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Glow plugs 002 and 003

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Razerface

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Urbana, ohio
Gettin colder. I bought glow plugs and started to take old ones out. It sucks so far. Should i get the generator hot first before taking them out? Should i use never seize when i put new pnes in?

know what thread they are? I need to run a tap in the hole of the one i got out.
 
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cuad4u

Active member
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St Matthews, SC
I have refurbished 34 MEP 002A and 003A generators. Quite a few had bad and stuck glow plugs. With patience I got them all out. For the really stubborn ones I ran the generator up to operating temperature. Then I sprayed PB Blaster around the glow plugs. With the generator off but still hot I used a deep wall socket and ratchet to loosen them. Even a very small turn is a start. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat...............Adding more PB Blaster and turning the ratchet a little further (in and out) until you get it out. If you are persistent they will eventually come out. I use "never seize" when I install new ones. Good luck and do not get in a hurry or you may wring them off.
 
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Rapracing

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Western Pennsylvania
I had an 002 a couple years back that had the whole end rusted on one of the glow plugs. No way to use a wrench on it. With the help and advice of this forum I used a 1/4 drill bit, easy out, PB blaster and HEAT. After getting it lose and getting it out the end was swollen badly. I used pliers and pulled while screwing it out of the head. I decided if it was swollen that bad I had better change the other one. I used HEAT on it as well. Once again the end was swollen and took almost as much work getting it out as getting the threads loose. Pic below

HEAT is your friend

image-7.jpg
 
rustystud

rustystud

Well-known member
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Woodinville, Washington
I would recommend that all MEP-002A and 003A owners replace their glow plugs. Every one I have changed out was going bad. Even on the one generator that was just rebuilt and only had 4 hours on it. Then keeping track you will know how many hours you can go between replacing them.
 
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Chainbreaker

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I'm wondering if in addition to using PB Blaster and Heat if Cold could also be useful in attempting to remove a seized glow plug? Perhaps running the unit up to temp and then applying cold to just the glow plug itself using a super cooling spray might help break the rusty thread bond due the thermal induced tolerance differences between a now colder glow plug and hot head? Might be worth a shot to try before resorting to using the drilling/easy-out method. It's a similar method to how I fit new valve guides into my lawn tractor head when I replaced them (head in oven and valve guides in freezer) they slide right in without much force required.

This stuff can be sprayed into a Styrofoam cup and applied with a cotton swab if direct spraying is impracticable:

http://www.amazon.com/MG-Chemicals-...LQBpebL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160,160_

Any thoughts about this?
 
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Ray70

Well-known member
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West greenwich/RI
Cold is definitely a good aide.
actually a friend of mine uses heat followed by spraying with ice water. repeat several times and then he uses hydrogen peroxide and soaks for a while. This is for marine stuff, but can't hurt on a green machine!
Mine are so bad that all the heat in the world hasn't been able to get then to free up without breaking.
I ended up leaving the -003 alone with just 3 glow plugs for now.
Mine are so bad I don't think anything short of drilling or replacing the heads will help.
 
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cuad4u

Active member
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Location
St Matthews, SC
I also restore antique tube radios. One very useful item for locating intermittent components is "cold in a can" for lack of a better term. I guess it is liquid nitrogen or some agent that gets really COLD when sprayed. I have never tried it on a glow plug but start the generator and get it up to operating temperature. Then use a "straw" and spray the "cold in a can" on the end of the glow plug. Then try to loosen the glow plug. Perhaps the difference in the hot head and the cold glow plug will allow you to get it to move. Like Rusty Stud most glow plugs I have removed have the end ballooned out sometimes larger than the barrel of the glow plug. The goal is to get it to move. Even just a very small movement of a couple of degrees will get things moving. Heat, cold, PB Blaster, and lots of patience have always worked for me. Sometimes it takes a week or longer to get really stuck glow plugs out. If you wring the glow plug off you are in deep do do. PATIENCE!!!
 
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rustystud

rustystud

Well-known member
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Location
Woodinville, Washington
cuad4u said:
I also restore antique tube radios. One very useful item for locating intermittent components is "cold in a can" for lack of a better term. I guess it is liquid nitrogen or some agent that gets really COLD when sprayed. I have never tried it on a glow plug but start the generator and get it up to operating temperature. Then use a "straw" and spray the "cold in a can" on the end of the glow plug. Then try to loosen the glow plug. Perhaps the difference in the hot head and the cold glow plug will allow you to get it to move. Like Rusty Stud most glow plugs I have removed have the end ballooned out sometimes larger than the barrel of the glow plug. The goal is to get it to move. Even just a very small movement of a couple of degrees will get things moving. Heat, cold, PB Blaster, and lots of patience have always worked for me. Sometimes it takes a week or longer to get really stuck glow plugs out. If you wring the glow plug off you are in deep do do. PATIENCE!!!
Click to expand...
The last option is to actually remove the heads and then pound it out. Trust me, you do not want to go with this option. That is why I said to replace all of them now. I mean everyone replace them now. If their still in good condition then use anti-sieze and reinstall them. I actually believe this should be part of a yearly maintenance program with these generators.
After having to go the hard route plus all the extra money spent (gaskets and bolts ) I cannot over stress this !
The "spray cold" can actually work. I have successfully done this. After running the engine to normal operating temperature. Shut off the engine, spray the part and give it a solid hit with a hammer. Then spray with a PB blaster and then after a few minutes try and remove it. You might have to repeat this several times. Also using a air nozzle helps to "push" the PB blaster into the threads once their loosened .
 
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