When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
How long to pull a valve cover for the first time on a 6.0? Time to do glow plugs on at least one side so just trying to figure out how long to plan for.
Don't know which side yet, but I know what I'm doing for Christmas.
You don't need to pull valve covers to do glow plugs. But I will tell you this, getting the harness off was the worse part for me. I broke most of them. Harnesses are cheap 30 - 40 dollars. Go ahead an buy em before you start if yo haven't already.
Are there any that are just about impossible to reach?
And what's the hard part about the harness? Is it not the slip on spark plug connector type connection? Does the wiring or boot get brittle, or do you have to disconnect the GPCM for some reason and it breaks there?
I just did this yesterday to the drivers side, have a new harness ready. They get brittle and are the slip on type connectors. I just unplugged the harness and yanked them out, replaced the glow plugs (14lb torque) and used a little petroleum jelly on the plug o-ring to make it easier to slide home. Passenger side is harder to do, remove the fender well and it's easier. Drivers side I did from the top, no problems.
It's a plug, just unplug it from the harness and plug in the new one, no need to mess with the module.
Last two on the rear passenger side are the worst ones to me.
It's a crappy design. The connector does click onto the glow plug but that's not the real issue. It's a plastic plug with an Oring that presses into a hole in the head. The plug has a small ring to grab hold of, wiggle and pull. It could have easily been something more substantial. The close proximity to the exhaust manifold makes the plastic brittle and it breaks easily. There is a special tool that works ok on the ones that have a little room around them to use it. If the budget allows, having a new harness on hand is a good idea. They are seperate, left/right.
Here's a pic of the tool. It's only a few bucks. I've lost track of the part number somehow.
Last edited by Rusty Axlerod; Dec 18, 2016 at 07:30 PM.
Reason: Add pic
I'll have her swing by the parts store for a free code read then. Since no one will be open on Christmas, I'll grab the appropriate side harness to have on hand just in case. I can always return it if I don't need it when the stores open back up.
Even cylinders on the driver side and odd on passenger, right? Any other things I need to know?
My trick for the glow plug harness is to wrap a 16 gauge wire around the base of the harness and twist to make it tight. Then I pull up. Done this several times without breaking the harness. It is especially useful if you are just doing one plug and want to get in and out quick.
I have done something similar, I do a lot a safety wiring on my aviation job and using .032 safety wire I'd go around the plug boot in the little groove using the wire twisting pliers then pull and rock the plug out with what ever angle I could get in the room available. It works pretty good until the plastic of the plug gets brittle from time and heat. So on the ones I have good access to I use the tool I pictured above and on the more hard to reach ones I use the safety wire. I have maybe a 90% success rate so far. The ones that broke were pretty brittle.
I may look into pulling the fender liners as some suggest, it may be easier and quicker than I'm thinking but so far I've just removed what's in the way from the top side. I will say for sure if you change one, go ahead and change all four on that side or you will be back in there sooner than you think.
I will say for sure if you change one, go ahead and change all four on that side or you will be back in there sooner than you think.
That's the part I'm undecided about. If I don't have to pull the valve covers, then it's not as time consuming as a deal. That means the kid will have to come visit more often than every 5,000 miles for her oil change. I'm not opposed to that.
I do have 4 glow plugs and the harness on hand for this weekend though just in case I decide I don't want to mess with it again.
