OM 606 Drilled too deep trying to extract a stuck Glow Plug
 

Hi Guys.

I know stuck Glow plugs in the 606 has been discussed endless. But here is a new one:

As the title suggests I drilled too deep when trying the extraction process. I was following the method where you tap the body of the GP so you can install a hardened bolt into the body and slide it out by tightening a nut down the bolt. But I never got that far.

When I was drilling out the center of the GP, I must have went right through the tip on the GP. I went so deep that fuel started to flow up into the Glow Plug chamber. What is behind there? Did I just completely ruin this head, thereby ruining this car?

By the way GP still stuck in there. The tap/bolt puller method didn't work for me.

Thanks in advance.

you would have had to drilled through the aluminium head material to hit the injector. even then, not much fuel would come out and i would have been very difficult to drill through.

more likely, and much more seriously, it may have been coolant!


Pull the injector. thats only reasonable next step after checking with a good light source if you can see the "mixing' ball in the prechamber through your drilled hole.

Ouch. I'm not sure what is in line with the glows on the 606, but are you sure it is not coolant?

I'd guess you can put a fork in that head...unless you got lucky and drilled into one of your injectors?

Im almost 100% sure it's fuel.

Now you guys have me doubting myself. I certainly know the difference between diesel fuel and antifreeze. But the entire garage had already stunk of fuel, PB Blaster, WD 40, etc from doing this. When I drilled through too deep and the fluid filled up the GP port, I went with the assumption I drilled right thru the tip of the GP and I saw fuel.

But I guess it is possible I wasn't drilling perfectly straight and went through the wall of the aluminum head.

Let's stick with the assumption it is fuel. If that is the case, what is just beyond the tip of the GP? Because at this point I am thinking of retreading the port, plugging it up and run on just 5 GP's.

My concern with this is that clearly fragments of the GP (metal shavings, broken ceramic tip, etc) will be left in there, If I drilled straight back too deep what else could I have damaged? Will these fragments fall into vital areas of the engine like the cylinder, pistons, etc?

I would pull the injector to find out. At minimum, you can find out if the glow plug tip is still in there.

There is not enough fuel available in the injector to fill up the glow plug port. It would have to fill up the pre-chamber and the cylinder before it flowed out of the GP hole.

The injector is made out of steel. Not sure of its Rockwell hardness, but pretty sure you would have to put some 'umph' into your drilling to go through it. Even if you hit the injector, there's a tiny amount of fuel in it, and even if the fuel could "flow" through it just sitting there, not sure there's enough in the line to somehow weep downwardly, although gravity would certainly move whatever fuel from high to low. Take a paper towel to sop up the fluid and then do a smell test. I agree a little bit of diesel or other similar fluids can stink up the garage where everything stinks like diesel, especially once it gets atomized and in the air.

I don't think the injector is inline with the glow plug.

Beyond the tip of the glow plug is the opposite side of the pre-chamber and then the head casting. If you could drill through the pre-chamber wall, you would hit coolant.

You can easily tell if you drilled through the glow plug with a gauge ruler made out of a chopstick from Chinese takeout, lining your measurement to a glow plug on the bench.

Ugh. It's more than a 'little' fluid. I guess I am mistaken and I really stuck coolant. So head is shot if that's the case? Can't just plug up the hole and run it on 5 GP's?

I will pull the injector and do the smell test to double check. But it sounds like you guys have convinced me.

If the head is shot I am going to just sell the car for parts at this point. I have no one to do a head replacement for me and if I can't even handle changing some GP's, I certainly am not going to try and tackle a head removal.

Coolant in the combustion chamber means you can't run it. If coolant is coming out of the glow plug, it is also filing the cylinder and draining past the piston into the oil.

:(

Per dimensions of the glow plug in this ebay listing New Genuine * TRIDON * Glow Plug TGP For Mercedes Benz E300 D E300 TD W124 W210

28 mm is the portion of the tip that extends into the pre-combustion chamber, from the flare to the glow plug hex (assumed where it snapped off) is about 2 x 28 mm. 56 mm is 2.2 inches. Did you drill more than 2 inches deep?

I'd find the best machinist around and pay him to come look at it. They have some pretty cool repair kits for similar situations to this. Don't for a minute think you are the only person who has done this (whatever it is).

I cannot see any source of a lot of fuel except your injector return or supply lines. Could it be running down from above?

My thoughts go out to you .I did a job on my Granada v6 once .. I had a leaking freezz plug that was weeping .It was going in to the engine as i was removing it .So i put a small 1/16 hole in it to screw in a self taping screw,to use it to pull it out with .Well i did it went right in the water jacket of number 6 cylinder.So head off was the only way out. Bite the bullet and remove the head . It looks to me , that diesels are a pain in the butt.