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  #16  
Old 01-04-2008, 05:22 PM
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Autolite?

Mcturbo, run as fast as you can with those Autolites back to AZ and exchange them for Beru or Bosch or you will be repeating replacement again soon. They also swell the body and ends of the pencils and can cause problems removing them.
Bud

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  #17  
Old 01-04-2008, 05:31 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by oldnavy View Post
Man on some models like our '91 that is real labor intence and may require removal of intake.
Labor intensive yes but from the number of threads that I have read on those long glow plugs getting stuck or broken off in the head (more so tha 617s) It might be better to pull them out every so often and ream the carbon out of the holes and re-install with Never-Seez as preventive maint.
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  #18  
Old 01-04-2008, 05:33 PM
Craig
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Originally Posted by oldnavy View Post
What I am wondering is about normal life span. Remember everyone driving a diesel does not necessarily have skills/tools or ability to replace glow plugs on their car. Who would want to go to all the expence of every two years having to replace GP's and be out all that money. GP's are not like replacing sparkplugs in a gasser either, they cost a lot more and spark plugs in average gasser for the last 20 years generally last min of abut 50,000 miles if not more.
I would assume the "normal" life span of GPs is only a couple of years on any of these cars. How much "expense" are we talking about, a few $100 every two years? Given the original cost of the car, that wasn't much of an issue.
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  #19  
Old 01-04-2008, 05:36 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by badtrukrisin View Post
Mcturbo, run as fast as you can with those Autolites back to AZ and exchange them for Beru or Bosch or you will be repeating replacement again soon. They also swell the body and ends of the pencils and can cause problems removing them.
Bud
Yes, after 3 months use in CA I had difficulty removing 2 Autolites due to swollen tips (I bought them before I knew better). I had read that they had a high failure rate but did not know that the might damage my head (which could happen trying to remove them if they were stuck).
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  #20  
Old 01-04-2008, 07:09 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig View Post
I would assume the "normal" life span of GPs is only a couple of years on any of these cars. How much "expense" are we talking about, a few $100 every two years? Given the original cost of the car, that wasn't much of an issue.
I guess I'm just one of those people who think something that simple, but expensive as $20 for a Bosch GP, is like owning a gasser and being told the spark plugs are $20 each and they need replacing every two years. I don't know of anyone who would not raise cane about that cost. I remember when they were replaced every 5,000 miles, but they were only 25 to 30 cents apiece in those days.

So say what you will and I don't care if it is a new MB gasser or a little Toyota, if you tell those people that every two years they would have to spend a few hundred ($200 to $300) dollars for new spark plugs or as we say a "tune up", MB & Toyota won't be selling very many cars. Instead people will be buying BMW or Honda with 75,000 to 100,000 mile tune up at a couple hundred dollars. But that is just my opinion and may not be yours.
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  #21  
Old 01-04-2008, 09:32 PM
Craig
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OK, but I suspect the dealer cost for "A service" on a new gasser (about every 12K miles) is a lot more than $2-300. I would be thrilled if I could get away with a few $100 every couple of years on any car. Does anyone know the dealer cost?

From a search, it appears that Bosch spark plugs for a gas benz are about $10 each online.

I spend an average of about $2-3000 per year on my car; doing routine maintenance and fixing the usual nits, GPs are the least of my expenses.
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  #22  
Old 01-04-2008, 09:57 PM
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My '85 300D still has the glowplugs it came to me with, almost 2 years and 23,000 miles ago. The '87 came with one bad one, since replaced, but it doesn't get driven much so I don't have good data. Our new E300D has service records showing glow plug replacements several times (in 248,000 miles) and one is bad now, replacement on order. All six were replaced 2 POs, 3 years, and 45,000 miles ago. Late model preglow controllers with afterglow probably are harder on glow plugs than the earlier kind that shut off as soon as the engine cranks. Anyone have experience with these? Late W124, W210, etc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by oldnavy View Post
What I have been wondering from time to tie over the years is if the GP go bad will they eventually damage the relay or vice versa. Anyone know?
Glow plugs have low resistance (typically 1 ohm) and draw a lot of current (so they get hot). If one short-circuits, it will draw even more current but that should blow the strip fuse rather than harming the preglow controller. I'm sure there's a way for a bad glow plug to harm the controller, I just don't know what it is.

Jeremy
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  #23  
Old 01-04-2008, 09:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig View Post
OK, but I suspect the dealer cost for "A service" on a new gasser (about every 12K miles) is a lot more than $2-300. I would be thrilled if I could get away with a few $100 every couple of years on any car. Does anyone know the dealer cost?

From a search, it appears that Bosch spark plugs for a gas benz are about $10 each online.

I spend an average of about $2-3000 per year on my car; doing routine maintenance and fixing the usual nits, GPs are the least of my expenses.
Wow you be really throwing the money around. My 05 Dodge Magnum had no service prior to 100,000 except brakes, serpentine belt, and the oil & filter changes and air filter. I have friends with Toyota's, Fords, Nissan to name a few who do not have any service requirements other then oil, filters, and belts prior to 50,000 to 100,000 range. As a matter of fact a friend just mentioned recently that he had a major service coming up on his '04 Avalon shortly (he's at 6x,xxx miles and was talking it calling for plugs, belts, tranny flush, brake flush, oil & filter change, and air filter. He was told it would run about $400 unless he needed brakes or alignment.

Myself if I owned a car that cost me two or three thousand bucks a year up keep I would find something else to drive, maybe an AMG of some kind. The only reason I can see for that kind of money is having a tranny rebuilt or some such. My '05 CDI will only average about $500 a year for everything being done at dealer, unless I need brakes, shocks or struts. But those are not annual repairs.
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  #24  
Old 01-04-2008, 10:25 PM
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Well, I drive a 400K mile car about 40K miles per year so it's a tad expensive. I understand driving a new one would be cheaper, but they don't interest me at all. It does cost a few dollars to maintain these if you don't want to let them degrade.
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  #25  
Old 01-04-2008, 10:34 PM
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My Jeep went just a tad over 300,000 miles and life time repair and up keep average wasn't $500 a year. Maybe those old MB ain't what they are cracked up to be, or you just be rough on cars like my wife.
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  #26  
Old 01-04-2008, 10:39 PM
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Your Glow Plug life, can also depend on your Glow Plug Relay. If it is of poor condition, or quality, it will either take its sweet time to het them up, which can cause extra stress on them. If it's in good shape/quality, it will heat them up faster, and hotter, which will make their work load less, for each time they are used..

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  #27  
Old 01-04-2008, 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by oldnavy View Post
My Jeep went just a tad over 300,000 miles and life time repair and up keep average wasn't $500 a year. Maybe those old MB ain't what they are cracked up to be, or you just be rough on cars like my wife.
LOL, no I just insist on keeping it in very good shape. I spent about $700 chasing a tiny oil leak a few weeks ago. The goal is for the car to outlive me, by a considerable margin.

Actually, I'm just buying a brand new W123 one piece at a time without telling my wife.
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  #28  
Old 01-05-2008, 12:30 AM
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I believe my 300D still has the original glow plugs. I have had the car for 8 years and I have never changed one.

On my 240D, I changed one when I first got the car, about 4 years ago.

I have never changed one on my Isuzu either. Had that truck about 13 years.

All in all, in about 200K miles of dieseling, I have changed one glow plug.

I suspect they would not have lasted as long in a cold climate. In Texas, the glow plugs have an easy life.
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  #29  
Old 01-05-2008, 12:47 AM
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Well I replaced what looked to be original GP's when I got the SDL, that was 4 years ago, and I did it again. Two failed. So I'm going to say 4 years ish+/-.
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  #30  
Old 01-05-2008, 12:49 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Craig View Post
OK, but I suspect the dealer cost for "A service" on a new gasser (about every 12K miles) is a lot more than $2-300. I would be thrilled if I could get away with a few $100 every couple of years on any car. Does anyone know the dealer cost?

From a search, it appears that Bosch spark plugs for a gas benz are about $10 each online.

I spend an average of about $2-3000 per year on my car; doing routine maintenance and fixing the usual nits, GPs are the least of my expenses.
Spark plugs can be very expensive these days, I don't know about the latest MB's they are to new, but the M112/M113 family all had 2 plugs per cylinder. So 12-16 @ $10 a pop. Good thing they last 100k miles!

On the Grandparents XJ8 they are $20 each x 16!

On my friends M104 they are $3 x6!

I think what MB does now is either an A or B serivce, every 13k miles. I'd be shocked getting out of one of those for under $500.

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