Best glow plugs and where to get them?
- Thread starter crackett
- Start date
I had this come up a couple of months back - I changed mine for the first time after more than 160k and found that the ones I'd bought were 5mm longer than the ones I took out. Obviously, I was worried about the ends snapping off and destroying the engine, but a bit of research suggested there was nothing to worry about (some suggestion that the longer ones were introduced a few years after production and heated better or something) so I put those in and I've not had any issues or faults.
Personally, I use Bosch for pretty much everything I can, but haven't had the new plugs in for long enough to be able to say if they're any good or if they fail quickly. Everyone's got their favourite, but I do like Bosch and got a full set for about £25 if memory serves.
Careful when your changing them as they can snap in the head. Plenty of penetrating fluid on them even soak them and leave it to work for a few days
Good advice - I did mine when the engine was warm as well, which was another thing that was recommended. I've heard some people recommend using a torque wrench set on reverse to around 15-20Nm - if memory serves, they shouldn't be torqued anything more than 15Nm, so if they're not coming out at 20Nm you may be on the verge of snapping them. Beru glow plugs have a failure rating of 35Nm though, but you don't want to risk it - better to spray some more penetrant, leave it for a few days and get the engine hot again before making another attempt, rather than have to deal with a snapped plug in the block.
It sounds silly, but make sure you've got the right tool to take them out too. If memory serves, they're 10mm. I was going to buy an actual glow plug tool, but I had a deep-section impact socket that was long enough to get to the block past the intercooler boost pipe.
I undid the brackets for the boost pipe too - access can be a little difficult for #3 and #4 so I took the bracket off and it was enough to lever it out of the way.
Oh - and when I took the harness off, I did have bits of plastic stuck around two of the plugs, which might have been part of the harness. I couldn't get a socket on without removing these, so used a pick to get it off. A long screwdriver will be fine if you haven't got any of these. I haven't had any error codes since, so even if the plastic was part of the harness, it'll still connect up again OK.
Thats another common one the glowplug harness failing / over heating. I think it is possible to get a new one if required
10mm i think dont quote me im going back 10+ years.
Only cause i had to buy a deep socket from halfords for it and im sure it was a 10mm
If you want to check the old ones you can check from the top of the tip where the electrical connection goes [once disconnected] to the main block of the engine with a multimeter. A good plug should be around 1 ohm resistance. A bad plug will be higher / open circuit. Probably read OL on your multimeter.
make sure when you put the new plugs in use copper grease on the threads.. also if one goes its good practice to change all plugs just like changing spark plugs ..
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changed the harness when i did the plugs due too the harness was cracking and like crumbly cheese lol there not all that expensive for genuine i did not want to take chance at time while doing plugs , issue could off been harness thing is it was 7 years old at time and the one i replaced is 10 yr old now and fine as i checked it a while back odd that..
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