understand is how can 2 go at exactly the same time? I just don't believe in coincidence

Any ideas would be very welcome to a very confused bear !

Also I am trying to think of anything rather than getting the plugs out (nightmare apparently)

Sorry it was so long and thanks for any help

 

[walsi]

Glow plugs are considered consumables and they do go from time to time, i would guess if 2 have gone the rest won't be far behind

Martin

 

[SilverSaloon]

Hi

yes if you've done the test and all the others are fine apart from those two, then its simply 2 dead plugs (or dodgy wiring to them i guess but unlikely).

once one goes it puts strain on the other. how long did you use it from the light coming on after the engine started to checking which ones are dead?

depending on the history of the car, as to when they were last changed it would be worth replacing all 6. I recommend Bosch Duraterm. There are sellers on ebay which sell them at a decent price.

also, if its the later w124 E300D, (606 engine) you'll probably need the rubber breather bungs for when you remove the manifold as they go hard/brittle with age. also worth replacing the fuel pipe clips at the same time.

 

[ninanina]

Going Ahead - Beru's ?

Hi
Thanks for replies

Decided to bite the bullet and hand her over to my mechanic, who is fantastic, to get all glow plugs changed (well all those that will come out!)

Would I be correct in using Beru plugs as quality replacements? And also is there anything else that should be replaced while replacing the plugs?

Thanks all
Bev

 

[Dichtung]

Yes. Mercedes use Beru as original parts. Bosch or Beru, no other.

As for plugs failing together, I had 6 dead ones in a BMW one morning, but to be fair, the mobile electrician thought that I`d been living with 2 down for quite a while. Hard to believe isn`t it.

 

[walsi]

Yes. Mercedes use Beru as original parts. Bosch or Beru, no other.

As for plugs failing together, I had 6 dead ones in a BMW one morning, but to be fair, the mobile electrician thought that I`d been living with 2 down for quite a while. Hard to believe isn`t it.

Hi ya, the simple answer is no, they are considered to be consumables but if i had 6 fail at the same time i would be looking else where for a fault first

Martin

 

[walsi]

Hi
Thanks for replies

Decided to bite the bullet and hand her over to my mechanic, who is fantastic, to get all glow plugs changed (well all those that will come out!)

Would I be correct in using Beru plugs as quality replacements? And also is there anything else that should be replaced while replacing the plugs?

Thanks all
Bev

There is a kit that you can hire/buy that will remove stuck glow plugs, just do a search on youtube

Martin

 

[bolide]

I'd make sure your mechanic is happy about removing glow plugs in one of these cars before he gets started. Broken plugs are not unknown and if the plug is damaged while he tries to remove it you may need to have the head removed to fix the problem. There are special tools available to remove stuck glow plugs

If two have failed in quick succession it'd be worth testing the glow relay to make sure it is turning off correctly

Nick Froome

 

[SilverSaloon]

Would I be correct in using Beru plugs as quality replacements? And also is there anything else that should be replaced while replacing the plugs?

assuming 606 engine... see post 3.

in addition to that, it would also be worth checking/replacing any broken injector line clips as these go brittle, and clean out the gunk in the manifold. replace the clear pipes and orings too maybe if you can see air bubbles in the system.

also consider blanking of egr too

 

[ninanina]

Replaced ALL 6 Glow Plugs on W124 - Hurray !!

My mechanic has been delaying doing the job, maybe he didn't want the hassle/risk after all

So myself and best friend did it ourselves. I am so glad these are so well engineered cars and to be fair it was a pretty simple job. We just put bits into separate bags and marked them up as we went along, a must if you are not used to stripping things down

ALL 6 plugs came out really easily and have now been replaced with Beru's and presto totally fixed; glow light comes on & off exactly as it used to and car starts perfect just as it used to i.e. just breathe on the key and she's away, no throttle, nothing

The only thing is the plugs we took out were Bosch so i just hope the Beru's last as long

SilverSaloon: you were 100% correct on the need for the rubber breather bungs and fuel pipe clips. They were all brittle and broke, but all replaced now and not that expensive. The car is 22 years young after all

Thanks everyone for your help and if anyone is thinking 'i cant do that job myself' you definitely can it's pretty easy

Thanks
Bev x

 

[Dieselman]

Thanks everyone for your help and if anyone is thinking 'i cant do that job myself' you definitely can it's pretty easy

Thanks
Bev x

We need pictures as proof...



Beru plugs are as good as Bosch.

 

[carat 3.6]

Glad you've got it sorted Bev.

 

[ninanina]

Doh !

Well as it's all back together now it's a bit tricky but i can assure you there are now 6 nice new shiny glow's in there

 

[Dieselman]

Your engine (OM603) is an easy one to work on and glowplugs never seize in.

 

[mercmancdi]

Would the 0m603 engine be fitted to 95 w124 E300 d ,do the the glow plugs seldom seize up in this engine as in mine plug 6 is broke off ..all is there except the head to put socket on the lead is even still plugged on yet my heating light works as normal but it starts off a cylinder as it jumps ans smokes for a minute till that cylinder fires up.If I pull out the stem that the lead plugs onto would this give me a guide to drill. Thanks