ALH Glow plugs

dmusic148

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Location
Brookfield CT, have Vag Com
TDI
03' Beetle
Hi all. Have a CEL that Vag Com tells me is #2 glow plug. Tried reseating connector, no good. Bought a new plug, Autolite # 1116. Trouble is I can't get it to thread in-it's a 10mm x 1mm thread, which I think is correct, but no-go.
Now, the old one's threads are mashed over(?-never previously removed), reducing it's diameter to about 9.7mm. Should I run a tap into the hole to clean it up? Thanks, Dave
 

Fourdiesel

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Joined
May 19, 2003
Location
SW Wash. USA
TDI
'04 Touareg V10 TDI
You don't have a lot of choice here. DOUBLE check the diameter/pitch of the threads to confirm you have the right tap (if one of the other glow plugs is out you should be able to run the tap in BY HAND). Then grease the tap to catch all the chips you might make and CAREFULLY and SLOWLY work the tap down the hole. Be VERY careful you don't end up in a cross thread situation!
Do NOT blow the tapped hole out with compressed air - the chips will get into the combustion chamber. Use a cotton swab with a thin film of grease to pick up what may remain:(
 

TDIJetta99

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May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
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03... Faster than yours =]
^What he said..

Just so you know, if the code reads #2 glowplug, most likely it's the #3... The glowplugs seem to be numbered backwards as far as the ECU is concerned..
 

dmusic148

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Location
Brookfield CT, have Vag Com
TDI
03' Beetle
Hmm--is #2 second from the left, looking at the front of the car? That one tests open. The others test at about 1ohm.
Thanks for the advice on the tap-using grease to catch chips. Done that sort of thing before.
 

TDIJetta99

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May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
dmusic148 said:
Hmm--is #2 second from the left, looking at the front of the car? That one tests open. The others test at about 1ohm.
Thanks for the advice on the tap-using grease to catch chips. Done that sort of thing before.
Weird.. It seems to be hit and miss.. I've had a number of customers cars come in with glowplug codes and more often than not the numbering seems to be reversed.. Mine doesn't do that since the 99's don't monitor them individually.. It just sets a "glowplug heater circuit" code..
 

AndyBees

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Joined
May 27, 2003
Location
Southeast Kentucky
TDI
Silver 2003 Jetta TDI, Silver 2000 Jetta TDI (sold), '84 Vanagon with '02 ALH engine
cylinder numbers

#3 is #2 and #2 is #3:confused: ......... well, yes that's true for the 2000-03 models for sure!

Good luck with the issue!
 
Joined
Apr 27, 2003
Location
Stafford Virginia 22556
TDI
96 glx variant tdi
KD Tools KDS3688


Cleans and rethreads sparkplug/glowplug ports from the inside out. Uses the good threads at the base of the port. Reduces dirt and metal from being driven into the cylinder head. Use light grease on the end to trap filings and keep tool easy to use.
 

ymz

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Joined
May 12, 2003
Location
Between Toronto & Montreal
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI Wagon, 2003 Jetta TDI Wagon
ninedee_golf_tdi said:
Use light grease on the end to trap filings
A foam earplug can be stuffed into the cylinder head in order to catch the filings below the level at which you'll be using the tap...

Yuri.
 

dmusic148

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Location
Brookfield CT, have Vag Com
TDI
03' Beetle
ninedee_golf_tdi said:
KD Tools KDS3688


Cleans and rethreads sparkplug/glowplug ports from the inside out. Uses the good threads at the base of the port. Reduces dirt and metal from being driven into the cylinder head. Use light grease on the end to trap filings and keep tool easy to use.
That's a nice tool-I assume you drop it in, then expand it, and run it out? Clever. Thanks.
I'll have to go the earplug/grease route though as I need to fix it today. Gotta get emissions check today and can't show up with a CEL. It just occurred to me that I COULD reinstall the old plug, and attach the new one to the harness and zip tie it out of the way so it won't burn anything, but that's probably a bad idea. This problem caught me out as I'd been ignoring the CEL, assuming it was just the EGR error(race pipe). Last time, I just cleared that and sailed through emissions as that error takes awhile to return. Live and learn.
Thanks very much everyone. You are always very helpful. I'll let you know what happens. Dave
 

Curious Chris

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Joined
Jun 11, 2001
Location
Pineview GA
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Jetta Wagon 2003 RIP Rockford IL
Autolite? hmmmm the CEL may stay as the OEM glow plugs are Beru or Bosch. Touchy touchy control system wants very balanced resistance.
 

dmusic148

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Location
Brookfield CT, have Vag Com
TDI
03' Beetle
Update

Success! Pushed in an earplug, greased up the tap. Tap went right in, not much effort but it did remove a small amount of metal, which I can only hope came from the old plug. The tap pushed the earplug in too far to retrieve, even with a pointy hemostat, but a quick spin of the starter popped it out with the chips(I read in the 'Glow plug hole repair' thread that this would work). New plug went in(I did apply a small amount of nickel Never-Seize), didn't feel too wobbly, tightened up nice. Cleared CEL, went to emissions, passed on the day of the deadline. Hu-friggin-rray.
Thanks again to all, you're the best. Dave
:D
 

dmusic148

Member
Joined
Apr 8, 2006
Location
Brookfield CT, have Vag Com
TDI
03' Beetle
The other three are original from '03, but my car doesn't seem to notice. They're all the steel variety, and they do all Ohm out at around 1ohm, so I don't know how it could tell. So far so good.
 

TDIJetta99

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Joined
May 17, 2005
Location
Port Jervis, New York, USA
TDI
03... Faster than yours =]
MayorDJQ said:
Are the other three glow plugs Autolights? I thought it was bad to mix & match.
As long as they ohm out close enough to each other they will all play well together... makes no difference what brand they are..
 
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