Broken glow plugs

[MRBarta]

When replacing my glow plugs, they were so swelled and rusted in that the rear 2 on the drivers side twisted off in the head and I quit there. The center is still in there and I really don't want to have to take the heads off. Was wondering if anyone knew of any tricks to maybe get them out. It was starting rough and smoking when starting so I though there were bad plugs, was I heading in the wrong direction? Could it have just been the timing off?

[BUZZ]

Well, you do have problem. Is the GP swelled or rust frozen in the head? IF rusted try the candle wax method that follows. IF swelled, well pulling the head may be your only choice
Candle wax method, First I would recommed using a torch and heat the plug and head and get a good amount of heat to the area. Go slow, be careful and have fire extinguisher nearby. When you get it nice and hot, no red color, use a candle and simply press againt the area where the threads meet the GP. The wax will wick and lubricate the threads. Next use an easy out to remove the plug. IF it starts to turn and stops, do not force. Turn clockwise a 1/4 to 1/2 turn then reverse turn. Repeat until GP is removed.
The wax method has never faild me when removing rusted fasteners. The trick is the threaed area needs to be hot. The wax will wick only to hot areas.
Good luck
Buzz

[diesel65]

Remove the injector, and then place a rag under the tip of the glow plug inside the head. Using a punch and hammer, try to push the old glow plug into the chamber and then extract with needle nose pliers.

[MRBarta]

Do i even need glow plugs? Won't it just make it start harder? Is there any damage that may result in not having 2 of the glow plugs? What happens when one pops out while I'm driving, is it going to ruin my motor?

[gmenor]

MRBarta,
Yes you need glow plugs. I've done this before on a military Hummer. Remove the injector, got a coat hanger and placed carpet tape on the end of it (wrap it around and leave a little flag piece out). The glow plug tip stuck to the tape. We also encountered the tip still being in the precup area. After wasting 15 minutes with the coat hanger poking it in the GP hole, someone suggested compressed air. That worked. Hope this helps, I sure would not want to pull the heads.

[Michael McRae]

I dealt with the problem first hand when I owned a 6.2 Diesel. The rear glow-plugs seem to be the most problematic. Possibly since they are the furthest from the radiator, they run hotter and are more prone to problems such as this.

Anyhow, the rear glow-plug was "swollen" inside the cylinder and snapped off. I let the truck sit for a couple of days while I tried to figure out what to do. I then decided to briefly run the engine with the glow-plug hole unplugged to see if by chance it would blow out. Of course it didn't. Then the next day I took apart an old glow-plug and decided that is was soft enough to be crunched up in the cylinder and pushed out the exhaust port. So screwed the old glow plug base back into the glow-plug hole and ran the engine at low RPMs for about three minutes. Then it cleared rather quickly and I had not further problems.

However, I think the above post that recommends taking the broken glow-plug out of the injector hole may be a safer approach.

[DmaxMaverick]

Originally posted by Michael McRae:
I dealt with the problem first hand when I owned a 6.2 Diesel. The rear glow-plugs seem to be the most problematic. Possibly since they are the furthest from the radiator, they run hotter and are more prone to problems such as this.

Anyhow, the rear glow-plug was "swollen" inside the cylinder and snapped off. I let the truck sit for a couple of days while I tried to figure out what to do. I then decided to briefly run the engine with the glow-plug hole unplugged to see if by chance it would blow out. Of course it didn't. Then the next day I took apart an old glow-plug and decided that is was soft enough to be crunched up in the cylinder and pushed out the exhaust port. So screwed the old glow plug base back into the glow-plug hole and ran the engine at low RPMs for about three minutes. Then it cleared rather quickly and I had not further problems.

However, I think the above post that recommends taking the broken glow-plug out of the injector hole may be a safer approach. Running the engine with a broken glow plug in the cylinder is a VERY BAD idea! Most of the 9G series plugs had a ceramic insulator inside the tip. The ceramic material is as abrasive as abrasives get. If a chunk got stuck in a ring groove , or embedded into the edge of a piston, it would cut a groove into the cylinder in a hurry, not to mention the damage to a piston.

If you have a tip broken off in the pre-cup, get it out, by any means possible. Don't run the engine with it in there if you can help it.

[DeezlStinson]

Hi people,

You also would have the piece(s) going thru the turbo. there's the possibility of a nicked blade from parts hitting the turbine.

You really need to find a way to egt the pieces outta there....including removing the head.

Regards,

Rick

[Marty Lau]

I know there is tool made to pull these swollen glow plugs but I think they do break off still. Pulling the glow plug and rag helps I've also heard that a vacum cleaner can help suck the pieces out of the injector hole. After sucking out what I could with the vacum and pulling out what I could. I'd bet you could get it all, the pros get these things out without pulling the head. You might talk to John Kennedy I know he's done this a number times and see what he suggests.