94NAIDI
Registered User
This will most likely be a long post. I apologize for that in advance. However, I feel led to share my experience with the great people of this forum so it may help someone hearing about my successes and failures during this process. It all started as I was replacing the glow plugs in my wifes 1997 7.3 powerstroke. All was well until disaster struck. One glow plug tip separated and was stuck in the head. Here's all that came out.
I had a previous similar experience with my 94 7.3 IDI which is in a different thread of mine. I ended up having to pull the motor and remove the head to get that one out. I did not want to do that all over again on this one. So I started researching options. I found this nifty tool that supposedly removes broken/stuck glow plug tips.
It became clear to me that pushing the tip into the cylinder and fishing it out through the injector cup hole was going to be my only possibility of getting it out without removing the head. I used a thin rod and pushed the tip into the cylinder. Then I tried to fish blindly through the injector hole using the magnet that came with the above tool kit. It quickly became clear to me that this was going to be a game of luck. And I am not that lucky.
I Started researching again and found a borescope on Amazon that would fit down the glow plug hole. Camera diameter is 5.5mm or .219 inches.
The camera as it came, would not quite slip through the hole. But if you unscrew the thread protector on the end, the camera just fits.
The above pictures shows the threads that would normally have a cap on them. Having this camera in the glow plug hole allowed me to clearly see as I attempted to fish the tip out of the cylinder. I wish I would have gotten pictures of the view. This camera lights up nicely and has a very clear picture. There is no way I would have ever gotten the tip out of the cylinder without this camera. And the best part is, it was $49 on Amazon. Best money I've ever spent. With this camera providing a clear view, I quickly learned that the magnet from the above tool kit did not have enough strength to pull the tip out of the cylinder. Without this camera, I could have fished forever and never would have known that it was not going to happen. This scope did also come with a magnet attachment that you can thread onto the end of the camera. This magnet is much stronger than the one in the previous tool kit. I attached the magnet to the camera and sent it down the injector hole. But the magnet blocks too much of your view and made it impossible to get the tip out. I took the magnet off the camera and put the scope back down the glow plug hole.
I'm limited too only 5 picture attachments in this post. See next post for continuation.
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I had a previous similar experience with my 94 7.3 IDI which is in a different thread of mine. I ended up having to pull the motor and remove the head to get that one out. I did not want to do that all over again on this one. So I started researching options. I found this nifty tool that supposedly removes broken/stuck glow plug tips.
You must be registered for see images attach
You must be registered for see images attach
I also found a computer generated video on Youtube that showed how the tool worked. But no real-life videos of people actually using it and it actually working. That should have been a red flag, but $300 later, I owned one. Now, I do not intend for this post to bash this tool. I'm sure it does work in some circumstances, but it did not work for me. The drill bit did not drill the end of the tip as advertised. Also the magnet is too weak to actually remove the glow plug tip from the cylinder. User error? Maybe. But I would not recommend spending $300 on this tool based on my experience.It became clear to me that pushing the tip into the cylinder and fishing it out through the injector cup hole was going to be my only possibility of getting it out without removing the head. I used a thin rod and pushed the tip into the cylinder. Then I tried to fish blindly through the injector hole using the magnet that came with the above tool kit. It quickly became clear to me that this was going to be a game of luck. And I am not that lucky.
I Started researching again and found a borescope on Amazon that would fit down the glow plug hole. Camera diameter is 5.5mm or .219 inches.
You must be registered for see images attach
The camera as it came, would not quite slip through the hole. But if you unscrew the thread protector on the end, the camera just fits.
You must be registered for see images attach
The above pictures shows the threads that would normally have a cap on them. Having this camera in the glow plug hole allowed me to clearly see as I attempted to fish the tip out of the cylinder. I wish I would have gotten pictures of the view. This camera lights up nicely and has a very clear picture. There is no way I would have ever gotten the tip out of the cylinder without this camera. And the best part is, it was $49 on Amazon. Best money I've ever spent. With this camera providing a clear view, I quickly learned that the magnet from the above tool kit did not have enough strength to pull the tip out of the cylinder. Without this camera, I could have fished forever and never would have known that it was not going to happen. This scope did also come with a magnet attachment that you can thread onto the end of the camera. This magnet is much stronger than the one in the previous tool kit. I attached the magnet to the camera and sent it down the injector hole. But the magnet blocks too much of your view and made it impossible to get the tip out. I took the magnet off the camera and put the scope back down the glow plug hole.
I'm limited too only 5 picture attachments in this post. See next post for continuation.
