Broken glow plug removal

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 12:14 pm

one of my glow plugs has snapped off leaving about 1/2inch sticking out of the head,has anyone got any ideas about removal,or is this a professional job,if so any ideas about price and where.

Steve L · Post by **Steve L** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 3:50 pm

Which one was it, if it was one of the front ones you might be able to use a stud removal tool, one which grips the stud tighter as you undo it (though I cant remember how much room there is for this). Another way is to weld a nut on top of the bit that is sticking out then use a socket to undo it.
If its one of the rear ones then you might have some faffing about removing all the gubbins that hides them first.
Either way it might be an idea to let some WD40 soak into it for a while.
Hope this helps.

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:06 pm

Crikey that sa bit scary - how did it happen? Tight thread or wot? Good luck mending it.

Mike

kawasaki kid · Post by **kawasaki kid** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Mike, Half the time the reason why glowplugs and sparkplugs snap off is due to someone putting them in so tightly - I recently serviced a car belonging to someone I know as a favour and the sparkplugs were in so tight it took me over an hour to remove them -it was twitchy bottom time beleve me.

Thankfully they came out ok.

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:26 pm

Crikey and there was me hoping that a glowplug changeover would be a straighforward job

kawasaki kid · Post by **kawasaki kid** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:35 pm

Mike, when I did my Freda ones recently it took about 40 minutes to do from start to finish - I put some penetrating fluid on them for a few hours before undoing them.

mikeonb4c · Post by **mikeonb4c** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:17 am

Thanks KW - I'll remember to do that. Will WD40 do, or is there some magic brand I should buy (useful to have if so for whenever I have tight nuts

)

Mike

brorabongo · Post by **brorabongo** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:38 am

Luckly my plugs where not tight. When I replaced them I used a little bit of copper-ease on the threads, it's an anti-seize assembly compound, with extreme temperature tolerance. (-40 to +1150 degree C)

Veg_Ian · Post by **Veg_Ian** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:50 am

Will WD40 do

WD40 is a water dispersant. Yes in the majority of cases it will do the job but a better product to use is penetrating oil.

kawasaki kid · Post by **kawasaki kid** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:45 pm

I used something called Freeway -Has yet to be beaten by a seized plug or nut - I use it all the time.

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:53 pm

Thanks Steve L, It is the front one so I am trying the stud extractor first if that doesnt work will try the welding the nut at the local garage.will post the result tomorrow.
Martin