I hate that you had all that trouble with the glow plug but, am glad you figured out the solution. Fortunately I was lucky when I replaced my glow plugs. I did however put the copper anti seize on the shaft and threads in hopes that the next removal will be easier.

So I was able to bore out the glow plug passage and install a Time-Sert this weekend.

Things I learned:
- Use the pulled glow plug shell as a stopper for the hole to keep trash from going into the prechamber. It will come back out easy if you reamed the hole, using the pull rod from the extraction kit (or your bolt and washer homemade extractor).
- The drill bit they give you for the Time-Sert is a monster and has a really aggressive pitch. A drill with a very low speed is essential to keep from getting sideways in the aluminum. I have a DeWalt battery drill with a two speed transmission and a very sensitive trigger that allows the drill to be moved very slowly.
- Run the drill slowly in reverse out of the hole to avoid snagging the bit.
- The counterbore can be done with a drill, again go very slow.
- The tap and the install need to be done with a tap handle.

So once I got through all that and the glow plug installed I was able to pick up my injectors from Greazzer. He gave me some bad news, the #5 injector was seized together and he could not unscrew it. It popped at 1900# so it was lower than the others. He rebuilt the other 5 with newer nozzles.

I went ahead and installed the bad injector in #5 along with the good ones just to make sure the car would start and run. Well as expected the car runs like crap with that injector that is off.

I sourced another injector body and it’s going to Greazzer to be rebuilt to match the others and hopefully put this saga to bed.

Did you find and read this thread?

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/376521-om606-glow-plug-removal-tips-tricks.html

My recommendation #4: "Remove the injectors and apply penetrating oil to the inside of the plugs! The first two plugs came out with much effort, over about three hours, and the rest either would not move or moved very little (I did not try #6 yet at this point, I decided to leave it until the end because access is blocked by the oil filter canister and I wanted to make sure I did not break off that plug). I decided to remove the injectors and apply penetrating oil inside the pre-chambers to loosen the carbon on the inside. This helped! Every thirty minutes or so, I refreshed the penetrating oil both inside and out for all the remaining old plugs, using over half a can of PB Blaster during the job. I made a spray tube extension with an angle at the end to direct the spray to the side of the pre-chamber with the glow plug. I used an old piece of plastic vacuum tubing, heated with a propane torch until it was just soft and I could make a nice bend, and then cut off the tube just past the bend. "

Note that an oil change is necessary after spraying your favorite penetrating oil inside the pre-chamber.

Not until after I had already done the job.

The injector removal was an afterthought since I had a week of down time while waiting for the Time-Sert kit and my work schedule.

I really think the chain of events was that the #5 injector was malfunctioning and that caused the GP failure due to extreme carbon packing. Once the GP failed it just snowballed.

Hopefully Greazzer can get this injector body in spec with the nozzle and this will cure my problems in cylinder #5 and it runs properly again.

All fixed now finally
 

So I got the new #5 injector back from Greazzer.

Got a new injector from the Rock (didn’t want to wait for one to show up on eBay) and Greazzer pop tested it and it was 100# off spec brand new out of the box. He removed the India made nozzle and installed a German nozzle and calibrated it.

Installed it in the car and everything running great now.

Before all this the car smoked pretty heavily under full acceleration. Enough you could see it in the rear view mirror. Now not so much.

My son is very happy to be getting his car back finally after a month.

I also recommend sending your injectors to Greazzer to have them checked and calibrated if you haven’t done so in the recent past. I suspect that the sequence of events was that the #5 injector started malfunctioning and that caused the cylinder to run poorly, thus building carbon, which led to the glow plug failing.

Anyone who wants to r&R their OM606 glow plugs please let me know by PM and I will loan you these tools. You will have everything needed no matter how it turns out.

Glad that you have it fixed and back on the road. I understand how your Son feels about getting back in the car. I felt the same way when mine was down a couple of weeks for preventative maintenance.
So, I guess even a new injector can’t be trusted out of box?
Good job and way to hang in there!

https://mueller-kueps.com/product-catalog/vehicle-specialty-tools/glow-plug-drill-kit-m12x1-25/

This is the drill kit I used.

I will be happy to lend this out to forum members with a $700 deposit, $20/week rental fee + shipping both ways. You will receive this drill out kit complete with a slide hammer, the Time-Sert kit, the reamer, and a couple of sacrificed glow plugs to use as drill templates or hole plugs as necessary.

I will also throw in the OM606 special injector socket so you can pull your injectors and get them serviced.

Please PM me for details or to set this up.

I think the mistake you made is that you warmed up the engine before removing intake manifold. Remove the intake manifold first then bring the engine to operating temperature then immediately start removing the glow plugs with an impact gun.

I've actually had the engine running/idling while unscrewing them.

Dude! An impact gun?!...

I have always thought about handling these like glass. No over torquing tight or on removal..

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Impact hits is sharply multiple times quickly, hand cranking slowly makes for shearing it off.

I have seen the plugs being pulled with impact gun on a running engine, the final push is applied by the firing event and the plug literally rams out into the tool socket.

On some i saw that same shop use a regular slide hammer with a hot engine, the plugs pull out after 3 or 4 hits.

Yes if I ever have to do this again I will use the impact. I was afraid to for fear of applying too much torque. But now that I have the extractor tooling I am much less afraid if I get another broken plug.

I plan to proactively withdraw the plugs in a few months just to make sure everything is going well.

I think what I'm going to purchase and keep around for when I get my E300TD is a Mini Ductor 2. That long wand looking thing that has a coiled tip that you put around rusted or stuck bolts to heat them up really hot so you can break them loose. It has various tips that you can bend to get to where you need to. It's like using a torch to heat up a bolt, but it applies heat directly where you want it without collateral damage from the heat.

Even if I don't end up needing it for the glow plugs, I can use it on my other cars.

I just did this and I can confirm... impact gun is definitely the way to go.
Best use one that has adjustable power. I used mine on 2/3.
And a hot engine. I would run the engine between each plug to heat it up.
Still took several hours to get them all changed
Plug in cylinder 6 is the worst. Hard to access because if the oil filter.
I ended up having to weld a nut to the piece of glow plug after I rounded off the hex of the GP with about two threads from coming out.