95 E300 glow plug replacement

[engatwork]

Anything special in regards to changing out the glow plugs on a 1995 E300 six cylinder non turbo diesel? From what I have read so far the intake manifold has to come off. Anything in particular I need to watch out for?

[Hatterasguy]

Yeah how long ago were they last done? If never I would not be surprised if they don't all come out and the head has to be pulled.


If I owned one of these I'd pull the glow plugs and ream the holes every fall.

[Bill.Brune]

Intake has to come off, beware all the little plastic parts of the pcv system.

After a disaster with a broken glow plug on my car, a friend and I had great success on his '96 last month using a 3/8" impact wrench set on a very low setting to remove the glow plugs. They came out just fine.

But on both my '95 & my friends '96 the wiring harness was shot, and had to be replaced. That beats $400 to death, but is not a big job..

Good luck

Although yours is a non turbo most of the instructions in this link still apply.

Finally - Step By Step Glowplug Change - '98-'99 E300!

I did this job earlier this year. Using the instructions from the above thread I did not find it hard. It took me just under 6 hours and I did not rush the job. Dedicate some time and be patient. I did not have problems removing my glow plugs, although I had a few that were beginning to concern me.

[engatwork]

beware all the little plastic parts of the pcv system

Everyone of the plastic pieces that fit down into the intake broke off except one so all that will be getting replaced. While the lady (owner) was here we put it on the rack and found the front flex disc shot all to heck and back so that will be getting replaced. Also, I forgot about the wiring harnesses on these cars. The insulation cracking, deterioration was evident as soon as I got the intake off. I showed that to her too (along with the flex disc). She said that in all of the 180k miles she has never had to put any $$ into the car and said told me to go ahead and fix it all. She said this was going to be her last car. The oil has been being changed at a quick change type of place and the bolt that looks like it goes down through the center of the oil filter looks pretty well rounded off. That is on the fix list too.

I have four glow plugs out totally and one that is 1/2 way out and another about 1/4 way out. I ran out of Kroil and had to go borrow a can from my friend that lives nearby.
I'll get the other two out tomorrow. I hate turning stuff out like these glow plugs that squawl the whole time you are turning them out. I am not brave enough to put a low impact torque wrench on them. I put Kroil on them, turn them a little out and then a little in, spray more Kroil on the, hammer them slightly with a ball peen and start the procedure over. I spent about 2 hours getting to where I am with them this evening.

I did not pay any attention but does this car have a check engine light? Will it light up if a bb accidently gets stuck in the egr line?

[Hatterasguy]

Yeah their is a way to block the EGR on the na cars. Do a search under "fresh air mod".

[DR.DIESEL]

When I have glow plugs that feel stubborn, I whip out the injectors and shoot
the prechambers full of P-B Blaster pen. oil. I soak them good and let them sit overnight. Have yet to have one not come out intact this way.
The carbon in the prechamber acts like a locking collar on the plug when you
are unscrewing it. Oil and time seem to help.
My 2 cents.
Regards,
Dr.D

[Bill.Brune]

a bb in the egr line will be just fine for testing. No light will appear on a '95 606. A '96 is more computerized, and will generate the light..

[engatwork]

ALRIGHT - they are all out. Three came out easy and I had to work with the other three to get them out. Took about 3 hours to get em out. Now I remember why I like the 617 so much.

[engatwork]

Alright - Ya'll have gotten me this far along with this new-fangled aluminum head engine but now I am trying to figure out where the hand pump is located.

If anybody could shed some light on the priming procedure for this baby I'd be real appreciative when I get there.

My plans are to replace the wiring harness while the intake is off because it is the original harness and yes there is plenty of crack. I had forgotten about the reputation that the wiring harness in these cars have until I moved it but this one looks like a piece of cake compared to the gasser.

[Brian Carlton]

Originally Posted by engatwork

Alright - Ya'll have gotten me this far along with this new-fangled aluminum head engine but now I am trying to figure out where the hand pump is located.

If anybody could shed some light on the priming procedure for this baby I'd be real appreciative when I get there.

Hand pump..............we don't need no freakin hand pump.............we tossed that in the trash in favor of the key switch a long time ago (603 engine).

Your best option is to leave all the injector lines cracked, press your right foot to the floor, and crank away until you see fuel from the hard lines. Then tighten the hard lines at the injectors and start it.

Sometimes they can crank awhile until fuel reaches the injectors. Be kind to the starter.

[P.E.Haiges]

Brian,

How does cracking the injector lines help? How will that affect the flow of fuel to the IP? Won't the IP, once the IP has fuel, just push any air in the injector lines thru the injectors? In fact, now that I think of it, the fuel in the injector lines would stay there because when a small amount of air gets in the injector lines the fuel in there would would stay there because the air would compress and not cause enough pressure to pop open the injectors. Thus the injector lines would not fill with air.

I say this because I ran my 603 engine out of fuel and it started easily after adding the second gallon of fuel. It didn't want to start adding only one gallon of Diesel fuel to the tank, it seemed to need to 2 gallons to get primed.

I never crack the injector lines to prime my Diesels. Even ones that were completely dry. I think injector lines are best left alone if possible.

P E H

[Brian Carlton]

The way I understand it is that it's harder to purge the hard lines of air because the air must be compressed to do it.

So, if you allow the air to exit the hard lines, prior to making pressure, the engine will immediately start.

Whether the IP cares if air happens to be in the lines to be compressed, or whether there is an open end whereby the air can escape, is the question.

You could argue that the IP will deliver a specific amount of fuel to the hard lines, whether air is present, or not, and it will take a certain amount of revolutions to fill the hard lines with air.

One of these days, I'll try it both ways and see if the cranking time varies.

[P.E.Haiges]

Brian,

The IP is a volume pumping device. The pressure is caused by the resistance of the injectors to pop open. The IP pumps a certain volume of fuel into the injector lines whether there is air in them or not. When the volume of fuel is sufficient to fill the injector lines, the air will be pushed out of the lines and the injectors will release the fuel into the engine.

P E H

[TimFreeh]

Originally Posted by P.E.Haiges

Brian,

The IP is a volume pumping device. The pressure is caused by the resistance of the injectors to pop open. The IP pumps a certain volume of fuel into the injector lines whether there is air in them or not. When the volume of fuel is sufficient to fill the injector lines, the air will be pushed out of the lines and the injectors will release the fuel into the engine.

P E H

True, however air is a gas and it is subject to compression - liquids are not. All things being equal it will take less time to bleed the lines if you crack the injectors open a bit before cranking. The downside to this approach is that you will spill a bit of fuel in the process.