Glowplug failure in one cylinder.

Went to get my 07 NVC3 with 130k miles diagnosed today because of a check engine light that's been on for a few months now and we get a code for a bad glow plug.

I ask the mechanic ( A German guy who worked at the MB factory in Germany for 20+ years ) how much to fix it and he tells me he needs to see what's the problem first.

If the plug is exploded or the tip expands he needs to machine it out he says....

Plus he tells me that I need to change them every 50 to 60k miles as a precaution to which I ask if I can do this myself and be said; no, you need a special tool.

What tool is this he speaks of?

Call Andy Bittenbinder at 412-366-6165 first.

I have attached SprinterWIS info on glow plug remove/install information.

The "Special Tools" are at the bottom of the last page.

Do you need special tools? I don't know. If you want to know how much they cost, you can probably get a price on your own at www.samstagsales.com or another MB tool supplier.

Read the information, take a look at the situation, see if you have the skills and the tools to do it yourself after calling Andy Bittenbinder.



-Jon

jdcaples said:

Call Andy Bittenbinder at 412-366-6165 first.

I have attached SprinterWIS info on glow plug remove/install information.

The "Special Tools" are at the bottom of the last page.

Do you need special tools? I don't know. If you want to know how much they cost, you can probably get a price on your own at www.samstagsales.com or another MB tool supplier.

Read the information, take a look at the situation, see if you have the skills and the tools to do it yourself after calling Andy Bittenbinder.


-Jon

Click to expand...

Thank you, will give him a call today.

how did you end up with this?
I think I will have the same problem, today the glow plug lite stayed on after the engine was already running. Turned off and on the engine a couple of times and now it behaves normaly, but I have the check engine light on.

Changing glow plugs every 50-60k is a waste of money. The style of glow plugs that heat up and mushroom out are at best technology from the 80's before the ECM started to monitor amperage draw, circuit conditions and control the plugs based on what it sees.

If you are confident in yourself and mechanically inclined you can do them yourself, if you do a search I believe you will find a thread that discusses it as well as the non special tools some have used to do this job.

Replace the one plug, carry on, it could be years before another one fails. You drove it for "a few months" with this problem and seemed to suffer no ill effects right? Save your money.