i thought you wasnt allowed to live wire modern glowplugs

dave said:

new ones all fitted. took 5 minutes

readings from old ones now i am doing it properly(?) with them removed are...

1.1
62.0
78.6
91.7

am i right in thinking the 3 with the high numbers are all dead, and the one that reads 1.1 is only one worth keeping for a spare?

the 2 end ones came out dry the middle 2 came out wet i dont know if that is normal or not?

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It sounds to me like you have 3 dead ones, if measured right.

Am I right in thinking that glow plugs are only for starting the engine, and are not used after? If so then I'd say if it starts OK, even on a cold morning, then it doesn't need fixing.

Now coming-up to 70K mls & with weather turning colder getting intermittent glow warning on start-ups. Probably change – aren’t there horror stories on glow plugs that haven’t been shifted for decades? The Croma is my first diesel.

What’s favourite? NGK?

FIAT 46792355/NGK YE07 6092/Bosch 0250203001/Lucas GGP110 (?)

------------------------
55 Prestigio 1.9/16v 150hp

They are also used (for emission purposes) to preheat the combustion chamber until the engine warms up somewhat

A very negative thread...

https://www.fiatforum.com/multipla/286692-changing-glow-plugs.html

... although I don't buy the argument that they're not needed - why would they be there otherwise? I suppose they did stick the engine in Saabs in the icy wastes of Sweden, so perhaps only needed at very low temps.

Caravadossi said:

– aren’t there horror stories on glow plugs that haven’t been shifted for decades?

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i think you are ok on the croma not sure where they are on the 8v but on the 16v they are all at the top under the engine cover so not exposed to the weather like diesel engines of old.

i was going to do a guide but they came out so easy i don't think anyone needs a guide.

I got mine out with a tiny 1/4 drive ratchet, they are only just over hand tight. you also need a beep 9mm socket and an extension bar.

i got a set of bosch glowplugs off ebay for just under 40 quid delivered.

mine started ok with 3 dead, but i wanted to do them now before it got freezing cold and get rid of warning message.

they are only for cold starting as they only come on for a little while

how to disconnect cables from plugs?
i remember trying to pull them off but without a success

pull little harder

I managed to 'help' the leads off with a very long and thin flat-blade screwdriver placed underneath the plug cap, at the same time as trying to disconnect them.

So what's the conclusion - is a precautionary change a good idea? Are they likely to get stuck if left too long? Mine's about 80k miles, 5 years old.

No need to worry. The engine bay is well encapsulated, the plugs are in a sheltered location if the engine cover is fitted, and the plug threads are not excessively long. As long as the engine is warm before attempting removal of the plugs they will come out easily.

If you've still got the originals fitted in five years' time it might be worth having a precautionary removal but not at the minute.

Well time for me to mine.

Have a set of 4 NGK YE07 plugs in the post for £46.50 inc vat & p&p

Not a bad price.

Now for a couple of questions while I await their arrival

1) No.2 plug is just accessible beneath the high pressure metal feed tube to injector 2 but once undo will there be enough lift and tilt movement to withdraw the glow plug OK?

2) Engine hot or cold before attempting to undo glow plug? Before answer is a "hot" removal based on the fact that one could not undo one or more plugs on a "cold" removal?

As always I usually find this stuff out when doing a job but advanced warning is never a bad thing.

I did mine cold i think

Well I must say one of the easiest jobs I've done on the Croma.

Did with engine cold.
All glow plugs (including No:2) came out easily.
Replaced the new plugs with a thin smear of high temperature Moly Grease on the new plug threads ENSURING that the end of thread seat area was completely free of grease and clean to ensure a good electrical contact.

All worked fine. Glow plug warning message disappeared. I've not got round to checking if the ECU logged a fault code or not and I suspect that if it did the by the time I get round to checking it may have already self cleared.

Update. FYI

Since the glow plug change the old Croma has sometimes not fired first time and on the second when she always starts it is a little bit lumpy for a short while (5 seconds or till I blip the throttle). The occassional Excessive Water Temperature also flashes up but this has occassionaly happend from new when the doesn't start up on the first attempt.

Connected to the car and found the following fualt codes as logged but not currently present:

P0638 - Glow/Heater Control Unit - Signal Low - Stored
B1006 - TEG Reader Control Unit - Signal High - Stored

I've now cleared these down. Interesting point here is that stored codes do not appear to get flushed after extended & successful drive cycles.

Also wonder about the battery. I'm a 56 plated car, built in September 2005. That makes the original VARTA battery now 7 years old and thus 2 or even 4 years past the manufacturers warranty period. Volts on / off charge are fine an no other dying battery sides effects being obvious.

If the problem continues I guess I'll plump for and dig deep into the wallet for a new battery. They are not cheap, even at trade prices.

engine light is the thing that goes out if 3 drive cycles are done without the fault, stored codes should stay for 99 drives, there is a count down that examiner can see not sure if fes or mes does

Thanks Dave.

No FES / MES can not see the count down to my knowledge. Where did you get the 99 count from? eLearn or from another partie. If you are not sure I'll hunt through my eLearn but you may be able to save me a little time (eLearn / search is not the most effective I've come across).

from a good tech at a fiat dealers