Thanks to Lightman and Rick

[sokoloff]

for the great write up about glow plug changing on the E300TD. See it here - http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?s=&postid=580948.

I took my manifold off tonight and will clean it up and remove the glow plugs tomorrow. I am letting the old ones marinate overnight in Kroil. I also expect my reamer tomorrow. BTW, Baum Tools has just started making a glow plug reamer for this engine. The tool costs $54 and just came out about six months ago.

Some thoughts on doing this job. I found it pretty easy to get to the 10mm bolt holding the clamp on from above using a racheting wrench instead of a socket. The second bolt accessed from under the car is an allen head on mine the same size as the allen heads on the valve cover cover and not a 10mm head. It is also much easier to get at with the front noise encapsulation panel removed. Maybe that is obvious to some, but it wasn't to me. Duct tape works well to cover the holes in the head. I changed the plastic brackets as Rick suggested. About half of mine were broken or broke when I removed them. I completely missed the little rubber shims until I was finished replacing the brackets. Then I saw them under the plastic brackets, so I'm leaving my old ones in place. Will keep the new ones I have for the next time.

So tomorrow I'll continue, remove the glow plugs, clean the manifold probably with diesel or maybe Gojo hand cleaner since it worked well on my hands, ream the glow plug holes and start putting things back together.

Thanks agian guys. It's not as bad a job as I htought it was going to be. Sure as hell beats paying the dealer $600 to get it done. Without your step by step instructions, I may not have had the guts to try it.

Len
'99 E300TD 71,500 miles