Hi all,

I'm seriously stuck with a glow plug repair and need some help please because if I can't fix myself I'm looking at £750 labour to take the cylinder head off to remove the seized plug, and this excludes parts!!! I've just spent £500 on a service, brake fluid change, timing and fan belt change. The car is starting to become a money pit! I can't get past the first stage of pulling out the top thin electrode.

Glow plug snapped below the threaded part within the cylinder head and what remains is a thin 2mm(ish) thick electrode part that sticks up out of the head by about 2cm. The rest of the glow plug remains in the head waiting to be pulled out.

So, I bought myself a removal kit and the first thing I need to do is remove the central electrode spike so I can start to drill a hole down the shaft of the glow plus to tap a bolt in for the use of the puller from the kit.

The protruding electrode WILL NOT pull out! I've clamped vice grips on, wrapped a rubber glove around the grips for extra grip and pulled and wriggled so much but it will not pull out! I've even soaked it in WD40. From looking at a new replacement plug I think it's because the bit I'm pulling goes right through the shaft of the glow plug down to the end that gets hot, which help combustion.

So, what I'd like someone to tell me is - will the part I'm pulling actually come off, or do I somehow need to drill it out so I can start the tapping process before pulling the plug out? If I need to drill it out, how do I do this when it's only around 2mm think? The drill but will just fall off either edge of the electrode because there's hardly anything for it to latch on to.

Any help greatly appreciated please!

Thanks,