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+--- Thread: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? (/showthread.php?tid=3462)
Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - sassparilla_kid - 03-20-2012
So I went to start my car this morning and it cranked but wasn't firing up, so I figured its probably a couple bad plugs and took our spare car to my class this morning. After returning home, I started checking things out and what not, here's what I have determined.
Power is getting to the plugs, and at least one is bad, still need to check the others.
I have removed the bad plug, (Bosch, I thought it was gonna be one of the Autolite ones but I'm guessing this plug is older than I am) and discovered the end of it all oily and disgusting. I cranked the car for probably a total of 30-40 seconds intermittently trying to start up this morning, hitting my glow plug button in between attempts.
Please tell me the oily plug does not indicate some sort of catastrophic failure in the engine, because that would be all kinds of bad.
Also, I had the same problem last night after I got out of my welding class (around 9:30) and I guess the block hadn't cooled too much because it eventually started up, and after warming up for a minute it ran fine
Thanks y'all
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - larsalan - 03-20-2012
Sounds to me like it's not getting hot. Otherwise that oil would be toast. Doesn't sound like catastrophic failure.
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - aaa - 03-20-2012
Valve seal? HG failure? In any case the hard starting sounds unrelated to the oil.
I'd buy some plugs, and do a compression test while replacing them.
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - sassparilla_kid - 03-20-2012
So the oily plug ended up being the only bad one, the car fired right up after changing it and checking the others. I'm pretty sure it was just diesel on the plug because it smelled like diesel, and looked like diesel, and felt about like the viscosity of diesel, leading me to think it was.
I also disconnected the fuel shutoff vacuum line and blew/sucked through that little green thing then reconnected it, not sure if that could have anything to do with the issue or not. I intend to just replace all of the plugs in the next month or two with Bosch ones, and check compression at the same time. Just need to get some monies first.
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - aaa - 03-20-2012
Ah, good thing it was just diesel.
How would one missing plug make it that hard to start? I don't recall that occurring, it would just run rough on four holes for me.
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - sassparilla_kid - 03-20-2012
Yeah I don't know what the deal was, but it started right up afterwards lol. It was really strange, I'm guessing there was something else going on that got solved without realizing it
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - Hercules - 03-21-2012
How were glow plugs tested? The only accurate test is checking current draw (with timer disconnected) Approx. 20amps would be normal. There may still be another bad plug. Would now start ok with (4) good plugs.
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - Simpler=Better - 03-21-2012
IIRC, if the #1 plug fails then the whole system shuts down. When my #1 went I jumped over to #2 to get me home
RE: Oily Glowplugs, what does this mean? - sassparilla_kid - 03-21-2012
Well I just tested to see if the plugs were completely dead, since I only had a test lamp with me, so there could be others that have extremely low resistance that would still allow the lamp to glow, but not be working. In any case I plan on ordering some Bosch ones soon enough. BTW the completely dead plug was from number 4 cylinder