Glow plugs have evolved from their initial stubby shapes to those that are slimmer and taller. While they can achieve very high temperatures quickly, newer types are prone to snapping relatively easily, meaning that technicians must approach glow plug removal carefully.
Glow plugs: Keeping warm to carry on WHILE MOST GLOW PLUG FAILURES ARE SPOTTED OVER WINTER, ROB MARSHALL LOOKS AT WHY RECENT EVENTS HAVE MADE SPRINGTIME CHECKS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER
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Nobody can deny that the last twelve months have been hard on all of us. Technicians and garages have risen to the various challenges, by keeping the UK moving throughout last year and this winter, despite not receiving the same outpouring of national gratitude as that received by some other key workers. Even so, the quality aftermarket must continue to demonstrate its considerable worth, by not only helping vehicles to recover from the consequences of past lockdowns but also to ready them for the challenges ahead, at least until their next service interval.
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start and warm-up phases during winter, glow plugs tend to fail sooner on cars used mainly on short urban runs, compared with those that spend much of their time travelling at high speeds on a motorway. More experienced technicians may recall that indirect diesel injection engines needed glow plugs to warm the cylinder prechamber sufficiently to facilitate combustion before starting.
As many motorists have covered considerably fewer miles since last March, a responsible technician may have to justify why their cars require more attention at service time and not less. To support your advice to customers, this section of AT focusses on how engine lubrication, filtration and exhaust systems are likely to have responded to multiple short trips, or even inactivity, during a particularly harsh winter. These conditions have also made glow plugs work more frequently and for longer. While most service schedules do not mention them, pay the glow plug system extra attention, whenever a diesel car enters your workshop for maintenance.
Tough times The Bilstein Group, home of the febi and Blue Print brands, agrees that glow plug life varies greatly, depending on how they are used. Since they are called-upon particularly for the
Applying penetrating fluid to the glow plugs at least a day prior to removal will help to reduce the risk of a plug breaking as it is unscrewed.