I had two bad glow plugs, so I bought two new ones ($46 out the door from the stealer dealer). I parked the truck, and pulled the fender splash cover things between the tire and engine. I also had to pull off the tube from the turbo to the intercooler to access one of the glow plugs. By this time, the engine wasn't hot, but hadn't cooled completely either (coolant was at/below the lowest temp on the gauge). It was still warm to the touch, but cool enough I could hold my hand on it and work without burning myself on anything.
When I pulled the first glow plug out, it appeared that the tip had broken off at some point in the past. It came out easily with a 12mm wrench and turning by hand.
Thinking this was strange, I proceeded to remove the other bad plug, which turned smoothly and easily, then suddenly made a "pop" noise and had no resistance at all. I spun it out with my fingers, and noticed it too was broken off at the tip. I looked in the glow plug hole, and as feared, the tip of the glow plug was there, somehow stuck in place.
I haven't done anything since then, since I don't know how to get the tips out. I did stuff rags in all open holes to keep out debris/animals. From reading on here and everywhere else I can find, it appears that the only real solution is to take the head off. But, since the front two glow plugs were bad (weird, huh?), I would have to take BOTH heads off! The solutions I found so far are:
So, what should I do to get the tips of the glow plugs out? I don't want to risk damaging my engine, and I would like to spend as little money as possible. I can use my motorcycle to get around for now, but I need my truck to be running ASAP. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated!
When I pulled the first glow plug out, it appeared that the tip had broken off at some point in the past. It came out easily with a 12mm wrench and turning by hand.
Thinking this was strange, I proceeded to remove the other bad plug, which turned smoothly and easily, then suddenly made a "pop" noise and had no resistance at all. I spun it out with my fingers, and noticed it too was broken off at the tip. I looked in the glow plug hole, and as feared, the tip of the glow plug was there, somehow stuck in place.
I haven't done anything since then, since I don't know how to get the tips out. I did stuff rags in all open holes to keep out debris/animals. From reading on here and everywhere else I can find, it appears that the only real solution is to take the head off. But, since the front two glow plugs were bad (weird, huh?), I would have to take BOTH heads off! The solutions I found so far are:
- Spray WD-40 or some penetrating stuff in the hole, then crank the engine, theoretically shooting the tip back out. This seems to actually work on the chevy 6.2L diesel, but I don't want to risk damaging my otherwise perfectly healthy engine. What would the risk of this going badly be?
- Pull an injector and try and push the tip back out. Perhaps I could even grab it out. This would be better than pulling the heads, IMO, but not much.
- Pull the heads off and pry the glow plug tip out. I believe that if I do this, I should replace the head gaskets, which are expensive. Also, I have to do this in the parking lot outside my appartment, since I can't (well, won't) start the truck in this condition. If necessary, I will do this, since I think that buying what tools I don't have would still be cheaper than having the dealership do it.
So, what should I do to get the tips of the glow plugs out? I don't want to risk damaging my engine, and I would like to spend as little money as possible. I can use my motorcycle to get around for now, but I need my truck to be running ASAP. Any suggestions are welcome and appreciated!