I got ambitious and decided to change the #1 glow plug this afternoon. Didn't seem like a difficult ordeal. Took off the power lead, then started backing out the glow plug. It was so easy it was almost loose. Well, when I got it out, I discovered why there was no light. There was NO tip on the plug. Just completely gone.
To back up...yesterday afternoon I left the key on inadvertently. When I discovered this, I turned off the key. When I started the car again, it started instantly but made an awful clanking noise at the front of the engine like the valve went out of adjustment or the injector died. The sound continued. The car RAN fine, so I thought "well, guess some trash landed in the injector." I drove the car home last evening. Never more power...ran beautifully. Now I'm afraid to drive it. It starts fine. I tried installing the new glow plug (Bosch...I've heeded advise) and it seemed way to difficult to turn at the last 1/4, so I stopped and reinstalled the stub.
Am in in for disaster, or can this be removed from the motor? I'm going to drive the gas car tomorrow, as I have this sinking kind of feeling. I've looked through the archives and I don't see anything that talks about broken or totally burned plugs.
Please someone...good news?

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

That happened to me too in my old 82 300SD. The tip of the plug just sits in the prechamber, it does not go into the cylendar and does not cause any harm. You can access the prechamber but it is alot of work and from what I am told, this tip will not hurt anything. Im sure some other group members can fill you in better than I.

Robert,

Can you get a small magnet in there, or otherwise try to fish out the tip? I agree with turbodiesel that it won't do any damage, but it obviously will not provide proper flame travel. With the prechamber tools, you could pull the prechamber without removing the head.

I expect that a small piece of the plug made it into the cylinder and made the noise. Not a good thing, but the damage is probably minimal, and not worth pulling the engine apart for unless the noise remains, or problems ensue.

Best of luck,

THANKS for the reply! Now I feel much better. I'm hoping the initial clatter sound was from the interference with the injector, not the cylinder.
I am going to drive the 300E to work this morning. Is it safe to drive the car to the mechanic's shop and have him do it? Should I try it, ie. remove the injector and see if I can lower a magnet in that way? I'd MUCH rather take the car and have the mechanic do it.
I like the fact that so much is original on this car, but I think that's also part of the problem. Tried to change the transmission modulator this weekend. The bolts are stuck...going to have to be cut out apparantly.
Again, Thanks for the replies... I can breathe much easier now.

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

I tried a shop vac and was able to suck out some small pieces

__________________
Ricali

03 C240 4matic wagon
95 300E 234,000
7 prior 240;s 5 still going
81 300sd gone
65 230sl gone
49 Studebaker Champion
90BMW convert.167,000
60 Dodge D-100

Ricali,

I would love to get a vacuum out there, and may try. Problem is, the car is in the carport at the condo and there is no plug anywhere near the car. Perhaps I'll offer the neighbor a poinsetta to plug in. Otherwise, I think I'll contact insurance and see about having it towed. I just have a bad feeling that something is still in there and could do damage somewhere if I drive it.
All I need is the HOA petitioning to force me to sell after tearing into the engine. The president lives next door. Think I'll have it towed...
THANKS all the help!!!

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

There is probably not as much danger using a shop vac on a diesel, but DON'T EVER DO THIS WITH A GAS ENGINE! If there is any gasoline at all, it can be ignited by the sparks in the shop vac. This is not a good thing.

Back during the oil crunches in the seventies, there were several people killed and burned severely beyond recognition by having the bright idea to siphon gasoline with their "wet/dry" shop vacs.

Make sure you engage the ol' noodle before you use your spark making shop vac for a liquid pump.

Good luck,

For my part, considering I have some spare vehicles, I would not drive the engine with part of the glow plug flopping around in the prechamber.

There is some speculation on my part that this is what ruined Engatwork's 240D engine - it pretty severely beat up a piston and also the valves I think. (But he may have ingested something through the air intake, like a loose nut or something.)

If it were mine I'd park it until I got the prechamber tool (can be rented from Performance Products) and fixed it - or somehow managed to get the piece of glowplug back out the chamber.

Just what I would do......

Ken300D

It was a sad moment. The towtruck drove away with Blanche looking all hurt. Hopefully the damage isn't too bad. She's getting new motor mounts, trans mount, and trans modulator while she's there. Probably get a transmission and differential service too.
Thanks for all the advise and all. I'll be giving updates...

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

GOOD NEWS!!! The old plug was stuck in the chamber. The whole thing came out. My mechanic had it out in about 30 min and the new ones installed. He said there didn't appear to be any damage, and that the rest of the plugs were ok. I had him change the 2 extra I bought, so I'll have the others as spares. Now to get the Volvo running.

Thanks again for all the help. You all kept panic from ruining my day!!!

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)

I'm with Ken - something went into the #2 cylinder and did some damage before it found its way out - there were no loose pieces when I got the head off. The prechamber was too beat up to tell much about it.
Wonder if you would get much out if you removed the glow plugs and injectors and cranked it over?

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Jim

Congrats on your success. BUT why would you take a chance with the rest of the plugs? Their really cheap.

__________________
Ricali

03 C240 4matic wagon
95 300E 234,000
7 prior 240;s 5 still going
81 300sd gone
65 230sl gone
49 Studebaker Champion
90BMW convert.167,000
60 Dodge D-100

I had the pleasure of seeing and driving TCCBass' 300SD right after he bought it. It is a real sweetheart, completely slick and rust free and drives like a dream.

I'm really relieved for Robert that everything worked out. It would be a real shame for this one in a thousand car to come up seriously ill.

Whew,

That did turn out pretty well!

I'd be interested in knowing if the broken glow plug was a Bosch or something else. If it was a "something else" and there are more "something elses" in the car, I'd replace all those "something elses" with Bosch glow plugs now.

Yes. OK. That's a little paranoid, I know. But even though I'm cheap and lazy, good glow plugs are valuable to me.



Ken300D

I went to see the car last evening. It was ready except that I forgot to tell him to do a transmission service. I went back through the records, and from what I can tell they were the ORIGINAL glow plugs. The mechanic said he believed they were. Definitely Bosch plugs. The prechamber was in so tight that he almost never got it out. By the time I got from work to his shop, the motor/trans mounts and new modulator were installed. I'm also having the differential fluid changed...well, it looks ok, but just because. The transmission in Blanche has been shifting a little slushy. I tested the modulator, and it did bleed down some after a long while. A new modulator cured the slush in the last 2 cars...I'm sure it couldn't hurt this one. I'm glad this ordeal ended up at $200 instead of $4K!
He is charging me a very low rate on the Volvo...just to get it out of his shop. Taking up space, and he's tired of looking at it. Been there, oh, 3 months now finding parts.
Have a GREAT Holiday...Safe and Blessed Travelling in your Benz Masterpiece!

__________________
R Talley
88 BMW E32 735i (make it go away)
95 Volvo 960 "Inga" (valve problems)
95 Nissan Maxima (the indestructible)
89 Ford Ranger XLT (ugliest truck in the South)