Glow Plugs

changed my glowplugs yesterday, when i took the old ones out they were all coverd in black oil, i no they shouldnt be like that does anyone no why thanks.

Sure it's not just soot/carbon build up?

no definatly oil, it was close to dripping off the plugs

they are probably like that because they are not working test them with a battery to check if they are working then check the wiring

Don't burn your fingers!

They should get RED HOT in a couple of seconds.

They should not be wet oily.

Are they being powered? Do a live check on the feed cable.

CharlesY

they are working fine, i now have another problem i took out 1 of the glow plugs to check and see if it had any change with new plugs and it broke off leaving the tip inside and i cant get it out, would leaving it running for a bit and some WD40 blow it out or do more damage than good, if not do you know where i can find a guide to takeing the head off as iv never done it before, thanks

DONT RUN THE ENGINE WITH THE TIP IN THE CYLINDER !!! it will fcuk your bores, valves or pistons or all three ! you could always try one of them telescopic things with a magnet on the end and try to fish it out of the cylinder ? failing that i reckon its a head off job !

its not magnetic, am gona take the head off, does anyone know the torqe settings for the head

if your talking head bolts and a 300tdi... head bolts are 40nm to start with, then 60 degrees, 60 degrees and a further 20 degrees for the big buggers. browse the web and you'll find what order to do them in.

DO NOT START THE ENGINE!

There is a slim chance the bit may go straight out the exhaust manifold .., but it's a terrible chance to take.

I have done this AND removed the bit of glowplug WITHOUT taking the head off. It was a 2.5NA 15J engine

Take out the injector.. you now have TWO holes into the cylinder

Slowly turn the engine till the piston is nearly at top dead, preferably with both valvwes SHUT

Put on safety glasses or goggles.

Using an air line and plenty of pressure blast compressed air IN the glowplug hole, and wiggle the air blast about. Sooner or later (probably sooner!) the glowplug tip will shoot out the injector hole like a bullet and hit you smack between the eyes.

Job done.

You read it in Landyzone first.

CharlesY

Hey, maybe the tip hasn't dropped off. maybe it just broke and is stuck in the head.

PLAN B

I had TWO of those at the same time I had the tip come clean off.

I made a small tool, to use as a puller.

I drilled into stuck part with a drill just under quarter inch (the right size for the plugs in the 2.5NA etc) then tapped the hole quarter inch UNF, screwed in the home made tool and PULLED. It came out eventually. Both of them but it was a sweat for a while!

BEFORE you try this make sure THAT cylinder is at top dead centre on a firing stroke - both valves tight shut. Then if the tip does fall off you can hoick out the injector and blast the tip out with an airline as in Plan A

CharlesY

no its well stuck, taken head off now and still struggling to get it out without damaging the valves or anything gona go and buy a rubber mallet

jamiehoward said:

no its well stuck, taken head off now and still struggling to get it out without damaging the valves or anything gona go and buy a rubber mallet

Click to expand...

Get a quality pin drift and bash it INWARDS right through the middle of the plug from the outside so that the very tip gets knocked off.

Once you get the drift back out you can ease out the plug's remains.

As I say I had to drill and tap two of mine and take them out with a small home-made slide-hammer tool. Which I still have somewhere ....

Copper grease is wonderful stuff.

But only after it leaves the can.

CharlesY

il give that a go, gona finish my tea and cornflakes and get back to it
thanks

jamiehoward said:

il give that a go, gona finish my tea and cornflakes and get back to it
thanks

Click to expand...

Work carefully and do not use brute force!

Many gentle taps with a small hammer will succeed where one smash with a two-pounder won't.

Patience is the key for stuck bits.

Good Luck!

CharlesY

ok, will be very carefull, will i get away without replaceing the head gasket, it looks in good condition, i needed the car for the weekend and cant wait for 1 to be deliverd

jamiehoward said:

ok, will be very carefull, will i get away without replaceing the head gasket, it looks in good condition, i needed the car for the weekend and cant wait for 1 to be deliverd

Click to expand...

NO, I'm afraid not.

Once a head gasket has been used, that's it. It will never seal again.

In the olden days some engines used solid copper gaskets which could be used again, but that was then. You gasket is a sandwich of stuff, copper, steel, possibly asbestos, and Heaven knows all what, designed to squish down as the head is torqued down. If it moves at all (early TD5 heads did this) the gasket will probably fail.

The temptation is to slobber it in gasket goo and tighten it down very hard. Don't be tempted! You may warp the head (so it will never work again), break studs, strip nuts and studs, and generally cause a lot of damage, and it probably won't work anyway.

But that's not to say someone hasn't tried it and maybe even someone got away with it once ... but I never heard of anyone being so lucky. It's a diesel by the way, and that makes it even more unlikely due to the very high compression ratio.

Sorry chum ... you need a new head gasket.

CharlesY

luckily allparts had one on the shelf so will get it done now, i got the glow plug out aswel thanks for your help

jamiehoward said:

luckily allparts had one on the shelf so will get it done now, i got the glow plug out aswel thanks for your help

Click to expand...

Wow ... well done!

Looks like you could be mobile in time.

Take your time, and do the job right.

Clean the top pf the block, and the bottom of the head with petrol or alcohol to make sure they are perfectly clean and dry before fitting the head.

Clean all the head bolts threads and nuts, and oil the threads with copper-grease or a little engine oil.

Try to make sure that oil left in the head doesn't drip onto the new gasket as you fit the head. Fit the head over the studs and torque it down right away. Torque it down in many stages as evenly as possible and in the recommended order. Then wait an hour and torque it down again.

Little and often ... patience.

Remember copper grease on the new glowplugs!

Question -

How is that there is always time to do a job a second or even third time, when there wasn't time to do it right the first time?

CharlesY

all done, the disco is running again, not got it up to runing temp yet but all good so far, am avin a well deserved cuppa then takin it for a run