Hello, I am "Diesel Manson", brand new to this site, and known on the Volvo "D24T" forum as "Smokeswagen". I have recently successfully undertaken the dreaded and catastrophic glow plug replacement on the fiance's new acquisition; a '99 E300d with 195K miles and the 606 engine.
Years ago, in a prior life, the ex- and I both drove MB diesels; hers a 350sdl and mine; a simple 300td [6cyl version]. If this site existed at that time, I was unaware of it, and although I appreciated the economy these heavy and comfortable cars delivered, I later I shied away from any subsequent purchases of MBs due to the "top-secret" nature of acquiring any knowledge to make any repairs [diesel or otherwise] yourself. Volvo's [my first passion] can be easily remedied by searching either "Brickboard" (RWD only) or "Mathew's" (all models). But until that e300d's "check engine" lamp came on, I had no idea a site like this existed.
Recently, due to a job change, the fiancé's daily round trip commute expanded from less than one mile to almost 80. Her trusty and reliable Volvo 850T was only capable of better than 28mpg at cruising speeds of 65 or better. Here in NY, during rush hours, that condition almost never occurs. When we set about to replace that vehicle with a more economical daily driver, I remembered the fuel economy and comfort of my old MB diesels. We found a well-cared for '99 E300D for a reasonable price, and I sanctioned her purchase of that vehicle. 6 weeks into ownership, after "seeing the [C/E] light", I determined the #1 GP was not lighting, and being the godfather to the new acquisition, I began researching changing its GPs and wound up here.
I would like to thank two posters to this forum who inspired me not only not to have the work done at an "MB shop" but also not to remove the cylinder head, even after 4 GP's snapped. These posters would be the person who snapped all 6 GPs and still did not remove the head [I followed his thread to the letter] and the unfortunate individual who did remove the cyl head (even though only 2 of his GPs snapped), and later sold the car for parts because it never ran properly again after it was put back together. As a "give-back", I will be posting a thread and photos, not so much of the job while it was in progress, but more of general shop tools I used and/or modified to make the procedure less risky. Although I deviated from the posted methodology in only one way [I pulled the electrode rods instead of drilling them out], sequencing in this procedure is everything, and I hope my enhancement makes the job easier and less risky for the next unfortunate soul who contemplates doing this himself.
cwf