Broken tip on a Beru

[kas83]

Got around to changing my glowplugs tonight, and got almost all the way done, and when I pulled the plug from cylinder 6, I was almost sick to see the tip gone. You can see where it had swelled, balooning the outer shell. I will get pics tomorrow or Sunday, whenever I get it out and have the truck running. Previous owner claimed they were changed in August, I believe it. None of them had any corrosion, nothing on them. Pulled the injector, and am going to see about borrowing a bore scope tomorrow to see if I can find the tip. Tried the straw in the shopvac trick, to no avail.

 

[jtate]

is the tip still hung in the gp hole or did it fall into the precup?

 

[jtate]

also when you tried the shop vac trick did you supply compressed air through the gp hole also?

 

[kas83]

also when you tried the shop vac trick did you supply compressed air through the gp hole also?

It's in the precup or lower, not really sure, and yes I supplied shop air to the glow plug hole. I have a pretty neat small LED flashlight that fits in the injector body bore, and I could see the light shining up through the glowplug hole before attempting any retreival.

I need to get a look in there, I'm hoping to not have to pull the head off. I need this truck back up asap, can't fit the rear facing car seat in anything but the truck.

 

[The Warden]

Dumb question, but how certain are you that the tip broke off while you were pulling the GP? Any chance the tip broke off while the engine was running and passed through already?

 

[ericboutin]

Dumb question, but how certain are you that the tip broke off while you were pulling the GP? Any chance the tip broke off while the engine was running and passed through already?

Not a dumb question really....I had the exact same scare a couple years ago....but then I realized that while looking at the end of the plug and the carbon buildup etc....the tip broke off long before I ever touched it. My guess it's been like that awhile unless you know it broke while pulling it. I'll post some pics of mine and you can compare....but I must say while reading your post I felt that same sick feeling in my stomach! I think you are probably alright though.

 

[ericboutin]

Some Pics...

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Here is the link if you want to see em bigger...
http://rides.webshots.com/album/576148990JHjpdo?vhost=rides

 

[icanfixall]

The pictures are not clear enough to tell if there is carbon on the broken end... If its shiny its just broken off in the motor... If you see carbon on it then it already has gone thru the motor. Hope you didn't damage the hot wheel of the turbo if you have one. But this is what I can see from this side of the computer...

 

[ericboutin]

Ooops, those are my pics icanfixall...I posted em for him to compare so he could see the carbon buildup. See my post above. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[icanfixall]

Opps on my part... Just too early in the morning I guess.....

 

[kas83]

It's shiny and torn apart, will post a pic tomorrow when I get back out to the truck. It definately broke during removal. I sent a pic message to a mechanic buddy of mine, and he thinks that it might have shattered instead of breaking and leaving a large piece in there. Going to try a borescope tomorrow, bump the motor over and see what's in there. If nothing comes up, I'm installing the new plug, injector, and running it.

On a side not, it appears that it might have lost the majority of the tip, and when I removed it, took the rest of the damaged part off. I guessed I kinda freaked when I saw, as this last week has been pretty hectic, and the truck needs to be running.

 

[kas83]

Got it running today, no issues. Put the vacuum to it again, and we could hear little pieces going thru the hose. Popped the vac open, and there were tons of shiny little metal flakes in the filter. Whenever I find the digital camera for a detailed pic, I will for sure post it.

As an aside, does anyone else feel that the Banks nongated turbo's are royal pain in the ass to work around? I like the fact that my wheels are held on by 8 bolts, but why does an airfilter housing need that many? And that thing weighs a ton when lifting it off the motor.

Anyways, I'm just glad it's running again.

 

[Fishin76]

You got lucky.......

 

[howards@howard]

glow plug

it's amazing what will fit out your exhaust valve. I just started it up. At that point nothing more to loose

 

[kas83]

You got lucky.......

You have no idea lol. I couldn't believe it.

I know that a glow plug tip will fit through an open exhaust valve, but I also know that a tip bouncing around will do alot of damage to pistons, valves or cylinder wall with the tight tolerances in these motors. I wanted to be on the safe side.