I have a push button on the dash for my glow plugs. They were burnt out and I went to replace them. I had no problem with the first six, but the last two are stripped. I unscrewed them about three-quarters of the way out and now they keep turning but won't go up or down! I can't get close enough to them to try anything fancy.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 10-Jan-02 AT 11:43 PM (EST)]I'd tell ya what we used to do when I was in the Army but your not gonna want to do it. We'd break 'em off and then with a specially bent pair of needle nose we'd get as much of the broken stuff out as we could. Then we'd fire it up , rev it like a b*stard and call it a day. Course that was with old 6.2L GM (boat anchors) It worked cause it had pre-combustion chambers so that the broken parts wouldn't fall onto the piston. I'm not sure if the 6.9L is the old pre-combustion chamber design or if it is direct injection...sorry, good luck to you! :7

 

if you used to eather the engine to start it i know what the problem is. eather swells the end of the glow plug and it won't come out. guess what you have to do next.

 

I have used ether to start it once or twice, so I grapped a pair of ViceGrips and yanked those SOB's right right. Put the new ones in and my truck runs (and starts) great. Thanks for your help.

 

Alright!!! That's the way, show them glowplugs who's BOSS!!

BTW, get rid of your glow plug button and hook up the correct relay for 'em. Overuse(readverheating) of your glowplugs will cause them to swell too. Ask another 6.9L owner what his timing sequence is for his glow plug relay. First cycle should be around 7 seconds than it cycles on and off. You could just try and copy it if the budget doesn't support new parts.

Also, if your 6.9 is the pre-combustion chamber style diesel, (I still don't know, doesn't anybody out there know??) ether or other starting fluids are not a good thing. Good glow plugs and a strong pair of batteries are all you should need to start that engine.

 

Yeah, I found out when the glow plugs were down that I needed a new battery. I can't afford to hook up the correct relay but plan to soon. I want to own this truck forever.