Thanks everyone,

I decided to go the route and remove the head. Found two of the tips but can't find the third one. Heads are pretty carboned up and the valves don't appear to be seating the greatest. Figure while I have the engine down this far I am going to just pull the whole thing. Have a little leak in the oil pan gasket. Besides having the heads checked for cracks, what else should I have looked at now that the engine will be taken apart?

 

What is the best GP to use as a replacement?
Bill.

 

If a person could 'see' the little piece of GP down the hole, why cant we take a long punch an crush the little piece of GP to bits, and crank it on through?

Another thought on that, if we brought the Piston up to nearly TDC, and propped the Exhaust valve open, couldn't we blow the errant piece out through the open ex valve?

 

Gosh... Now I'm worried. Is this something common?

What makes the tips of the GP's come off when removing them? What is the best brand of GP's to use on the current market?

Sorry for the beginner questions... I'm a novice to diesels, but am eager to learn.

Nightrain

 

leaving em' in there too long will cause the ends to bulge, or grow.
I have cnanged mine twice. When the first one failed, I changed them all.
You never know if one just quits working, but if one shorts, the wait to start light goes of quickly. Then I changed them all. Largly because of what I read on this forum.
It's such a comfort when this thing starts, quickly, without any plugin's or problems.

 

24 volts!!!!!!!! what?? there shouldn't be 24 volts to the plugs. but in case you mistyped and meant 12 volts, then ok, mistakes are made. just making sure. now, when a glowplug breaks off, it usually sticks in the head. i had one break off in there, and i just said what the heck, and left it alone. it took 3 months before it thought it was time to pop out. i kept an extra g.p. and a 3/8 dee socket-ratchet in the door pocket of my ickup all the time. pulled over and slapped a new g.p. in, hooked the wire up and off i went. not, if it is in fact down in the cylinder, you should disconnect and remove the batteries and get a breakover and turn the motor over AT LEAST 2 revolutions, i would do more to make sure, but if it's in there, it will lock the motor up to where you will feel it stop abruptly. if it spins over, freely, then next, "to double check", put your finger lightly over the hole while someone spins the motor with a breakover bar and see if air comes out the glow plug holes. if no air comes out, this means that the g.. is stil in fact stuck in the head contrary to what you thought "wishfull thinking". if all this checks out okay, and you are a chance taker, go ahead and run it and oil it every once in a while till it pops out. i got a little funny looking ding in my hood where it came out at 20,000 m.p.h. lolbut it's better than a blown motor OR pulling the head off. DO NOT POKE IT DOWN IN THE HOLE!!! as plc 7.3 said earlier.

 

Only buy OEM Motorcraft/Beru GPs, Autolite and Champion last about a week and burn up. Usually when the burn up they swell, when you remove a swelled GP with a ratchet and socket you will not feel the resistance of the head mushrooming just before snapping off. Once the tip is off it can fall into the cylinder, the engine cannot be run and hopefully pass the GP tip out the exhaust without catastrophic results.

Visit the Ziggster's web page posted above nice pictures.
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The best gps are Motorcraft/Beru. Autozone for less than $9.

 

My 86 ate up 3 Delco tips one day, they wts light came on suddenly while driving and stayed on until I could pull over and stop,during the process the engine kinda hesitated and skipped then went back to normal except for a small ticking noise that I still have when the engine is cold.
I think it must have slightly bent a valve rod when the tip flew out the exhaust valve,it probably got caught between the valve and seat.Anyway,since then I put in a manual switch and Bosch GP's, no problem since,I keep the button pushed for 4 seconds and it fires up everytime even in the coldest weather.
Magic

 

Motorcraft Buru made in italy I believe. Buy at AutoZone about 9 bucks each.

 

Yep, he be right!!! Except they are made in Germany.

 

If it's ok with everybody, can I jump in? I'm changing plugs (Motorcraft) and the relay today but when I asked autozone about the controller, the counter guy couldn't find it. Is it a dealer/wrecking yard item or is the relay and controller the same thing? Should I change the wiring harness also?

'86 F250 4x4 6.9 and C6

 

The relay & controller aren't the same,I would go to a manual switch on this one,just change the relay,get rid of the controller and go here to get the diagram:
http://www.members.shaw.ca/k2pilot/G...%20diagram.jpg

get a temporary pushbutton switch that will pop back,push the switch (the wts light will go on) count to 5 and fire it up!! No need to change the harness unless you think it's in bad shape, you can always test it for continuity with a test light if in doubt.
Saigon

 

Cool, thanks for the info, bro'. I checked out Rustic FACs lastnight. Hell of a job you guys did keepin' the grunts alive. Thanks again!

 

Just a quick note to thank Ziggster on his informative post. Nice info and it saved my a$$ today. I pulled one broken "AUTOLITE" tip out of the drivers side head according to his procedure. The vacuum trick does work. I used my normal household vacuum with a fabbed up suction tube (various size clear tubing necking down to the size that fits in the injector hole).

Bottom line: use factory glowplugs and say your prayers every night.