I've got the "Glow Plug Relay" fault coming up on the IID, which from a search and read of Wiki on here seems to indicate I have some dodgy glow plugs. The car is starting all right, and after reading the Wiki and what seems to be the inevitability of snapping off the plugs as they are removed, I'm no hurry to tackle the job

BUT - is there a surefire way of removing them without snapping any off ? Is there a tool I can buy/hire ? Should I just take it to an Indy to get the job done ?

And glow plugs themselves seem to vary in price a lot - from £14 for a set of 6 from a Land Rover independent, to £60 for a set of Bosch ones Any issues with the cheap ones ??

I gave up in the end

Here is a youtube for the Laser Tool Set if you fancy doing this six times with the head in-situ (or ruining your head!). More expensive tools provide for tying/locking to the head for accurate drilling.



Worth checking what your Indie will charge for doing all this.


That said, in our climate, even when very cold, glow plugs don't make much difference. I only have three working now, an FFRR still starts just fine on a frosty morning. .
Experience is the only genuine knowledge, but as time passes, I have forgotten more than I can remember
Volvo V70 P2 2006 2.4 Petrol 170bhp Estate SE
MG Midget Mk1 1962

Previous: L322 Range Rover TDV8 3.6 2008; L322 Range Rover TD6 3.0 2002; P38A Range Rover V8 1999

If it starts and runs fine then leave well alone, they can be a right PITA to change

In my 5 years of owning a TD6 I used the glow plugs on two occasions when the temperature dipped to -17°C

The relay is however cheap and easy to replace, so you could of course try that. ----------
2014 tdv6 (ex. 2004 td6, 1997 2.5 dse)

"Leave well alone" seems the best advice

Has any one used the tools that vibrate the plug loose, and are they any good ?

Being down to 1 working glow plug and dreading breaking them on removal I invested in the air tool that vibrates them out. It works like a charm. All six out and after 220 k km service. The worst one needed 4 minutes of vibration at 20 Nm before it surrendered. The job was done in just over 1 hour.

Since then I have used the tool on a number of rusted nuts and bolts, works great.

Thats good to know ! I'm taking my TD6 off the road at the end of this month and have a list of things to do including injectors, so I think I'll invest in the tool and have a go at the glowplugs as well.

Thanks

One of the local indies won't even attempt to remove glow plugs without the car running a few days with 500ml of 2SO in the tank. Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: http://bit.ly/22l8YHh
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: http://1drv.ms/1nNpJeM
Range Rover/Sport Workshop Manual: http://bit.ly/2iH7jgG

G62 wrote:

Being down to 1 working glow plug and dreading breaking them on removal I invested in the air tool that vibrates them out. It works like a charm. All six out and after 220 k km service. The worst one needed 4 minutes of vibration at 20 Nm before it surrendered. The job was done in just over 1 hour.

Since then I have used the tool on a number of rusted nuts and bolts, works great.

Sure, there are several picks on ebay, I did some research and end up with this one

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Werkzeug-Impact-...SwLVZVmGJA

They come cheaper but this one seemed a good balance between cost and quality. Very happy with my investment.

PS Just as for getting out injectors it is important that engine is warm when vibrating out glow plugs, I let it get normal operating temp before I started the job. I did not use any additives in the fuel in advance, just a little dash of my favourite penetrating oil.