Now I know this is one of our favorite things to do on these diesel engines that we so adore, but there are some tools and things that make life just a little easier when doing it. I just finished doing it for the second time on an AAZ engine, which is almost no different then an 1.6 engine. I was able to do it in about 1.5 hours, without removing anything extra, and keeping all my skin. My tools 12 mm, and 8 mm sockets with extensions, 8 and 12 mm wrenches, long needle nose pliers, and last but not least my favorite, telescopic magnet(Screw driver handle, with antena coming out, with magnet on the end). I think the magnet was the key to the whole thing as it held the nuts in place and allowed me to get them on and off without losing them to the engine. The only other tool that I would love to try, and maybe next time would be those flex head rachet wrenches from Canadian Tire. Those look like the could make things go quicker, but thats a next time thing.
Ok, better throw this in just so you know, you can take off the fuel lines (10 mm wrench I think) and injectors, and some will recommend it, and or swear by it. The choice is up to you on how easy you want to make this job. Just remember that when removing the injectors (28 mm super deep socket) that you replace injector shields as well(Real cheap at dealerships, only a few bucks at most)
Ok, Steps on doing it
1. Glow plugs on cylinder's 1 and 2 (Close to timing belt) you need the 8mm wrench to take the nuts holding the bus bar off. You have little room to move (Unless you pull of the fuel pump and remove the injectors), although it is possible to do, it just takes time. These two are the hardest to do, and will take the longest. The magnet came in real usefull here, when catching and taking the last nuts off.
2. Cylinder 3 and 4 I just used the 8mm socket with the extension on and took the nuts off in no time at all.
3. You should have all 4 nuts off, and the bus bar should just come off the glow plugs as there is nothing holding it anymore. It might need some encouragement, thats what the needle nose pliers are for. Give it some help, but don't kill it and have it come out in more then 1 piece. Lucky if that happens you can go to the wrecker and find another one off another vw diesel pretty easy, but you have to get that one off to, so be nice to the one on your car!
4. Removing the actual glow plugs is no different then what you just went through, except you need a bigger wrench and some more effort. I had to use the bottom of the wrench(Don't have the right word right now, sorry) where you are able to enclose the wrench completely over the glow plugs so you do not strip them to shreds. My Glow plugs were in good and required a good deal of effort to get them out. Just one word of caution though, be carefull, but forcefull as you don't want to break the glow plug in the engine either as you are up a bigger and worse tree then.
5. All your glow plugs should be out, have a look, see if you can find the bad one(s) and get the new ones out and put some locktight(Not the powerfull stuff, just the normal stuff will do) on the threads before you hand tighten them in. I know you can't get your hands in all the places, but even putting the glow plug in the socket and tighting it with the socket by hand is better then going at it straight with a rachet or wrench off the bat. Once you get them going, tighten them up, but don't overtighen! 18 ft-lb is what the bently says to do, so if you don't have a tourque wrench, guess, it is not much! Over tightening will make you have to do this all again real soon, just a warning!
6. All the glow plugs are in, time to put the wires and bus bar back on. I just used the needle nose to get the bar back onto the plugs, but if you can get it back on by hand, by all means. It might not stay on till you put the nuts on, but normally it catches on one of the threads and stays on until you get the nut back on.
7. The most fun job of them all, getting these small stupid nuts back on the glow plugs. This part has to be one of the more frustrating, so let me give you the warning now. little space, little nut, and little patience could result in lots of profanity, thrown tools, or in extreme cases other engine pieces broken under the hood. Alright, with the disclaimer out of the way, this is where the magnet was used most. I used the magnet a bit to get the nuts off, but when trying to get them back on, it made the job a lot easier. The magnet holds the nut, while by hand you are turning it trying to catch the threads on the glow plug. It might not catch right away, but the magnet is holding the nut, so it won't fall in behind the fuel pump. You can even use the magnet to try and turn the nut on that way, it is possible, just could take a little longer, thats all. If you don't use the magnet and don't remove the fuel lines and injectors atleast, you are almost in the 100% range that you will lose atleast one nut, so you have been warned.
8. Alright make sure everything is tight, but not too tight, and make sure that the buss bar that links the glow plugs together is not accidently grounded to the engine in some way or else you will need a new glow plug link as well. Once all checked, and made sure everything is hooked up, give the car a whirl, see how it starts. If no different and everything is hooked up, then you have another issue, look at the fuse or the relay next. If it starts up and works great, pat yourself on the back, count your lost skin, and prepare for your next project, what ever that might be!
Hope this helps some people who have never done this and are looking for a step by step way of doing it. The bentley's don't really give you a whole lot of info on this, and I just figured that I would try and lay it out while it was fresh in my head. If people want to add or post other suggestions, by all means, I am in no way a pro or mechanic (Not yet, looking to apprentice though) so don't think it is beyond your knowledge on how to do this. If you have questions, ask, no question is a stupid question and people here are always glad to help!
Hope this Helps
Ben
Topic: Changing Glow Plugs (Read 5292 times)
