NIGHTMAREEEEE!!!!

[NickC]

so heres a story of my life....

the vans for sale, we have had potential buyers looking and calling for a few weeks. i have been working with the van making money in the mean time vrs it just sitting there waiting to be sold. i was out on a run earlier this week and the engine malfunction light came on... JUST GREAT! i thought it might of been the cold because i previously had a problem with the computer going crazy with the below o temperatures. i brought it to the dealer and found out that was not the case....

they told me there is a glow plug that is shorting and needs replacing... $365!! at the same time he told me that price he said that he has to warn me that there is a 50/50 chance of the plug breaking into the head which would result in a head replacement... $4300!!! to make this call on a 50/50 repair is like either paying a lot to fix something with potential to pay a lot AND amputate you left arm and leg! im really between a rock and a hard place here because i didn't even make much money with this stupid van.

i have talked to several shops and NO ONE wants to work on this van, so i had no choice its at the stealership now. what i dont like about getting repairs done is everyone throws a different story at you. one person says that when you replace glow plugs, its like replacing shoes... you do them all and one says just do one. one says you need glow plugs to keep the vehicle running, others say they are just designed to aid in starting. i even had a guy that said every diesel engine has to have glow plugs, even cummins... if i remember correctly i heard someone in here say we dont have glow plugs, we have grid heaters on our trucks. who do you believe?

what i want to know is if anyone has ever had to replace glow plugs and if so did they come out easy or break in the head?

[Tom Courtright]

my neighbors a diesel mechanic, he did the ones on one of my parents trucks, an econoline something,
he had no problems at all, and he did them in a van chassis,

i did them on the LF100 at work, totally different engine style and everything, they never gave me any trouble either,
any mechanic even if they did snap it off in the head should be able to remove it even if they had to pull the head to do it, would be cheaper than a whole new head.

i've had to remove snapped spark plugs from the ferd, that was interesting but it worked

[Kilch123]

First, I agree with Bat - I've changed MANY sets of glow plugs, most came out really easy - even in 100,000+ mile engines - and the only ones that ever gave me trouble were the old 6.9L international engines, and they never broke, just had a big buildup of carbon on the tips that made tham a PITA to remove.

I've changed individual glow plugs as well, but here's the deal - if one went bad, chances are good that others will soon follow. If you're getting rid of the truck though, change the bad one, reset the light, and move on.

Cummins (5.9L) does not have glow plugs - it has a grid heater in the intake - you're right.  there are a lot of diesels that have neither.

[NickC]

well i was almost positive the our cummins engines did not have glow plugs which is why i did not leave my van at that guys shop... well, it was that and the fact that he told me to bring the van to him when we talked on the phone and when i got there he pretty much talked me out of letting him do the job. he said to bring it back home, if i dont find anyone over the weekend then bring it to him and he'll do take the job on! can you believe that? this is a "professional" shop to, not a back yard mechanic!

the reason everyone said it would be such a dangerous job is that the van has 120k miles on it and they say that over time with the head being aluminum and the plugs being metal that they sometimes weld together from the high exposure to heat. it made sense the way most explained it and even the dealership has a broken glow plug on the work bench to show me that its not that un-commen for the break to happen.

but to follow up with this story... as i said before i had no choice but to go to the dealer because no one would take the job on. it turns out they got the plug out with any problems! when i got the phone call i was nervous to answer but after i did the good news quickly followed! it ended costing me $325 out the door to have one plug replaced after i talked them down %10 and now the van is only a driveway queen until she sells. i cant afford to risk any more driving after something like this happens the last week i had planned to work with it. with my luck i would take it out to get a coffee and drop the transmission in the middle on an intersection in front of an ambulance driving a dying kid to the hospital. (my luck really goes like this )

[Tom Courtright]

good to hear, as long as you dont try top over power it they should come right out, thats how things break, throw an impact on something that dosnt want to move and it will probably just say screw you... SNAP!

[NickC]

i hear ya on that... i almost felt like i had to interview who ever did it to make sure i felt they were qualified... it was a big jump in price for it to go from $350 to $4300. i would of been on a street corner with a donation cup if it went the other way!

[Kilch123]

Glad to hear it was the lesser!