Glow plug difficulty
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From: Western Slope, CO
Glow plug difficulty
I'm hoping someone can help me out here, cuz I'm afraid I'm in a pickle. I am replacing the glow plug in the #2 cylinder and have run into a problem. The short story is that the glow plug has disassembled itself, and the rod is stuck in the block. The "sleeve" of the glow plug (the part you put the socket on) unscrewed and came out leaving the long, slender part of the plug in the block. All I can get on the end of the rod is a pair of needlenose pliers and have, as of yet, been unable to get it to budge. I assume there are deposits on the end of the plug that are keeping it from coming out, but it may actually be a situation of the end being mushroomed by, perhaps, contact with the piston. Any ideas, words of advice, etc.? I really need your help, so anything would be much appreciated. By the way, it is a '97 PSD.
Thanks in advance.
-David
Thanks in advance.
-David
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It's just crud buildup, not mushrooming. Put some penetrating lubricant in there and let it soak. Get some Vise-grips on there... you may need to buy some of the needle-nosed ones... Make sure they are really gripping the stub end well. Then tap *in* a tiny bit, then tap *out* a tiny bit, and so on. You tap in to get some momentum on it when it's coming back out, but you don't want to lose the grip on it and have it go into the cylinder, so do be careful! Eventually it will come out.
Here are mine from one side on the '97, with one that broke apart like that:
http://www.backglass.org/duncan/f250..._glowplugs.jpg
In all likelihood that was a glow plug that wasn't working, so the crud built up on it.
Duncan
Here are mine from one side on the '97, with one that broke apart like that:
http://www.backglass.org/duncan/f250..._glowplugs.jpg
In all likelihood that was a glow plug that wasn't working, so the crud built up on it.
Duncan
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From: Western Slope, CO
Thanks for your replies so far. I did put some penetrating lube in just in case it was deposits. I will be getting back to the truck shortly to see if there are any improvements. Assuming deposits, would a shot of carb cleaner do any good?
-David
-David
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It' s good to use whatever you use to soften the crud, but really in the end what makes it flake off is the in-out-twist action on the plug stub using the Vise-grips. Just make sure you have a really good grip on it, you need to hold on for dear life once you get it moving in the bore so it doesn't end up *in* instead of *out*!
Duncan
Duncan
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From: Bonney Lake, WA
I had a glow plug element stuck in the bottom of the shaft, but there was no way I could get a set of vise grips on it. That shaft is long and narrow.
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From: Flint, MI
wingit1x
Liquid wrench and lots of patents. Take your time and let the liquid wrench do the work.
I freaked out once when I broke off three header bolts in the heads of my classic 71 Dodge Challenger. Turned my stomach. Spent the next week using liquid wrench, vise grips and finally the acetylene torch. VERY CAREFULLY. The heat is what really helped. Too bad you can't get a little heat in that area. It would really help.
Best of luck,
Randy
Liquid wrench and lots of patents. Take your time and let the liquid wrench do the work.
I freaked out once when I broke off three header bolts in the heads of my classic 71 Dodge Challenger. Turned my stomach. Spent the next week using liquid wrench, vise grips and finally the acetylene torch. VERY CAREFULLY. The heat is what really helped. Too bad you can't get a little heat in that area. It would really help.
Best of luck,
Randy
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Originally Posted by Quadzilla
I had a glow plug element stuck in the bottom of the shaft, but there was no way I could get a set of vise grips on it. That shaft is long and narrow.
Duncan
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From: Western Slope, CO
Thanks for the replies everyone. I was fortunate in that I could get needlenose Vise grips on the end of the electrode and was finally able to free the sucker. It took all day to do one glow plug, but now I know how its done, what things look like, etc. Hopefully it will be a while before I have to do that again. I may test the glow plugs more often, though, and try to get a bad one out before it has time to build so much carbon on it.
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Originally Posted by Hyside5
Frobozz, I hate to waste your time but could you quickly explain your picture. I luckily have not been inside my motor yet.
On the other side, 2 broke when trying to remove them. Using a meter beforehand, I only had one working glow plug. Clearly I waited too long before doing this job, and of course it was bitter cold out at the time because nobody discovers bad glow plugs when it's warm out!
Duncan
