#5 Glow Plug on a 96 E300D Non Turbo
 

Got bad #5 glow plug on my wifes 96 E300D (Non-Turbo). At Her request it will be sold in spring so I'm planning on only replacing the bad one. Has anyone replaced #5 by removing only the crossover or upper intake plenum? Sprayed some Blaster on the culprit and it looks like it may be doable with the bottom intake in place. Thanks.

Pretty certain I have changed no. 5 before with just the crossover pipe off, I think there's just enough room to get a 1/4" ratchet in there.

I would do it with the engine hot at least. Some have started it loosening initially with the engine running but you have to take reasonable precautions like safety glasses or I would ... I hope your plug comes out easy.

Somewhere in the DIY there is suggestions on how to attempt not breaking them and repair if one does break off.

DIY Repair Links
DIY Links by Parts Category - PeachParts Mercedes ShopForum

PeachPartsWiki: Do It Yourself Articles - Mercedes Vehicles

I have changed #3 without removing the manifold and would probably try #4, but for any others I would remove it.

In my experience R & R 'ing the manifold is less trouble then trying to work around it. It takes 10 minutes.

You do need a long reach 40torx socket to avoid breaking the CCV fittings from the manifold.

#5 Glow Plug
 

Thanks to all who responded, I will just pull the intake to be safe.

A good opportunity to clean the manifold, remove all the carbon, make sure the crankcase breather pipes are OK. Once you have the manifold clean you can defeat the EGR valve and it will stay clean.

Jeremy

As Jeremy said - good idea to clean up the manifold now, get a big extreme duty red trash bag and about a couple of gallons of B100 biodiesel - remove the vacuum flappers - breather plastics etc. and put in the bag and fill with diesel. leave it be for 6 or 8 hours. drain out into old oil bottles - pressure wash the nasty manifold at a car wash that allows engine cleanup - the blackness would be evil.

But the upside is that the engine will breathe really nice - like it should.

I have got manifold removal down to a timed 10 minutes now - with a makita small impact. - the joys of owning an OM606.

anyway - remove the plug with the engine blazing hot - it has the least amount of breaking chance.

My mistake was removing the glow plugs when the engine was cold. Now my #4 & #5 are broken. Going to attempt to remove those this weekend... Wish me luck! To make things worst all of the ones that I was able to unscrew are swollen, too.

it is always wise to get a split nut glow plug puller set from Amazon - the broken ones are a real pain to get out - careful aiming with a drill can save you and use of an old gutted glow plug as a guide for the heating element puller is also crucial.

So...

the B100 will eat the EGR gunk, but will not eat a trash bag?:confused:

The red thick trash bags are pretty stout, I have put some B100 in it along with some parts in it for 4 or 5 hours and it did not eat it away.

btw - I got these from work - I was told they are called hazmat contractor trash bags.