Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
Fitting New Glow Plugs - With Pictures and Video!
Ok, so its been discussed at great length and must be well up there with one of the scariest jobs you may have to do on the Discovery 3 so far. Today however, I plucked up the courage to give the job ago myself and have detailed the out come below.
The plan:
My thoughts on this repair where simple, the project D3 starts badly in cold weather and chucks out loads of smoke runs lumpy etc until it has warmed up. Classic glow plugs have failed symptons. I decided, after reading all the horror stories on here that I would strip the top of the engine back to get at the glow plugs but before attempting to remove them I would first test them using a multi meter to check if they actually needed replacing or not. As I was very sceptical about the success rate of removing the glow plugs I decided I would only try and remove the front four (two on the left and two on the right) these are easy to get to without removing the oil separator gubins at the very back. Out of the four front glow plugs not one was shown to be working according to the multi meter. With this information I concluded that even if the worst did happen I would, from a starting point of view, be no worse off than I am now (obviously there would be a financial implication getting the heads drilled but that could be done at a later date)
The Job Itself:
The hardest part of this job was, in my opinion, keeping all the crud and carbon flakes etc out of the oil filter housing once the filter had been removed. When doing the job you will see what I mean by this. I found that an old rag helped but I also gave the bowl a full clean out before and afterward to be 100% sure nothing had got in that shouldn't have. The photos below should give you an idea of whats involved in the job but its all very straight forward once you get into it. Below is a photo of the air tool I used to carry out the job.
Removing the cover and EGRs (if still fitted ) and Air Intake;
There are several electrical connectors that need to be removed. These include the glow plug main wiring harness plugs. Brown for the drivers side black for the passenger side. Some of the plugs have very short wires so care must be taken here not to damage them. Once the Air intake is out of the way you will have much more room to see the plugs. It was at this point that I removed my oil filter ( I replaced the filter as they are cheap and I'd taken it out anyway). With the plugs exposed this is the time to soak them in your chosen spray or oil (I used a couple of good sprays of WD40 and then after about ten minutes a couple of sprays of plus gas). Now is a good time to go and make a cuppa!
Removing the Glow Plugs:
With the plugs well soaked in penetrating oils I fired up the compressor to make a start on plug one using the vibrating low tourqe air gun. The gun has four settings 10Nm 20Nm 30Nm and 40Nm all of the glow plugs came out with either 20Nm or 30Nm I did not need to use the 40Nm setting.
The first glow plug took about 2 minutes to come out. I did take a real time Vid of this and I will add this below once I figure out how! The remaining plugs all came out in roughly two/three minutes each. I let the air tool really vibrate on them at 10Nm before stopping and upping the power to 20Nm and then again to 30Nm as needed.
As you can see there is some rust on the top four or five threads but the rest of the plug seems very clean considering how long they have been in and where they are!
New Glow Plugs Go In:
Before fitting the new plugs I tested them all with the multi meter and using some jump leads (new plugs took roughly 12 secs to glow red hot). I also added a smear of copper grease as I now intend to change them every year or so.
I really took my time and the whole job (all four plugs I had wanted to change) took me about three and a half hours from start to finish and packed away. I can not tell you how pleased I am with the low torque impact gun and how just how well it preformed. Now that the front four are swapped I will tackle the last two at the back of the engine when the weathers a bit warmer.
Once new plugs are fitted putting everything back together is a simple reverse of the procedure and will be much quicker now you know where it all goes!
I really hope this helps someone. Its the first time I've done a rough "How To Guide" but I have taken so much from this site over the years I wanted to give something back.
Last edited by Littlewill on 7th Jan 2019 5:48 pm. Edited 6 times in total
7th Jan 2019 3:50 pm
OvalAutos
Member Since: 28 Dec 2018
Location: Cradley Heath
Posts: 382
Good report and well done for not breaking any off!Joe
7th Jan 2019 4:09 pm
Littlewill
Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
It was fiddly but not a hard job at all. As I mention I just took my time and made sure not to rush anything or use to much force on the plugs.
7th Jan 2019 4:12 pm
VOD80
Member Since: 26 May 2010
Location: Toulouse
Posts: 105
Well, it’s a huge help for me. My Disco didn’t start at all the other day (cold soaked at -3C). I too have one of the vibrating air guns. Wish me luck!
7th Jan 2019 4:13 pm
Littlewill
Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
"Well, it’s a huge help for me. My Disco didn’t start at all the other day (cold soaked at -3C). I too have one of the vibrating air guns. Wish me luck"
I think if I could of done something differently (obviously I didn't know how things would turn out) I would of felt happier stripping the engine the night before doing the job and allowing the plugs more time to soak. If you have time to do this I would certainly encourage backing it under cover if possible and giving the plugs a good soak.
7th Jan 2019 4:15 pm
nigethecat
Member Since: 11 Sep 2016
Location: Marnoch
Posts: 4145
Nice write up!
What make is your air gun ? would like one of those !!! I want to see the sweets before I get into your windowless van... I'm not stupid!
Corris Grey D4 Commercial SE 2016
Zermatt Sliver 2007 D3 SE manual (gone)
Indus Silver D4 HSE 2015 (gone)
Bonatti Grey D3 HSE 2006 (gone)
White D3 S (LHD) 2007 (gone)
Firenze Red D4 HSE 2014 (gone)
Black RRS 3.6TDV8 2008 (gone)
Rusty Green Defender 110 1997 (gone)
Black FL2 HSE 2013 (gone)
7th Jan 2019 4:22 pm
Littlewill
Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
I've added a photo of the air tool I used to the post for you. I actually bought it from Fireburst (forum member) after he'd done the same job on his D3
7th Jan 2019 4:30 pm
life - live it
Member Since: 14 Apr 2017
Location: Behind you
Posts: 1022
7th Jan 2019 5:35 pm
J@mes
Member Since: 10 Nov 2008
Location: Bomber County
Posts: 4547
Well done! We're both in the bomber county so I'll drop mine round if they need doing 2014 D4 XS
2005 D3 SE - Gone
7th Jan 2019 5:45 pm
Littlewill
Member Since: 14 Sep 2015
Location: Lincolnshire
Posts: 484
No Problem !! Unfortunately now I've gone to all the trouble of doing them it looks like we are going to have a heat wave (well sort of)… Forecast isn't showing a frost here in Lincs for a while now! Typical!
7th Jan 2019 5:53 pm
ClassikFan
Member Since: 02 Nov 2016
Location: Surrey
Posts: 1027
Great job, how much harder is it to do the rear two?Just 'cause you got the power... that don't mean you got the right.
7th Jan 2019 8:08 pm
Fireburst
Member Since: 02 Nov 2017
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 187
Hi Littlewill
Really glad the air tool worked as well for you as it did on my D4.
Jim
7th Jan 2019 8:19 pm
Disco_Mikey
Member Since: 29 May 2007
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Posts: 20731
If they came out with the impact gun, they would have come out by hand My D3 Build Thread
Member Since: 02 May 2018
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 440
M8
Had a thought that a cordless drill/driver with torque setting will likely do the same job...
There's all sorts of chuck fittings available these days, so would probably work okay using a long reach M8 socket.
It obviously won't say:
'ACME Glow Plug Removal Tool' on the box tho'.[/u]2011 MY D4 HSE
Previously 2001 D2 TD5, 1996 D1 300Tdi, 1985 90 2.2 petrol.
Bikes! KTM, BMW, British, Classics and others.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
!! Unfortunately now I've gone to all the trouble of doing them it looks like we are going to have a heat wave (well sort of)… Forecast isn't showing a frost here in Lincs for a while now! Typical!
