afraid to remove glow plugs

[p47flyboy]

Just thinking my glow plugs are burned out and deformed and don't want to risk breaking them off trying to remove them. Is there an alternative to glow plugs? Some kind of heater I could plug into a wall or operate off a battery? Was working on it out in the sun and turned it over testing a circuit and the thing started!! Did the sun warm it up enough? The glow plugs have been hot wired to a toggle switch in the cab and had not been turned on.
Thanks

 

[colbystephens]

Glow plugs aren't that easy to break. You'd have to be really hard on them to break them.

If they are deformed, and won't come out, then you do have a bit of a problem on your hands. But, you can always just screw the non-functioning thing back in. I've started a 6.2L engine on 3 or 4 working plugs. So, if you end up with one or two that are deformed and don't come out, you can get by without them for a while.

The AC Delco 60G plugs don't deform when they burn out. They also last a very long time. So, if you need to replace some, I'd recommend those as they are a good safe bet, and work real well.

 

[black dawg]

what truck are we talking about? Do you know what plugs are in it now?

I have read all over the internet how good the 60g is, and have seen others that have had really good luck with them, but I have had really good luck with the bosch duratherm 80034. They get hot faster than the 60g, and I have a set that has been used for over 4 years now, in a suburban that would burn out a 60g every couple months or so.

The 60g plug wont swell, but I have seen one lose the entire tip, and ruin the piston and rod bearing in an old burb of mine.

 

[Blue85]

You have no profile or information given, so we'll all probably assume this is a 6.2L. You can't duplicate glow plug function with something that is not inside the cylinder. If this vehicle is always in Florida you might be able to get by with a partial set up plugs.

Why not test each of them?

There were some old plugs that would fail as a short. These caused trouble for the good ones to heat. If they fail open it's not as big of a problem, but still an issue for cold weather. The toggle switch setup can destroy the plugs if it is left on for too long.

 

[VegasAR15]

I can't believe that everyone of them is so swelled that they are stuck in there. Try everyone of them to see how bad they are, go slow.

 

[diesel4me]

I have one glow plug that wont come out on my '82 GMC 6.2...I got all but the one closest to the front on the passenger side out OK,though I had a battle doing so,they all unscrewed OK but some were still original 9G's and the tips were expanded a lot,I had to use vise grips and lots of penetrating oil to pull outwards on them while twisting them to get them out.............................................................................................................................................................................................................the one that only unscrews but wont come out ,I have tried several methods without success to get it out,including chucking the hex part of the glow plug in an electric drill and spinning it in reverse while pulling outwards on it..I gave up for fear of snapping the tip off in the cylinder...some have told me to just "start it it and rev it up and it'll blow out like a bullet".but I'm unwilling to risk the damage it could do if the tip drops in the cylinder...it starts fine on 7 out of 8 anyway,so I figured I'd just leave it rather than cause more headaches,it has plenty others already!................................................................................................they do sell glow plug pullers that do work in most casae,most look like nothing more than a 10mm nut the right thread sawed in half.................................................................................................I had an autolite glow plug drop half of the tip into one cylinder on the drivers side last year while driving,it sounded like it spun a rod bearing for several miles,until I decided when I was close enough to walk home if it blew up,I floored it in first gear and redlined it a few times,and it got quiet again..now it sounds like a lifter or rocker clatters until it warms up good,probably bent a pushrod or worse!..but it still runs decent and isn't burning oil ,so maybe it'll live...if it dont,oh well,the truck is shabby enough now to not really be worth putting an engine in it..and if it was worth it,I think I'd put a gas engine back in...I dont hate the 6.2,but its not my favorite engine either...a 454 would be fine with me...

 

[p47flyboy]

Thanks for the good info

Guess I should see if I can get the other plugs out. The first one I tried I couldn't even budge even with PB Blaster. It was the front plug on the driver side. The front plug on the opposite side unscrewed and we could see there were no more threads and we could wiggle it but it would not come out and I was afraid I would break it off if I pulled too hard.

Yes its a K5 Blazer that was a military vehicle, an M1009 but the insurance company said it is a D10 Mili because of the VIN number. The engine is a 6.2 Liter Detroit Diesel.

Wayne

 

[ryoken]

ya need a bigger pipe....