Not sure if this could work but it it would/does then it could save alot of hard work from a fallen glow plug tip.

Ok follow closely to this.

1. Glowplug tip falls in while in attempt to remove. So you either have to remove head or just hope she pounds right on out of their, right...hopefully this right is untrue
2. OK. Remove the top valve cover.
3. Turn engine manually untill that particular pistion reaches close to TDC. Stop if you feel a bind
4. undo the exhaust valve rocker arm
5. Take out valve spring as if to remove the valve
6. Now remove the exhaust manifold completly
7. Get a small yet very very powerfull magnet (old hard drive magnets cut/broke down) glued to the end of a small rod or wire. stick to top of valve steam.(I will explain more details about magnetic rod stick in the end)
8. Rotate engine some so valve will open enough to get a wire through.
9. Use a small (snake like tool) with a wobble magnetic tip and stick it through the exhaust port and down into the cylinder. Move it, turn it shake it in and out and pull it out. If no piece, the go fishing again.
10. Note: I and a few others may as well have another advantage as I have a very small bore scope (has a camera, a very small led and a snake like 3ft chord. Mine is the new snap on model. Total width is 8mm wide at the head and like 6mm or so for the chord. It gives you a great resolution color image. I thought I could remove an injector and stick it down in the hole. It wont go through the final hole but the camera and ligth are in the center so now I should be able to see in the cylinder. (unless the precup prevents this) It may also work down the gp hole as well. Then You can see where your wire is and where the pice of metal is. It came with a magnetic tip and might even be able to fished through the exhaust port.

Ok, Hopfully that pulls it out, pull your valve back up and finish it up. Wala, no head removel. I would happen to me in winter and All I could find If I did have this happen is a small, shop. Hopefully it helps.

As for the magnets

The one to hold the valves. Basicly try to come up with a way to be able to pull the vale back through the hole it goes down. I figured a small hard drive mag broke up and glued to a very small stick, string or wire. As for gluing it, You would need to cover the whole magnet except for the surface to touch the valve that way the glue cover portion of the magnet won't catch on anything else, or atleast limit is attraction to make it easier to pull valve back up and also so the magnet doesn't grab the edges.

Im not sure what style would be the best to go in the exhaust port to retrive the glowplug. You may have to dream something up. Something too powerfull will catch everything it touches, Not enough power will cause the retrived item to fall off.

I feel this would work great (if it would work) in a crunch. Removing the head (and probably in the winter as my luck goes) requies messy draing and messing with the coolant, cleaning the head and block, cost of a new gasket (the probably don't sell those in singles). Thats after removing the intake, acceries and making room to pull it. And if its the passenger side, well, who wan'ts to pull a motor cause a cheap or defective glowplug fell in. i work on diesels all day long, and when I get home I don't want to work more. Not to mention my bay is real close to the front large OH door and a windy winter leaves my bay ice cold, litterly blows my radiant heat away. I only like to work more on while getting paid OT. This has to be much much easier. And if you know a friend that droped one and wants you to do the job of pullin the head, You could do it quicker and cheaper this way and make more $$ or go have steaks.. Depending on who it is.

Anyway, Yall give it some thought and give me your feed back please. If I ever have this happen and or find someone who has done it, I would like to try it. (hey, I can get that broken tip out quick and for only say $200 or $300 if I can get it. And if you can't get it out with just a coupple trys, keep tryin. Im sure it takes paticents to do it right.

And if it fails and you can't get it out or if the valve doesn't go back, what have you lost. Nothing. Now your a little abouve square one with with the ex manifold of, now your upset and motivated to just pull the head.

If it does work, I will have to make a genuine multi purpuse glowplug tip extractor kit and patent it.

 

I'm not sure you could get the magnet to where the tips fall. Are the tips magnetic (I'll have to grab one from the shop to see). The tips usually fall into the precup which is above the valves and piston. You'd have to snake through the exhaust run (how much room do you have to even see into the exhaust port with the engine in place?), into the cylinder and then do a 180* upwards to get there. Plus you're completely surrounded by cast iron making it that much more difficult. It may be possible, but you could probably pull the head quicker and with less frustration, plus if the magnet gets stuck...... I may check it out on my spare engine, at least I can see into the ports.

 

I would give it a try by taking out the injector and putting a small magnet down the Injector hole. I have seen this done before on a marine engine that had a broken glow plug tip.

They are magnetic and a magnet will pick the tip up just fine. Just put the piston at TDC before you drop the tip into the cylinder. If you don't get to TDC before pushing the tip into the precombustion chamber the tip could fall into the cylinder and then things could get a lot more complicated.

Seb...

 

yup. it is much easier to just remove the injector and fetch it out that way.

 

For one thing the tips are NOT magnetic.

I don't know how you are suppose to get a tip out through the injector port...its a tiny hole...problaby about the same size as the glow plug hole.

I just lost one down the hole tonight and I am loving the idea of dropping the exhaust valve. I am going to try that this weekend and blast compressed air in there like a mad man to get the tip to fly out the exhaust port. I really really really dont want to have to take a the head off. I just pray it works.

 

I just checked a Beru and it is slightly magnetic. Not enough that it would hold very well to a magnet while pulling it through a tiny hole... You might try hooking a small hose to a vacuum and trying to suck it out the injector hole.

 

I thought it was farrus metal, maybe not. I really really like the air through the gp hole or injector hole. A great 1 inch air and a fitting adapter should blow that sucker right out!!! Im sure the smaller line will do. Didn't think of that...Great Idea, think outside the box. Give her a few burst but don't let that valve fall unless you got something holding it or you may not get er back up. (unless you have a great answer to that as well)

 

I just checked an old champion plug I took out with a strong magnet and it is also only slightly magnetic.

 

I wont let the piston go down too far from TDC and once I get the spring off I'm gonna put a pair of vice grips on the top of the valve so it can't fall in.

I also thought about attaching a piece of flexible tubing to the vaccuum cleaner and sucking the bad boy out. I hope there is enough room to fish 1/2" OD tubing past the valve stem into the cylinder. Planning on making my attempt on Friday if it isn't raining. Would be nice to have a nice warm garage!

Between blowing it out or sucking it out one of them has to work.

 

If the piston is at top dead center, the valve will not go far.
I am going to guess about 1/2" before it is sitting on the piston.

 

First thing I would do is continue replacing the rest of the glow plugs ... Just in case another one fell in ... Then take all the pieces out at the same time ...

 

maga cab,, I think you have a good idea, I think that with this idea and some of the guys on this site we could save us a lot of work...
To me the exh. valve Idea sounds like it would work..
Tho the magnet down the injector hole would be my first try...

 

Dont let the compressed air push the piston down in the cyl.
I've seen gas engines turn from compressed air...

 

I wonder what would happen if you skipped the whole glowplug thing and retro-fitted the intake plenum heater off a cummins onto the intake throat underneath the aircleaner? I suppose it may be harder to fit this if you had a turbo though.

 

SUCCESS!!! Blowing it out worked quite well. I think it blew out when trying to blow air down the glow plug hole because if it was doing it when I was blowing in the exhaust port it probalby would have hit me in the head. I could hear it clanking every now and then and then it stopped so I started looking on the floor and there it was! Less than 5 minutes of blowing around and it was out.

Now just to get the other stuck ones out. I think I might just call this a victory and leave the other two alone since they are on the other cylinder bank. It still starts in 20° weather...just a little rough.