Have an 86 f250 with a 6.9 IDI. I have a stuck gp. I can get all the threads out and move the gp up and down a little but not all the way out, I know I have seen on here somewhere how to remove stuck gp's but havent been able to find it. Any help or suggestions from you all will be most appreciated.

 

oh crap, I bet its an autolite GP , they are known for swelling the tips. I've heard of people gluing a socket to the GP so they can pull up and try to thread out the swollen end of it.

 

Something like the tool pictured in this link would help you by essentially giving you more threads to keep turning it out slowly.
Pelican Parts.com - Diesel Glow Plug Removal Tool

nate

 

Thanks Nate. Its a little on the pricey side for such a small tool but sure beats the alternative, removing the head. Hope it works.

 

There may be cheaper versions I just found that with a search to show ya whats out there for this situation.

 

Ive heard of people attaching a cordless drill to them somehow and slowly work them up and down to grind down the end so the plug would come out.

 

STOP!!! Don't go any farther until you read this: Glow plug removal article

It just may save you some work!

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Agreed - read that article before you do anything else.

 

you rock festus

 

Just recently I discovered Brake Cleaner in a spray can cuts soot very well.
The only bad part, it's a bit hard on rubber and plastic.

A couple sprays around the tip while working it may cut enough soot off the tip to let it slide right out.

Just remember, when you spray fluids arounf the glow plugs, crank the engine over before you install new glow plugs so any fluid can be expelled through the open glow plug port.

 

Yes Festus, Thanks for that info. I read that a few days ago and I will be doing that very thing but I am also going to buy that removal tool that Nate talked about. I figure I will better my odds doing both. I will be working on the gp's this week but I am still waiting on delivery of the vacuum pump I ordered since my went out. Thanks guys for all your help this is by far the best place to get good information. As Peruses said about Festus, You guys rock.

 

We went through this crap with our clunker. It was hell just getting to the part you are at

I was stuck in a situation and did what I could at that point. I kept using pbblaster and would sometimes try and turn the glowplug by hand to agitate.

BUT when messing with an old glowplug on the bench I noticed that they do not like to be tweaked this way. If you meet any resistance and it isn't moving you have to stop or they can snap like a twig.

So definately read the article about tdc when working on your specific piston #

What I ended up doing is getting a helper to hold a nasty vice grip on the glowplug. Then I placed a beefy metal plate somewhere to act as lever platform for my beefy screwdriver. I inserted the tip under the closed vice grips and held it, while I smacked the handle with a hammer with my other hand.

I positioned everything so that my hammer strikes were in line with the angle that the glowplugs are inserted into the engine so nothing would tweak.

Most of my glowplugs were nice. From 1 to 5 carefull, powerfull strikes. In the end one was nasty. It took allot of patience and hard hits to slowly bring that plug up. I would hit it with blaster after every good hit. At certain points you could not turn it.

It is tiring to lay in the engine on a step stool, etc. I use a moving blanket over the front end and into the engine so I can get comfy. Also waiting stinks so I wanted to give the blaster time to do its job. I think I spread it out over a couple days.

In the end I got them all out this way and it felt great when done. The glowplugs seem to be strong when impacted in the up/down direction?

I can't speak for any tools, wouldn't surprise me if there was something nice and easy

 

Thanks Damac. Its a good thing I have other vehicles to drive but I dont mind working on engines but have never fooled with a diesel so the thought of breaking a glow plug off in the head is very disconcerting at best. Hopefully my luck will prevail and everything comes out ok without incident.

 

top dead center if it does break out it will stay in the precup AFAIK and then you can pop the injector out and use compressed air to blow it out of the injector hole. Least, thats if I remember right.
----

Yup thats probably the article i learned the trick off of. havent had to use it yet though !

 

You are lucky, One of mine broke while it was running, have to pull the head anyways, I won't pull just one head, so I just pulled the GP's, 7 broke!

So now it's sitting all broken hearted with it's clip departed ...

-Enjoy
fh : )_~