Swollen glow plug

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Sep 25, 2013 | 09:21 PM

SEH43

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Joined: May 2013

Posts: 286

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From: Salem, OR

Swollen glow plug

Have an 86, 6.9L F250, glow plugs worked fine all summer. Now that it is getting colder, gp's only run about 5 sec. #1 was fine, first CYL left bank wasn't. Went to pull it and its stuck. One section says to throw a heavy blanket over the gp and crank it over w/o starting it. Has anyone tried this?

I can unscrew it completely but it won't budge past that. I'm really not anxious to pull the head. So any help or suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks

Sep 25, 2013 | 09:35 PM

Stangrcr1

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Joined: Jul 2010

Posts: 1,154

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From: Marysville, WA

I might turn the crank with a breaker bar on the balancer bolt, but not with the starter. That glow plug burned up alright. The only scary part is you try this and part of the glow plug stays in the cylinder. Kinda hard to fish out. Seen that on a 7.3 and we had to pull the head. Hopefully yours will come out easier.

Sep 26, 2013 | 07:03 PM

Franklin2

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Joined: Jan 2001

Posts: 56,997

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From: Virginia

It's too late of course, but you get that problem by putting cheap parts store glowplugs in those trucks. They like to swell and burn out. Only use Motorcraft or International glowplugs, they will be made in Germany by a company called Beru. If you look on ebay, sometimes you can find a deal on them.

I have heard of people putting the piston up to the top, then gently trying to get the glowplug out. If it happens to break off, sometimes they go ahead and pull the injector, and with the piston still at the top, try to blow air through one hole to hopefully persuade the broken piece of the other hole.