Update: Changed my glowplugs today.
 

Easy job, even without taking the fuel lines off, there was a slight difficulty getting in there but not that hard. Took about 1 hour to change 3 plugs out of 5, and I lost 20 minutes of that when I dropped the wrench directly into the engine area on the right side of the bonnet, and it wedged itself way out of sight. I had to crawl underneath and dig it out. Was not fun.

However after changing 3 plugs the car started up perfectly, much easier than ever before.

Thanks for all the help guys and info, much appreciated. :)

good, there are some great guys on the forum eh?:)

Does this mean your coming to the ShinDig ? Greg

Anthony, are you originally from England? I noticed that you used the term "bonnet", instead of hood. Also you sig. has a Union Jack on it.

Yah
 

Rick: Yes I am, although you wouldn't be able to tell from my accent, I've not lived in the UK since I was very young, and I grew up in the orient and the US. (Hong Kong actually)

Im going to move back to England soon tho, hopefully before the end of the year. We'll see.

I plan on coming to the diesel shindig but I havent sent out my payment to Bill yet. Did he post his address for money orders in a post somewhere? I never saw it.

Re: Update: Changed my glowplugs today.
 

Before you change the rest of the plugs, put towels under the plugs next to the engine. If you do drop the nut or washers (very easy), it will land on the towel. You can pick it up with a magnetic pickup. I also use a magnetic pickup to steer a new plug to the glow plug hole then start turning the plug with my hand.

David

Anthony,

I have spent a lot of time in HK. Got married there. Have you been back to visit since the PRC took over? My last trip was 1987. Would love to go back just to eat!

No
 

I've not been back to HK since PRC took over, but my parents did go if I remember correctly, in 1998.

Anthony, here is Bill's address.... It was hidden in the "poll, Texas Shindig"...LOL.... but really .... it had slipped to the 7th page...Bill said:

"Ok I think $7.00 each should cover it. If there is more sent than what it costs,
or if people that don't send money now show up and pay their share we will
divvy it up at the meet. Here is my address:

Bill Makemson
13210 Prestonwood Forest Dr. #159
Houston, TX 77070

And to make sure no one is caught off guard there is a $2.00 per person
admission charge at the park entrance. They will give you a reciept and a piece
of tape to tape to the inside of the windshield so that you can go in and out of
the park without paying again."

I added in the next post that that meant $2 person over 12....
Greg

Ok
 

I'll send him off the money later today or tomorrow.

Can you post the exact date/time/location again or at least post a link to it? I know its on the forum somewhere but there was so much confusion over where/when... I dont wanna get the wrong one.

There are two MB get togethers happening in Mckinney that weekend... the other is a group of large chested blondes that work at a local men's club... but they know very little about diesels, so you would not have any fun with them... Greg

Anthony,
I brought that one back to the top.. it is the one that says.. Poll , Texas Shindig.... I will try to keep it on the first page from now till the get together... a poor mans sticky ....LOL..Greg

Glow Plug Replacement...How?
 

I was able to get the first one, but I couldn't reach the second. The Fuel Pump was very much in the way. Then I got to looking at the rest of them and thought "How in the world..."

What kind of tools would ya'll recommend to get to these?

Thanks.

The most important "tool" is a blanket to lay over the fuel pump and stuff so you can reasonably retrieve the tools you drop ....
Mostly 1/4 drive sockets with universal joints next to the socket...I spent a couple of hours with my large hands and had only gotten two done..and my back was hurting, so I actually took it to another mechanic... only to stand there and see that he knew no more about it than I did,,, he was dropping the same tools into the same crevices.... LOL..... Greg

dwcasey,

Did you remove the metal fuel lines before trying to remove the glow plugs? Its a hell of a lot easier if you do. Only disadvantage is you have to use the primer pump to get the fuel back in the line once your done. I simply used metric wretches and a lot of patience. Good luck!!

I tried it without removing the lines since the original poster was able to do it.

I ran up to sears today and bought a couple more wrenches/sockets. My metric selection was lacking a little here at the house. I'll give it a go next week...after the "big freeze" that's supposed to come through. Hope I don't need it done before then :)

The first one I replaced look o.k. anyway, so I'm not too worried. I just wanted to get them all done since I just got the car. Thought it would be a good way to learn my way around the engine.

Not sure how to remove the fuel lines. The Haynes w123 book I have seems pretty good as far as doing this type of stuff. I may be posted some messages here in a few days asking about the fuel lines :D but I'll give a try!

Nope
 

I'm not an expert mechanic by any means, I just look at manuals and ask people in here then go out and do it. In my case all I had access to was a basic wrench set, not even a socketed or deep socket or anything. It was fairly easy even with just a basic wrench tho. Took about an hour for 3 glowplugs.

If you choose to remove the fuel lines, its really quite easy.

-Find yourself the correct size metric wretch(I forget at the moment), and where the fuel lines attach to the injectors, loosen the nuts.
-After a few turns you should be able to unscrew them by hand.
-Do the same where the metal lines meet the IP. Space is a little tighter, but still fairly easy. -After all the nuts are unscrewed completely (you should be able to push them up the fuel lines), lift the fuel lines straight up. Be carful not to bend them upon removal.

-After installing the glow plugs, get the fuel lines back in place and tighten each nut a little, until everything is lined up.
-Tighten all the nuts.
-You will need to use the hand pump to get the fuel back into the lines, this may take alot of pumping. If you do a search there are plenty of descriptions on how to do this.

I am writing up "glow plug removal" for the f.a.q. section, so when I finish it the complete instructions should be there.

Good luck!