Broken Glow Plug in Head

hi,

Took the landy to get the glow plugs checked out since they still weren't working - mechanic rang at 12 to say all 4 glow plugs were broken inside - ie in bits.

3 came out ok, 1 he can't get out - all that's left in the head now is the cap / shell from the end.

His choices for me were 1) take of head and push it out (too costly) 2) run it as is, and try again in a few weeks to see if its looseded.

I obviously chose 2 - but would like to ask if there is anything i can do to get it out myeslf - without damaging everything.

I presume driving as it is is not a problem as it shouldn't drop down. Also, he put some penetrating oil / gunk to try and loosen it.

Any sugegstions welcome that don't involve taking the head off.

Cheers

shirly thats his problem?

The Mad Hat Man said:

shirly thats his problem?

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seeing as the garage is probably charging by the hour it's gonna shirly be the OPs problem eventually ?

not sure i'd want to be using any engine that's got bits floating around in it - but how does he know they are broken inside ?

Should explain - just got the car back - garage showed me what was still in the head and wouldn't budge out -its the tip / eng of the plug, apparently solidly carbonated into the head.

He can get at it with pliers, but can't get it to shift. Three new plugs put in otherwise, car returned and told to come back in a few weeks - he put a lot of penetration oil / fluid or some such gunk to try and get it to loosen up. Threaded part of broken glow plug screwed back in a little (so it doesn't fly out under pressure)

In his eyes it's ok to drive on, it won't drop into the head (apparently).

So far, hes charged me for 4 new bosch glow plugs and did not want anything for the labour.

Surely it should only be 3 plugs he charged you for ?

Hmmm sumat not quite right there ! :suspicious:

Charged me for four since the fourth one is boxed in my pocket - Original Bosch jobbie.

The ones he was trying to get out, that he found out were broken, were the ones i put in ages ago - that never seemed to work - they were cheap and i'm thinking completely crap quality (had nothing stamped on them at all).

Either way, i have the car, currently no problems and need to decide how to move forward. 1) Find someone in Prague who can extract it professionaly without head off 2) Drive it little, but go back to garage in a few weeks for him to try again 3) Head off - can't afford this.

I know this is hardly the right view but, if it will come out under pressure why not just take the rest of the plug out, open your bonnet, run the engine and let it fly

Dr_evil said:

I know this is hardly the right view but, if it will come out under pressure why not just take the rest of the plug out, open your bonnet, run the engine and let it fly

Click to expand...

Yeah. Rev it hard though

Pikey repair technique

We tried that - it didn't come out when cranking. His suggestion therefore was, to drive it for a while and come back in a few weeks to see if it's loosened enough to be pulled out (he can grab it with needlenoses), or shoot out.

He covered it in penetrating oil or something to loosen it up a little.

My only single concern here is if it loosens and falls into the cylinder...is that likely? He seems to think not.

Car on the way home was fine.

Not likely to fall in

Int they tapered ??

should be

Ok, if it won't fall in (i would like to know for sure of course ) - then i guess i can do what he said, run it for a few weeks then take it back to see if it's loosened it up.

Thanks for the advice so far.

I had the same - number one snapped off flush with the head - my guy drilled a hole are tried welding a short rid to it to get a grip but the weld kept breaking - in the end he popped some weld on to seal it and left it (I agreed to this and he is a good guy)

It starts and runs ok on 3 do I am not too worried - I am interested in what you decide to do.

Angeloc: As i understand it, yours broke with the thread in? My threaded part came out, its only the tip that stayed in (about 3.2cm long) - so its only wedged / held in by the gunk - hence was worried about it dropping into the cylinder.

Will drive it for a while, see if it frees up, or pops out and hits the threaded part that is there to stop it blowing out completely.

Also, does it glow with only 3 plugs? I thought the TD4 when it detected one plug at fault, no longer sent power to the others? My glow plug light does not come on at all even with three new and tested plugs.

No it will glow but it very rarely needs it - the light only comes on for a few seconds on the coldest mornings otherwise it's not needed.

Ok, funny that, mine used to show up on the dash at least for a second every time i got the key to position 2 regardless of time of year or engine temp.

The one day it abruptly stopped - plus the glow plugs stopped working. Hence putting it into the garage today to have them changed again (didn't trust the quality of the last ones. )

Either way, i hope i get this plug out before the temp drops too much over here.

You may be right but if it does lift it is do short a time I kind of miss it. I know when it gets cold here - 0 C then it's on for a few more seconds - the car starts well either way. If anything I notice a little engine cd feel for a few hundred yards and it does sound quieter after a mile or so but I think that would be the same regardless.