OK, just one thing, WHO DESIGNED #5 GP location?
 

I mean really, Why put it behind the stupid Oil filter housing? I mean sure it's easier than the 60X poor souls that need to remove the entire Intake manifold, but WHY? Would it have hurt THAT much to move the Oil Filter CAN 1 inch over? JEEEZ!!!
gee guess what I'm doing.
rassin frassing smudging smish smash....
sure it's raining, sure it's 30 degrees out. when I found 3 bad glow plugs this fall did I change the other 2? of course not, I mean they were still working right? why change them when you are planning service? wait until they FAIL in the middle of a rain storm with Tornado warnings and freeze warnings when you NEED the car in the morning? Yeah, that makes sense. VERY LOGICAL... way to go Genius!
John

Now, best of all, last fall when I changed the other 3, did I know about Bocsh plugs? nope, I put in what Napa had. Champion. will they fail before the winter is out? probably, will I change them tonight, since I will most likely remove the injector lines to get # 5 out? probably not, I mean they are new right, only a few months old, they will surely last until summer right?
comeon! be courageous. take another chance... I got a full set of bocsh gp's from phil a few months ago, cause I KNEW the champions would fail since they are not german quality, will I put them in? nope, it's late at night, and I am STUPID! root me on guys!
John:stupid:

So, how's you evening going?

Better than VWs
 

Have you ever changed the glows on a VW 1.6? The Benz is nothing in comparison!

I must admit, though, that half the time it took to replace the Benz glows was in replacing #5.

Loyalty and dedication:D .gottaluvit

You are in good company, I would bet most of the people on this forum have done the same or worse. My sympathy though, working in the cold on a deadline is no fun, particularly when the better half wants to know what you are doing every fifteen minutes. Good Luck

I thought #5 was no harder/easier than the other 4 when I pulled and tested all of mine.........

Here's something that will really burn you up...... My grandma's Chevy 6.5L Turbo diesel pickup has all 8 ORIGINAL glowplugs with 140,000 miles and many of them short city trips plus winter here in MI! This was just verified at the dealer this week that all 8 plugs are working just fine!

Really, what did Benz do wrong on them plugs to make em not last?

Same here....I can do them all in under an hour...#5 is a little harder to reach, but it doesn't stop me or anything.

I will be replacing them all on my dad's '83 300sd this week, one or more of them have burned out and it starts VERY badly...shakes the car around :dizzy2: Still starts though (even at under 10F), that engine is a beast....

5 brand new Bosch plugs will be used

I agree! Whats up with the low lifespan, we've been only getting around 2 years per set!

For what it's worth, I replaced # 5 three days ago. I had put in 5 new Bosch GP's 9 months ago. So this Bosch plug is already dead. I used an Autolite to replace it since that's all they had and I needed the car (yes, 30 degrees out too). I'll make sure and report back if the Autolite didn't last any longer. It would seem the Bosch plugs are not what they used to be - the last plugs lasted four years...

If they keep blowing like this I will probably consider a different brand as a "test"....but for now I'll just use the bosch ones...and keep those french employed... ;)

this is when a set of metric gear wrenches comes in handy. But you're going to remove and injector line? How big are your hands?

you were not around for the christmas "show is a pic of yourself" thread. the majority of us have large hands that don't like to fit into small spaces.:D my palm is aprrox. 4.5" wide, 5" long and 1.5" thick in the outside of my had and close to 2" by my thumb

This is one more reason why the 240D is the pinnacle of automotive technology.

Bodhi has all 6 original with 226,700 on them. I have not tested them this winter, but last winter all 6 checked out OK. Some pretty cold starts over the years, plus lots of short trips. Now that I've boasted, they'll probably all die at once, and I'll discover it at an inopportune time, like when I get out of work at 2 a.m. and it's 3 degrees out.:D

ok, done, I did not replace the 3 champions... I did pull all 5 injector lines.
is it a bad sign that the heater hose that has to be moved to get to # 5 was showing cord... large cracks in the sucker... I am working on the 82SD by the way. Thank heaven for gearwratchet! I can't imagine how long it would take with an open end 12mm...
John