Seized snapped glow plug - Inventive solutions invited

When I worked at a Vx garage, we had a local chap come round who specialised in removing broken bolts/spark plugs/glow plugs in situ. It sometimes took a fair while, but was a very valuable service as can be imagined, and quite cheap as well. £20 to remove a siezed-in spark-plug in my old Cav. This was around the Southampton area - not sure where you are. Could be worth having a word with a garage in your area to see if there is somebody they use...

HTH

Anthony Remove eight from e-mail to reply.

Is it feasible to soak what's left in PlusGas/injector cleaner/engine flush overnight, to (hopefully) dissolve the carbon?

Si

If this is what's responsible, could you allow the plug to soak in something which will dissolve or react with the carbon? My first thought was hydrogen peroxide, though you'd need to make sure it reacted with the carbon faster than it reacted with the engine block. Something like Redex might do the job too. It's quite likey that if you try this approach, whatever you use will work faster at higher temperatures.

Joe

Has happened in our workshop too..... our solution.... get a "Torx" bit... the type that has a 10mm hex for a socket drive...... hammer... yes hammer it inside the shell of the heater/spark plug and use it to remove the broken end.

Tried soaking it with Easy-start kinda spray when we got fed up with penny oil....

:(

apparently leaving it soaked in vinegar helps

What about methylene chloride?

The bit of the plug that you see is the bit that I can unscrew ( I screwed it back in to prevent the remainder making an appearance via a direct route thought the bonnet on the M1 at 70MPH.

The plug has snapped where the point of my key is on the picture of the removed plugs..

TY

Tom

Why bother? The car will start with only 3 plugs, and no 2 cylinder will soon pick up seconds after starting the engine.

The only possible disadvantage is that it may be smokey for a few seconds on very cold starts, so for all the hassle of getting it out you have little gain.

Considered this myself...

I am warming to this idea :)

The blackened one has not been fully tight, prob. same for the broken one. if you fill the hole with some sort of creamy lubricant then as you refit the broken threaded part then it will hydraulically force the lube into the hole and may, over time free the remainder.

mrcheerful mrcheerful

Thought about that too, but the threaded bit has a hole through it where the wire pokes out, couldn't really weld it :(

Then I remebemered why i thought it was a bad idea initally... Should the plug decide to come loose, there is nothing stopping it falling into the cylinder, ok i have looped the wire to stop it falling in, but i cant be

Tom

A possibility i s'pose

I thought the hole at the bottom of the pulg hole would only be big enough for the tip of the plug to go through, so it cant drop in?

do you think?

Hmmn I might whip one of the other plugs back out and have a peep to set my mind at rest, it would explain why whacking it with a small socket + hammer had little effect if you are correct.

Tom