That is why I had the dealer change the plugs on my 642.
Yes it was spendy (we all debated it on this thread)...
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367295-om642-glow-plug-replacement.html

the only way I would feel safe leaving the GP tip in there is if the part that is remaining in your head has a wider section than the exposed tip.

can you scavenge a used one and carefully remove the outer shiny housing?

Then measure the diameters of the cross sections in your head.

This thread has been strangely silent as of late. ..

Done anything more to the car mikemass? After some thought about the idea of dye water test, I think it may not be worth doing since there are easier tests.

Reasons are:

1. Radiator and block must be drained first.
2. Have to flush and refill system afterwards.

It's easier to do a leak down test I mentioned earlier:
Make a blow gun tip to fit tightly in the 13/64" hole and blow compressed air in while listening at the valve cover oil fill hole (inlet valve must be open) and also look for bubbles in the expansion tank (top it up if empty). If you can hear air escaping or see bubbles in the expansion tank, the hole has breached the pre combustion chamber and the coolant passage in the head. Please report what you find.

The 13/64 hole if the more challenging hole to plug since it involves coolant and combustion gas passages if both were breached. Depending on what you find and where you drilled with the 13/64 bit, it may or may not be possible to plug.

You need to make a more careful probing of the 13/64 hole to determine exactly where you have drilled through and how much of the glow plug body is left (before the glowing portion). Make a drawing with dimensions.

Edit: By cleaning the hole well with brake clean and blow dry with compressed air and looking with a mirror, you may be able to see the different material of the aluminum head and glow plug body and thus where you have drilled. Take some pics also.

In one of the photos it is very clear that the remaining glow plug shaft (how much of it's length, we can't absolutely know) is visible. It is clear where the steel of the GP is in relation to the surrounding aluminum of the head.

Nope, this is correct as described, not sure what that schematic is but not a OM606.

Mine has just been re-assembled along with pre-chambers, might have the odd pic if needed.

That's only because everyone stopped saying the same things over and over. I think it's time to leave the poor guy alone until he makes some progress and reports back.

-Rog

Not sure what you have said there RG, but agree it sure does look like an OM606.

This is the best picture/s I could find, looking down testing glow plugs before re-fitting injectors.

http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/d...0/glowplug.jpg

Guys. Sorry I went radio silent for a while. I came down with a bad stomach bug Friday that knocked the heck out of me. So my weekend was shot. I didn't get a chance to touch the car. Project on hold for now. But I need to re read some of the recent info posted here and decide the course of action to go.

I was under the impression that getting a used head out of a wrecked vehicle at a junk yard was going to run in the upper hundreds to thousands. You guys are talking about a sub $100 head out there? I will look into this option in the meantime too.

LKQ: standard pricing regardless of marque. Check the price lists online, look for yards close to you. Here in Chucktown, ~$65 is the price for an aluminum head with dual camshafts. There are two "tricks": (1) do they have a '98/'99 E300 with a good head and (2) do you have the time / tools to remove it?

I agree....I've only ever seen one non-617 MB diesel here over the last 3 years and that was a 603. There is quite a bit of variation between areas - I think they are more plentiful on the east coast. Definitely worth a try, especially if you've got patience.

Maybe patch up this head to get the car running again, and then patiently watch/wait for a used head to come along?

X2. Agreed, that is a good course of action.

Mike,

Does my drawing below depict what's happened to your cyl. head?

I took your drawing, flipped it so the glow plug is in the same orientation as the cutaway drawing with both on the computer screen, taped a piece of clear cellophane on top of your drawing and drew on it with colored markers.

Orange is the space you have drilled
Green is coolant passages
Purple is pre chamber and injector
Yellow circles are coolant passage areas that have been breached.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...418_145831.jpg

Yes and no. Your overlay is pretty accurate. But the angle I depicted when I drew that pic (right side up), was from the perspective if you were looking from the back of the engine bay to the front.

So I drilled below and to the right of the GP. Not above it. I did not breach a coolant passage above the GP. The passage is clearly below it.

Also what the cross section photo doesn't show is what is to the left and right. Onyl above and below. But regardless of what the cross section shows, we know based on my pics that I opened up a passage in the bottom right of my hole.