I recall doing glow plugs on a Perkins Prima (ally head).
After a couple of days soaking, the first came out with a thin spiral of ally thread. I very carefully fitted a new one and took the others back for a refund.
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does anyone bother to remove their glow plugs once in a while to make sure that the things will come out when needed?
The procedure is too risky in my opinion. Modern ones are prone to breaking off, and many say if you remove them you should replace them as they often break when refitting them.
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if it ain't broke don't fix it.
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I was probably more interested if there was school of thought considering preventative periodic removal of injectors.
Not suggesting i'm going down that road, just wondered if anyone did.
I'm sure we've all read posts on technical here where seized injectors have led to the effective scrapping of vehicles worth around £5k as engine removal, head separation and drilling out seems to be the order of the day.
I've seen pictorial posts elsewhere of MB A class Diesels with faulty injectors being scrapped as apparently you cannot remove head without first removing injectors (don't shoot me if i've got that wrong), and some even weld huge slide hammers to the injector body and bash the things out.!
If newer Diesels are also prone to seizing the glow worms in place it would almost make sense to replace the blighters (and reseat injectors) every 3 years or so as a matter of service routine.
Course if you use Millers they won't soot up anyway..;)
Edited by gordonbennet on 20/08/2009 at 22:19
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Don`t mention the Prima. One sheared off and had to be (head off) burnt out. I`m still traumatized by that and it`s the one (simple) DIY job I won`t do.
That said, none have been required since - although the 1.9D Punto has been flashing its glowplug light for 15 seconds or so, after a start for the last 3 years. It fires up cleanly on all cylinders though - as before.
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GB, What about the risk of getting microscopic grit particles into the Common Rail multi micro hole injectors and pipes - when it was previously a pristine system.
If it was an old mechanical injector - maybe. But even then it seems to me like it would be looking for trouble.
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If it was an old mechanical injector - maybe. But even then it seems to me like it would be looking for trouble.
Inclined to agree Oily, but there should be a better way of ensuring these things come undone when we need to change them.
As it is they usually fail outside warranty so the dealer/maker can breath a huge sigh of relief and start adding noughts to the bill when it goes wrong.
Petrol engines look more attractive every day..;)
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NC's right, these newer type of Glow Plug will be more expensive than existing types. The additional technology is required to reduce emissions, especially NOx, is a requirement for Euro VI diesel engines, although other solutions are or being investigated in R&D.
To remove an existing Glow Plug it's advisible to use penetrating lubricant around the plugs threads prior to attempting to remove it. If it's stuck in then leaving it to soak for up to 2 days often helps.
Testing glow plugs can be done with them still installed in the engine. Disconnect the wire going to each glow plug, then connect a test light to the positive + battery terminal and touch the point of the test light to each glow plug terminal. Light on is good, light off is bad and plugs need replacing.
When correctly tightened there shouldn't be a problem getting a plug out when/if required to do so, however, an aluminum head & steel Glow Plug combination don't help matters.
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