My 6.2 in my plow truck decided to bust an Autolite glow plug in half one day when I was on my way to the landfill--it sounded like the crank snapped at first,scared the crap out of me--then it kept ticking like a bent pushrod or stuck valve after that,but it didn't skip ..I babied it 3 miles home,clattering all the way--when I got close to my house I decided it was time for it to "go or blow"--I dropped her in low and floored it several times,till it redlined the govenor..almost immediately it got quieter instead of greanading like I thought it would..
The glow plug was missing half of its heating element when I removed it...(note to other diesel fans,do NOT mix different brands of glow plugs!--I had 6 AC 60G's in the other cylinders,when I found a dead one in the second cylinder from the front on the drivers side ,I figured it would be fine to put one Autolite 1110 from a parts engine I had in it to get me by)...evidently the Autolite didn't like being hooked to a manual button,and I suspect it may have drawn more amps thatn all the other AC glow plugs ,due to having different resistance?..anyway,my engine still runs,but every time I start it cold it sounds like its got loose rod bearings and there is a noticeable valve clatter that wont go away until its thouroghly warmed up now....that chunk of glow plug didn't do it any justice probably...I imagine the piston is beat up good and a valve might have gotten bent,or maybe a push rod...I cant take off the valve cover without wrecking the rusty injector lines,so I'm just going to run it until it blows up if thats what it feels like doing...rest of the truck isn't really worth doing an engine swap anymore either..
I like diesels to a point,but two things I hate about them are glow plugs,and the fact they are so costly and often refuse to come OUT...and injector pumps being so expensive..with the price of fuel lately I'd be happier with a small or big block gas engine ...why I bought a Suburban with another 6.2 I dont really know,other than the fact I got it cheap and if nothing else it'll mae a good replacement for my plow truck or a parts donor...
