Technical Fiat Ducato Glow plugs

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Technical Fiat Ducato Glow plugs

Whiskers

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Hi one and all! Greetings from Germany! As far as I know, I am posting this thread in the correct place, but if not, please let me know.

So I seem to be having an issue with my van. It's a 2014 Fiat Ducato Maxi 130 multi jet with the 2.3L engine. I purchased the van with the plan of converting it into a campervan. I figured before I start the conversion, I would first focus on the engine to be sure it is and stays reliable so I decided to do the timing chain, timing belt, V belts and the glow plugs. I know the glow plugs needed changing.

So, the thing is... 3 of the 4 glow plugs broke off in the cylinder-head. I was not surprised to be honest and was kind of expecting it. I'm not a mechanic by trade, but over the years I have taught myself and I'm mostly confident doing most jobs including removing the broken off injectors.

Long story short - I got them them out by drilling and tapping them without damaging the threads on the cylinderhead. Yay.

But...sadly, there is a but. Upon cleaning the threads and hoovering out any small pieces of metal I noticed by cylinder 3 I couldn't get my tiny hoover hose in as deep as the rest of the cylinders. Upon further investigation, I realised it seems to be the glow plug seat (if that's what it's called) that has partially came out - obviously when I removed the glow plug on that cylinder. I couldn't really see in the little hole, but I think it's made out of copper and I believe / think it is press-fitted into the cylinderhead.

I didn't want to damage it, so I tapped it in again using and old glow plug. I could only get it in about 95% in comparrison to the other cylinders. Let me put it like this : The majority of thread from the glow plug screws into place.

So can anyone shed some light on this matter for me, or does anybody here ever had something like this happen to them? I'm not sure if I'm worried for no reason or if I should remove the cylinderhead (hopefully not!)

It would be nice to hear your different opinions!

Regards,
Whiskers
 
Hi Whiskers

I think the glow plugs on the Ducato are sealed directly onto a conical part of the cylinder head. I don't think there is any separate insert. See the attached generic pictures, the second one is a still from a video by Pichler who market a set of tools for cleaning up this part of the head.

See

Did the glow plugs come out complete, or was any part left behind ?

As this is a critical operation, you may wish to chat to a friendly Fiat technician, if you can get past the receptionist !
 

Attachments

  • Bosch Glow Plug.jpg
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  • Glow Plug Conical Seat Reaming.jpg
    Glow Plug Conical Seat Reaming.jpg
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Hi Anthony489. Firstly, thank you so much for replying. It's sincerely appreciated!

I got all of the glow plugs out intact. There is definitely some kind of sleeve or seat in there that is not part of the cylinder head.

My biggest fear is that something broke off of this 'sleeve' and is now laying all cosy on top of no3 piston just eagerly waiting for me to turn over the engine so it can bend some valves 😂

I've given it quite a lot of thought and I'm considering to pull the head off. But before I do that, I'm going to try and remove this 'sleeve tube seat thingy' that's in there.

I'll keep you updated.
 
So I have an update regarding my dilemma, and I am happy about it, but at the same time I feel like a fool.

I was convinced there was something like a removable seat or chaft in the cylinder head where the glow sits, but I was mistaken and Anthony489 was correct. There was a piece of old glow plug stuck in there. It was part of the threaded area which I assumed I destroyed when drilling out the old glow plug. This piece got pushed in deeper when I was cleaning the threads with the tap. It fooled me because it was so perfectly round.

Again Anthony489, thanks for responding. Case closed.
 

Attachments

  • 20221105_130139.jpg
    20221105_130139.jpg
    1.1 MB · Views: 81
Hi one and all! Greetings from Germany! As far as I know, I am posting this thread in the correct place, but if not, please let me know.

So I seem to be having an issue with my van. It's a 2014 Fiat Ducato Maxi 130 multi jet with the 2.3L engine. I purchased the van with the plan of converting it into a campervan. I figured before I start the conversion, I would first focus on the engine to be sure it is and stays reliable so I decided to do the timing chain, timing belt, V belts and the glow plugs. I know the glow plugs needed changing.

So, the thing is... 3 of the 4 glow plugs broke off in the cylinder-head. I was not surprised to be honest and was kind of expecting it. I'm not a mechanic by trade, but over the years I have taught myself and I'm mostly confident doing most jobs including removing the broken off injectors.

Long story short - I got them them out by drilling and tapping them without damaging the threads on the cylinderhead. Yay.

But...sadly, there is a but. Upon cleaning the threads and hoovering out any small pieces of metal I noticed by cylinder 3 I couldn't get my tiny hoover hose in as deep as the rest of the cylinders. Upon further investigation, I realised it seems to be the glow plug seat (if that's what it's called) that has partially came out - obviously when I removed the glow plug on that cylinder. I couldn't really see in the little hole, but I think it's made out of copper and I believe / think it is press-fitted into the cylinderhead.

I didn't want to damage it, so I tapped it in again using and old glow plug. I could only get it in about 95% in comparrison to the other cylinders. Let me put it like this : The majority of thread from the glow plug screws into place.

So can anyone shed some light on this matter for me, or does anybody here ever had something like this happen to them? I'm not sure if I'm worried for no reason or if I should remove the cylinderhead (hopefully not!)

It would be nice to hear your different opinions!

Regards,
Whiskers
Hi !

Now the time has come to my 2007 2.3 Mjet. Lot of Acetone/ ATF and waited for at least 3 days .... the torque wrench was set on 19Nm .... SNAP, just on the first thread :-( ... this was assumed thou according to Murphys law , but how can I drill into the the glowplug when the electrode is sitting there, and this "!#¤¤"%#"# seems to be solid ... any ideas ...

Thanks in advance ...

Stefan
 
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