In the near future I will be changing all eight glow plugs on my 2000 f250, Me and my dad ohm tested them today and two are normal and six won't register.I was wondering if their is any tips or trick that would help me accomplish this task in a timely manner. Also anything I need to watch out for or check while I have the valve covers off? Thanks Cody

 

I just finished doing this on mine, here's a few things I found out and what helped.


1.) The bolt on the rear of the valve cover towards the cab (both sides) is a pain in the *** to get to. I used a swivel, and a short 13mm.

2.) I had to remove my AC compressor from it's mount (did not disconnect hoses) to get the passenger cover off

3.) Remove the fill tube (will seem obvious once you dive in)

4.) When removing the GP's, loosen them, then use a small piece of hose to slip over the end, make sure it fits snug enough to turn them. Find this piece of hose before you install the new glow plugs to make it easy. The reasoning for this is that you can't get the GP's out completely with a ratchet (10mm), it will hang up on the rockers.

5.) BUY MOTORCRAFT / BERU glowplugs. I bought Autolite's first from the zone, took them back and paid a little more for the BERU's from Oreilly.

6.) Put anti-seize on the threads of the new plugs before putting them in, save yourself the headache later.

 

More than you wanted to know...

 

I went to ford and bought motorcraft glow plugs today. About how long did it take to do it ?

 

Good lord... You spent too much then.


It will probably take a couple hours depending on your pace you're working at. In a shop setting, probably 30 minutes. I took my time, and did the 50 cent mod while I was under there.

 

I know someone in the parts department at ford so I get them for cost. I'll be in our shop doing them so hopefully it won't take to long. Thank you for the tips

 

I use a shop rag and compressed air to blow out the oil that is puddled around the plug (unless the injectors are already out...then I don't worry about the oil). I make up a big catcher's mitt and put the air nozzle right in the center, give a squeeze and it blows the oil right into the rag. Honestly though...the oil isn't really worth worrying about, you could just yank the plugs and proceed as normal.

I use a deep well 10mm socket on a 1/4" rachet drive extension to break the glow plugs loose. I use some duct tape to secure the socket to the extension because mine pops off easily. Just loosen the glow plugs but not too much or the socket will crash into the bottom of the rocker arms and it won't come out.

Once all the GPs are loose, I take a short length of vacuum line and slide it over the post end of the plug. Use your new plugs to test for what size tube you should use. It needs to be tight. Then spin the plug out and use the same tube for re-installation. Use the shortest length extension as possible for the torque stage, extensions compromise the accuracy of the tool so it's best to be right on the fastener when possible.

Make sure you have a light, don't guess that you know where the hole is because the pushrod openings are easy to find and you don't want the glow plugs going down there or your 2 hr job will take much longer. I have a long jaw set of needle nose pliers that I use to remove and re-install the connectors on the glow plugs. I use a small screw driver to make sure they are seated correctly (while taking care not to damage the wire).

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info ! While I'm under there is their anything else I should check? Other than the harness? I read somewhere re torque the injector bolts.

 

Not a problem, didn't even get my hands dirty. Shamed my 20 year old son into doing the job for his old dad. I did help with some of the valve cover bolts. Don't disconnect any thing under the cover except the leads, one at a time.

 

If you did a check with an ohm meter you have likely done a lot of reading up on it already.

I was going to put GP in mine (2001 7.3L) as it would not start when the weather got cold. I took a lot of heat from the guys on the forum and I should have done it anyway but I did not replace mine when I had the covers off as I found the the plugs were coming loose on the valve cover gaskets. When I plugged them in tight I had my resistance back on the glow plugs and it's started great in cold weather ever since. I did the 50 cent mod while I was in there, really surprised I never stalled along side the road somewhere as loose as the plugs were. I had about 110K on it at the time.

Check the injector torque, I did have some 'loose' injector bolts. Make sure all your turbo boots are in GOOD shape and it may not hurt to have an extra o-ring on hand for the filler tube as it will likely be swelled from oil and hard to get back in place.

Don

Edit: This was last year I did this

 

My dad told me about the ohm test he's got a 99 f350, I'm still new to the diesel world. Six didn't even register and one was 0.5 and the other was 0.7. Only reason I decided to test them was because its been hard to start in the mornings even after its been plugged in. I just replaced the gpr with a stancore so I know it isn't that. I will check the injector bolts while I'm in there. Thanks for all the info, it's great to have this kind of resource to use.

 

What is the 50 cent mod?

 

If you look in your thread, you will see what the 50 cent mod is if you follow the link?

It is the insertion of a ground down quarter under the retaining clip for the UVCH plug to prevent it from working it's way loose.

 

Sorry, got caught up in this thread, haven't checked mine in a bit...