525tds glowplug replacement

[ratwing]

Cold starting has been getting difficult, it seems like its initially only firing on a couple of cylinders so I bought 6 new glowplugs - should be easy enough to change them I thought...
It looks like the inlet manifold has to come off to get to them, is this right or have i missed something obvious (clutching at straws here!)
Assuming the manifold does have to come off:(, has anyone got the torque settings for the various nuts & bolts please?

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

Do not take the manifold off, you can do it without BUT its easier if you do. Torque settings are common sense,look up in any engineers book, the settings for 6mm,8mm bolts or use Winfred rules,grunt for 6mm,double grunt for 8mm. The fun starts when you try to pull the old ones out, the heads swell and make it difficult to get the old ones out. the most important thing you need is a snap-on deep socket ,buy, borrow or steal one and the job is easy. If you`re keeping the car, buy one.

[NielsGalan]

On mine, the 524td, one of the tell tale lights in the instrument cluster (Start readiness) lets you know if a glow plug needs changing. It's a green circle with an arrow that comes on after the glowing process has completed. If this light doesn't come on it means that one or more glow plugs are faulty.

Don't know if you have this light, but if you do, you'll at least know if it's the plugs.

[winfred]

ya do this **** long enough :D


Or Use Winfred Rules,grunt For 6mm,double Grunt For 8mm.

[ratwing]

I hope this isn't a daft question but I suppose you do take them out from above rather than underneath the car? I only ask because with the plastic shield taken off the top of the engine they are barely visible past the manifold & injector gubbins. Anyway, I'll give it a go this weekend.

[ratwing]

Don't think mine has this light unfortunately.

[Barney Paull-Edwards]

From the top! give the connections a good dose of W D,and EASE them off.You may find it easier to remove some pump to injector pipes, carefully, and while its a fiddley job, it is possible, just be patient and label ALL wires you remove.The duff glowplugs will be swollen at the ends but to test, rig a battery, connect them and if they are ok they will glow,clean the threads and copper-slip them.

[Tiger]

You don't even have to take it out to test them... just measure the resistance and compare it to the new glow plugs.

[ratwing]

Well, I tried my best but in the end admitted defeat and took the manifold off - I then found the 6 gaskets cost the same as the 6 glowplugs!! (about £35 a set for each). I replaced all 6 and on testing the old ones found only 1 was working so hardly suprising it didn't like starting on cold mornings....
Anyway, thanks for the replies guys, just got to find the socket extension that fell down the front of the engine and the jobs done!

[Tiger]

It is definitely easier with manifold off, even though alot of parts to take out

My MB diesel is the same thing... you need to take the manifold off to get them out... but as you do it, you get to know more about the conditions of various components underneath that manifold... In my case, lot of fuel lines needs to be changed out.