Changing glow plugs on 1.9 TD

[addautomotive]

Hey folks... bought a 96 Jetta TD this summer, runs great. However, now that it's getting cold I'm having difficulty starting it. Lots of cranking, lots of smoke. I checked with the previous owner, and the glow plugs have never been changed. I'm going to test them with an ammeter and test light tonight, but I'm assuming I'm down at least 2, so I might as well change 'em all.

Anyway, I've found that on the 1.6, the easiest way to change the glow plugs is to remove the steel fuel lines. What about the 1.9... what's the easiest way to get at them? Also, is there a brand you recommend?

[kooloo]

Removing the steel fuel line will help, but you might have some problem getting at the two plugs behind the pump cause there's not a lot  of room  :roll:

I suggest you to keep a magnet close cause it's a pain in the a$$ when you drop a nut behind the pump... If they were never changed, they might be stuck, so you should put some liquidwrench on the plug before. You don't want to break one of those plug in your head!!! :shock:

[addautomotive]

Thanks kooloo...

So then by the sounds of it, the job is the same as on the 1.6. I just did the glow plugs on my mother's 92 last week, and it was NOT fun (never is)... I was hoping it would be easier on the 1.9. Any recommendations on Glow plugs, brand-wise?

[kooloo]

Any recommendations on Glow plugs, brand-wise?

I use Bosh but you can go with Beru witch are less expensive.

[fspGTD]

I switched my 1.6lTD back to slow glow plugs but I'm looking for a better brand than the cheapy autolites I put in there (it was the only complete set I had that worked  :? )  As I recall Bosch no longer makes slow glow plugs... and I didn't find their fast-glow system to work very reliably on my car.

What good brands are there for slow glows?  Does Beru offer them and where can they be purchased?  Does anyone besides bosch make glow plugs where the tips are tapered?  I'm wondering if the tapered tips might let the air move better in the swirl chamber, making combustion more efficient than the fit-tip glow plugs.  On these autolite fat-tip plugs, they also seem to be sticking WAY into the combustion chamber, maybe farther than needbe.  I'm looking for more of a minimalist glow plug that doesn't take up as much swirl chamber volume...

[QuickTD]

The bosch duraterm glow plugs (slim tapered tip) used in the 1.9TD should work in either slow or fast glow systems. They are self regulating and normally remain on for 3 minutes in the 1.9. They heat up very fast so they will also work fine in fast glow systems. If you check ETKA I believe these glow plugs supercede both the fast and slow glow types. For those in the US, these are the same plugs that are used in the manual tranny TDI for supplimental coolant heat (they not used in the engine, it takes a completely different glow plug) so they should be available at your dealer or from aftermarket sources.

[acidwarp]

are there things to consider when changing the glow plugs ourselves? for example, could screwing the bolt too much cause damage when the engine will be turned on?

im not really into mechanics, but if it there are no dangers on causing damage, if its really "unscrew-change the glowplug-rescrew" then I guess its not difficult to do...

thanks!

[ricosuave]

someone suggested removing the glow plug bus bar altogether and replace it 4 individual wires (of appropriate gauge and pin size) so that future plug troubleshooting will be minimised.

rico

[srivett]

If you over tighten either the glow plug or the bus bar nut you can ruin the glow plug.  The nut will rip the inside of the glow plug out if you over do it, if you over tighten the glow plug it is supposed to shorten it's life span.  Use copper antisieze on the glow plugs if you do it yourself.  Sudbury VW changed them in my 1.6 last week and charged me 81 bucks labour, plus plugs, plus new fuel return lines.  It took them 2.5 hours to do it but they only charged the 1 hour (they know it takes more than an hour but it's a flat rate).  If I had tried to change them I would have been found frozen over the bumper of my car...this job can't be done outside during the winter.  Period.  Heck, I could barely get the fuel return line back on after it fell off and that is the easiest part.

Steve

[Hammy]

This is how I do them. First, ALWAYS, check that your glow plug fuse is not blown, and that you have power at the glow plugs. You will feel stupid after spending the time and money to replace these things, to find out that the fuse is blown, or any other electrical problem. Trust me I know from experience!  Remove the fuel lines from the pump. It is a must. Take the bus bar off the cyl's#3,4. Take those glow plugs out because they are easy. Then I loosen the bus bar nuts on cyl's #1,2, but don't remove these nuts just loosen. Then start removing the glow plugs from these two cyl's , with the bus bar still attached. The glow plugs will turn in the bus bar holes, because you loosened the bus bar nuts off. Once both glow plugs are removed from the head, you can twist the the pair of glow plugs out together with the bus bar. Install is the reversal, once you have put your 2 new glow plugs on the bus bar loosely, slip them down behind the pump, you may have to wiggle them a bit, and they should slip into the holes. Be sure to use antisieze on the threads, and clean all electrical connections!

[Hammy]

Hey I just realized that the question at hand was for 1.9L , not 1.6L. Sorry my bad. Are the glow plugs on the 1.9L, way down the side of the head like the 1.6L, or are they the same as the 1.9L TDI engine, kinda uptop near the injectors?   :?

[QuickTD]

The 1.9TD is just a bored and stroked 1.6TD. The glow plugs are in the same location.