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Glow plug broken

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SteveGoodz:
I've been having problems starting my 300Tdi on really cold mornings, so bought a set of glow plugs and went to fit them this afternoon. So far .. so good. Now the fun begins  :(

Firstly, getting to the front one required me to remove the air con compressor ~ and that didn't want to move until I got really enthusiastic with it. The glow plug came out reasonably easily and I compared it to the replacement I bought ~ looks the same. Started screwing the new one in and got to just before it was fully home and there was a bit of an odd feel to the socket .. like something had given. Removed the socket and the electrode looked like it had been pushed out of the centre so I carefully started to remove the plug.

Here's where it gets really nasty  :x  the element has separated from the body of the plug and is now stuck in the hole. Can't see any way to extract it ... BUMMER!!

Does anyone know a way to get this back out or do I have to take the head off? I haven't dared to try the others yet  :o

I've cranked it over to see if the compression will blow it out ~ no luck (but the engine started ok).

What are the dangers of driving the car like this? I'm thinking I don't have time to do a head off job myself at the moment and it's about 5 miles to my tame mechanics place. Am I running the risk of totalling the engine by driving that far?

Any help would be appreciated.

beast5680:
tough one that there is the possibility when the engine gets hot it will blow out on its own under pressure but when i,ve had injectors and the like snap before on other engines its been a case of head off and use a punch :roll:

Range Rover Blues:
I can't visualise which part it is that bust off, but I think he's right.  Aluminium expands almost twice as much as stell, so it'll certainly be loose once it's hot.

Thing is if it does blow out, does that mean the job's done?

I can't see if falling into the engine given that it was tight going in with a socket.

RichardM:
I had this happen to me.  I drove about 400 miles and the snapped off part didn't move at all so I took the head off and used a punch to remove it.

SteveGoodz:

--- Quote from: "RichardM" ---I had this happen to me.  I drove about 400 miles and the snapped off part didn't move at all so I took the head off and used a punch to remove it.
--- End quote ---


Richard, did you have a thread going about that on the forum. I thought I remembered someone had the same problem but when I did a search I couldn't find anything.

Can the end of the plug fall into the cylinder or is the hole that it pokes through smaller than the body of the element? The reason I ask is because on very close inspection the new plugs I bought don't have as well defined taper at the tip as the originals. My thinking is that if the hole that the plug goes into is tapered at the bottom that would explain why the element bottomed out before the threads. If this is the case then the tip now stuck in there can't drop through into the engine and do nasty things to the piston/bores/etc. ~ and I'll be a happier bunny  :D

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