Ok, so I'm new to diesels, and Ive been scowering the web site, searching through countless threads , looking for some advice on the glowplugs.

My friend has an '89 f250 7.3L IDI that I might buy from him. He says the glowplugs work just fine, but I was able to talk him into buying brand new Motorcraft ZD-9 GPs, oil pan and valve cover gaskets, also we are putting a new starter and solenoid on it too.

I keep hearing that you have to be very careful when removing the old GP, only using rotational movement, NO DIAGONAL movement or it can/will break into pieces. I really dont want to break off any tips or have to pull the heads. I also wanted to replace the GP so I know its done and before they actually go bad so its less likely they will break.

I want to know exactly what I need to do to remove the GPs. I'm not a diesel tech, not a professional mechanic, don't have a diesel repair manual yet and will have no internet access where we are going to be working on it. I am a moderately ok back-yard mechanic with a pretty good selection of tools at my disposal. If I buy this truck, i want it to be a good running truck with minimal problems as everyone wishes. I dont need or have the money to deal with another lemon.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I hope one day to actually provide others with knowledge to work on diesels and not always ask for help.

 

they're all real easy to get to unless he has a turbo on it. just remove the air cleaner and you've got free access. IIRC they take a 3/8 wrench (deep socket). your 1/4 drive set should be enough to do the job unless you have a stuck one - i think the torque spec for them is like 10 ft-lbs or something like that (don't quote me on it).
some of us have pulled out a set of autolites without any trouble, others have had to fight every brand out there. but as said, motorcraft is the only way to go.
since you're concerned about diagonal forces on the plugs while removing them, put a u-joint between the socket and the extension going to your ratchet handle, then you'll have no leverage for funny forces.

be aware that if you disturb the return lines from the injectors, they'll likely start leaking. when they do, its guaranteed to cause hard starting. it'll be start-stall-crank forever-start-run fine.

as for the rest of the work you mentioned on it, the oil pan is sealed with RTV not an actual gasket, though some stores offer a gasket for it. take the gasket back and grab a tube of black RTV.
but as you're down there, take a look at where its leaking from. a common place to leak is from the oil cooler on the left side of the engine - its that long tube thing along the side of the block.

these rigs are really pretty easy to work on

 

Yeah what he said. I have a 90 with 185K on it. the only problem I had was the wire lines fall apart. Actually the rubber boot at the connector. From all the heat over the years. I did not repair but you may want to use new heat shrink on the ends. I see no reason as nothing will come into contact with the top of the glow plug.

 

Mine are all exposed too. Hasn't burnt down yet!

 

before you remove them, use a air gun and blow all the debris off the area, so nutin gets in the holes...

 

thanks for all the replies. we didnt get around to the GPs yet, I was afraid of breaking them off. the connectors look pretty deteriorated and cracked. I was hearing of ppl replacing the harness with a new one when they do the GPs.

where would be a good place to get that?

also we decided the gaskets didnt need replaced anyway, so we just returned them. We also thought the guy put in all new injectors but they dont look new. after we finally got it running (took a few hours of trying to jump it with my friends other diesel) we took it for a test drive and got back popped the hood and realized the whole passenger side of the engine, all the injectors were leaking, along with #6 leaking. we popped the metal lines off but thats as far as we got. Im looking up the seal kits for injectors right now, but we are going to try putting it back together and see if it still leaks first.

 

Put a test light to the glow plugs if your concerned. If the light comes on when hook to + terminal then it's good. If you do replace them I use anti seize on them. Just tore down my engine and all came out with no problem. Don't worry about the harness, just go to the parts store and buy 3/16 vaccume line and cut it to fit.

 

when you do deal with your return lines, remember to lubricate every fitting before assembly, especially the o-rings. opinions on lube vary, ranging from fuel to grease. i choose black moly grease, but almost anything will work

 

Ok, well I'll be replacing the GPs regardless, I want to do it before they start to fail and burnt up. I replaced all the return lines with new hose and new clamps. I didn't lube up the connections though. I didnt see that post in time. But I did wiggle them back and forth to get them on, like how you do for regular fuel injectors so the o-rings dont fall apart or get chunks taken out of them.

I pulled all the injectors to clean them too, they are not new, def either used or just old ones. Seven of them were Delphi's, I dont know if that is the stock part, is it? except the one in #7, it was some off brand united technologies, made in italy I think it said. but it was a different tip set up and it fell apart as soon as I got it out so it needs replaced anyway. It took awhile to get it to bust loose too and all the other ones were easy. I put a dab of anti-sieze on them too and cleaned everything up on them (except the o-rings), with a wire brush. Some of them were pretty burnt up or looked like fuel was gelled up on it.

I also broke a wire connection at the filter, not big deal, just needs a new connector. What is it?

here is a picture of it.