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I just started changing out a set of glow plugs today. My truck has a 190k on it so i thought it was time to just do them. It also is hard starting if it gets below 40. The GPR does work good though. Anyway. I was able to get three on one side changed out really easily. Loosened right up and was able to take out with ease. However one was really tight. I have it probably 3/4 of the way out, but the socket head seemed to have rounded off, anybody have any ideas how to finish getting it out. I really dont want to pull the head to get it out. Also I didn't realize that there was a pocket of oil on top of the plugs so i am sure the oil ran into the cyl. Is there enough in there to hydro lock the motor. I don't want to bend a rod by cranking it over. Any help is great. I am still pretty new to diesels.
If you are near a marine dealer get some carbon solvent spray, can't remember the name made by Mercury Marine spray it real good and let it sit over night. U should pull the other plugs and turn it over by hand to help get the oil out of cylinders. Can cause hydralock depending on how much oil went in. When I do mine I use a turkey baster with a plastic extension and suck as much oil out from around glow plugs as possible. Hope this helps.
I broke 3 10mm craftsman sockets trying to get GP's out.... If the GP isn't rounded off, get yourself another socket and try again. As for oil, The little bit that seeps in while doing GP's is not going to hurt anything, but if you were to pull injectors and the oil from the galley was to flow into the cylinder, then you can pull the connections going to the UVC's and crank the engine over with the GP's removed and the Valve covers on. This would blast any oil out of the Cyl and into the head.... Then you might want to 2x your oil change cause there may be a bit of Diesel in oil.
Well I got it all back together. I bought a 1/4 socket set and I was able to slowly get that last glow plug out. It took a lot of work though. It swelled and was super tight, even past the threads. I only did one side though. I will do the other four when I get the time. I also fixed the exhaust leak I have had for a long time. The last bolt head on the drivers side exhaust manifold popped off. I guess they do that when they were run hard for long periods of time. I wish I would have known that before I bought the truck with the leak. But hey i have put 18k miles on it in 8 months and I have had no other problems but a water pump. I was hoping for a bit more power since i fixed the leak. I could tell a slight difference but not much. I was a little disappointed. I bought a boost gauge to see what my boost is. I hope nothing else is wrong.