MEP-003A glow plugs

[easttnemc]

I am working on getting my MEP003A running.

I have a glow plug that ohm'ed out as being bad. I soaked it with PB-Blaster for a week, but of course it still broke off in the head! What all is involved with drilling it out? It looks like I have to, at minimum, remove the intake manifold. Does the glow plug just extend into the intake port above the intake valve? If so, can you drill it out while making sure the intake valve is closed so no metal gets into the cylinder, or does the head have to come off the engine?

Also, it looks like two of the three I removed from the engine were CH42, and there is no markings on the third. I see that some people are using the Champion CH42 as a replacement, but I see it has a metric thread at 10mm. I chased the threads on the unmarked one at 7/16. What is the correct thread size? Is anyone having any luck using (or finding) these? They appear to be ~$18-$20, versus the $50-$60 for others.

Any advice on which glowplugs to use, and especially on drilling out the broken one would be greatly appreciated.

 

[storeman]

CH42 fits but you will be lucky to find them anywhere. They are threaded correctly regardless of description.

As far as drilling out, I've been through that and don't recommend it. I don't remember the brand of glow plug in the unit but I could not do it. Sent it with a machinist friend to his shop and they were unsuccessful and they sent it to a specialty shop (shop owed them a favor) which had to re-tap after drilling. CH may be softer in the electrode but the plug I had was a killer

IMO: Better to just buy a head from one of our members. I don't have any heads left but am sure someone will step up to the plate. Good luck!

Jerry

PS: Another alternative is to ingore the broken plug, get the IP and injectors in good shape and you might have a bit of rough starting in cold weather but in a minute or so, things will smooth out and you will forget about the broken plug. In warm weather, you don't need it anyway. A 75% solution!

 

[Jimc]

thread size is 7/16-20. champion doesnt even know what their own plugs are according to their website lol. i think they are still avail from champion but most other places have sold out. if you are going to drill it all you need to pull is the injector. that gives you clear access to the prechamber where the glow element is. you can easily keep anything from falling in the cylinder with that injector out of the way.

 

[Isaac-1]

Jim of course meant 7/16 x 20, I second the idea of pulling the injector for access to the prechamber end of the glow plug before considering pulling the head.

Ike

 

[Jimc]

ooops fat fingers !!

 

[Rapracing]

I managed to get a broken one out by drilling a 1/4 hole and using an easy out with lots of heat. I was able to do that without removing the head. The hole was not drilled the whole way through the plug
Pic attached

 

[Ray70]

I'd try drilling, heating, cooling, then heating again and easy out. Try the easy outs that are a tapered square shape with 4 sharp edges as opposed to the left hand tapered twist type. If the remaining wall of the glow plug is thin, the left hand twist ones tend to expand the diameter, thus making them wedge in even tighter.
If you have difficulty drilling it out, I have had great success (drilling hardened bolts ) with a set of drills from Rodman tool. They look like sharpened carbide tip masonry bits. If you spin them fast and apply enough pressure ( they recommend a drill press ) you can drill through a padlock, a file, tile, ceramic, almost anything. They easily drilled a hardened bucket pin on my backhoe when standard twist drills wouldn't even scratch the surface. www.rodmanandcoinc.com look at their multi-purpose drill bits.

 

[storeman]

Rodman link is forbidden/bad. Try this
"http://www.rodmanandcoinc.com/rodmanandcoinc.com/homepage.html"
Strange html

 

[Rapracing]

I'd try drilling, heating, cooling, then heating again and easy out. Try the easy outs that are a tapered square shape with 4 sharp edges as opposed to the left hand tapered twist type. If the remaining wall of the glow plug is thin, the left hand twist ones tend to expand the diameter, thus making them wedge in even tighter.
If you have difficulty drilling it out, I have had great success (drilling hardened bolts ) with a set of drills from Rodman tool. They look like sharpened carbide tip masonry bits. If you spin them fast and apply enough pressure ( they recommend a drill press ) you can drill through a padlock, a file, tile, ceramic, almost anything. They easily drilled a hardened bucket pin on my backhoe when standard twist drills wouldn't even scratch the surface. www.rodmanandcoinc.com look at their multi-purpose drill bits.

The plug is hollow already so drilling was not all that difficult. Just had to make the hole a little larger to get a large enough easy out in it. When I did mine I used the twisted easy out.

 

[Ray70]

Yea, I typed it manually instead of cut and paste... guess I messed something up
Here's the link to the 13 pc. bit set, or other sets are available. http://www.rodmanandcoinc.com/rodmanandcoinc.com/category69d6.html?UCIDs=1307321|1307323 sometimes a bit pricey, but lifetime warranty and I've found them to be worth almost any price if you can fix just 1 thing a conventional bit just won't drill.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Worst comes to worst, I probably have a head available. Knowing that, you can attack the offending GP with a vengeance!

 

[Rapracing]

Yea, I typed it manually instead of cut and paste... guess I messed something up
Here's the link to the 13 pc. bit set, or other sets are available. http://www.rodmanandcoinc.com/rodmanandcoinc.com/category69d6.html?UCIDs=1307321|1307323 sometimes a bit pricey, but lifetime warranty and I've found them to be worth almost any price if you can fix just 1 thing a conventional bit just won't drill.

I used a 1/4 bit out of a kit I bought at Lowes. It seemed to work fine.

 

[johnray13]

What's on the other side of the glow plugs:


So when you drill, a little tape over the intake hole and a shop vac and you're worry free.

 

[storeman]

Ray70,
Their site says products only available at shows. No prices shown. Do they do any mail order?
Jerry

 

[easttnemc]

Thanks everyone for all the advice. My plan is to get it running with only three glow plugs for now. This beast hasn't run in a long time (but only 255 hours on the meter). I have already cleaned the fuel system and replaced all filters and oil. Hopefully tomorrow I can get it running. Once I verify there are no serious issues with the engine and generating head I will remove the injector and drill out that plug.
I do have the square tapered easy out that Ray70 spoke of and have always found it works much better than a traditional easy out.

I ordered several CH42 plugs directly from Champion today.....anyone had any luck going that route? They said it would take 5-6 extra days to complete the order.....time will tell.

 

[gimpyrobb]

Ray70,
Their site says products only available at shows. No prices shown. Do they do any mail order?
Jerry

http://www.rodmanandcoinc.com/rodmanandcoinc.com/aboutus.html

 

[Rapracing]

Are these the right glow plugs? I ordered from here before but don't recall it saying #182 as well as ch42.

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/catalog.php

 

[Jimc]

yes 182 is champions stock # or something like that. ch42 is correct. you link is just to rock's catalog. last time i checked rock was all sold out of them.

 

[Rapracing]

yes 182 is champions stock # or something like that. ch42 is correct. you link is just to rock's catalog. last time i checked rock was all sold out of them.

Thanks for the confirmation.

I just jumped on their site and ordered a 10 pack. Everything seemed to process just fine and I got an order confirmation. Last time I ordered from them it was here in 3 days so I should see them by mid week.

I'll order more seals from McMaster to have them. ETA: Done $6.82 for 10 pack of them. Should be good to go on glow plugs

 

[easttnemc]

IT IS ALIVE.

Once I got the fuel system clean ( I think it had a tankful of fuel sitting for several years) and primed, it fired right up on three glow plugs. The ambient temp in East TN is about 25f today.

All gauges showed stable power and all looks good. Since I had the " close to run" covers removed, I only ran it for about ten minutes. It was producing no power at first, then I remembered about holding the knob in start-position for a few moments after the engine started to excite the generator head.

THANKS EVERYONE. Now the real fun begins.