replacing glow control unit + plugs
Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:30 pm
As a few may know I posted on here a while back that my car was showing codes for all my glow plugs being faulty bar number four.
Since then the x has been struggling to run once started. By this I mean it would start almost straight away but then cut out. So to get around it I was pre heating the car with the webasto and then it would start and I would leave it tick over for a while.
I obviously couldn’t carry on like this so along with advise from pvr I presumed the glow control module to be at fault or faulty as well so I ordered the 6 new glow plugs and the module as I didn’t fancy having to do it all over again for the sake of a £100 or so.
Here are the parts with code numbers…..

I started by pre wd40ing all the bolts/parts to come off and then taking of the parts in the way similar to the job I did when changing the oil breather and filter which ended up looking like this……

I then had to remove the inlet manifold by un doing the 10mm bolts on the left side and the 11mm bolts on the right side …why a different size I don’t know
A bit fiddly but once the attached brackets and plug under the rear side were unclipped and also the egr valve bracket it came of with a bit of pulling…..

Leaving the ports open and me now 100% sure that I had no swirl flaps
…..


Then was the even more fiddly task of removing and replacing the glow control unit which was buried underneath just about ever pipe and wire on the car
…….
This is it here sorry about the pic but awkward to take
…….

I’ts here ….

Then onto the plugs and I was bricking it after someone on the forum said to be care full because if they snap of the head needs to be drilled out so after plenty of wd40 left to soak they reluctantly came out (very tight)


Then with one more plug left to change I made a school boy error and dropped the socket end down into the bowels of the engine bay
and after about 20 mins pissing around I fished it out with some strong magnets and a long piece of wood. It was either that or take all the plastic under tray of below.
Here are the plugs new and old together…

It was then a case of putting everything back together starting with the manifold here it is ready to go back on….

And here is a pic all done with a quick clean of the engine cover to finish
…….

Just had to fire it up then to test the x……….and would you believe it it started on the button a very chuffed me.
I was very impressed with the 1.4.0 scanner that Lez has lent me as well
.I initially checked the codes with my peake code reader and then tried Lez’s to confirm the problem and sure enough it said glow control unit and plugs 1 2 3 5 and 6 and fair play when I took them out this is what I found………the plugs are in order from 1 to 6 and as you can see plug 4 isn’t covered in black so the code reader was pretty accurate with the diagnosis.

So I was a very happy bunny last night and celebrated with a few beers and sat smugly in front of the tv telling mrs x555 what great mechanic I was …………………………however it was short lived as a new problem has developed
.
I took the car for a spin to get some oil to top up the car as it was a little low and half way into the journey and to my horror I had an error message FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM flash up and I lost power as if it had gone into limp mode.
I was getting this message before but thought it may be to do with the glow plugs etc.
Instead of starting straight away now and then cutting out like before (glow plugs etc have now fixed this) it is now turning over/cranking for longer and struggling to start but when it does start it runs fine.
So I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me then my first thoughts are injector/injectors as I diagnosed a very similar fault for someone else on the forum and his was the injectors. I’m keeping an open mind at the moment though as it could be a simple sensor or fuel relay possibly.
Here’s hoping it’s not too expensive to repair.At least it's starting ish now and we can use the car
Sorry about the long winded post by the way just thought I would share my experience good and bad.
I would also like to thank Nige for posting his pics when he had a cracked manifold as these helped me to research how to do this and visibly see how the manifold came of etc….cheers Nige
Since then the x has been struggling to run once started. By this I mean it would start almost straight away but then cut out. So to get around it I was pre heating the car with the webasto and then it would start and I would leave it tick over for a while.
I obviously couldn’t carry on like this so along with advise from pvr I presumed the glow control module to be at fault or faulty as well so I ordered the 6 new glow plugs and the module as I didn’t fancy having to do it all over again for the sake of a £100 or so.
Here are the parts with code numbers…..

I started by pre wd40ing all the bolts/parts to come off and then taking of the parts in the way similar to the job I did when changing the oil breather and filter which ended up looking like this……

I then had to remove the inlet manifold by un doing the 10mm bolts on the left side and the 11mm bolts on the right side …why a different size I don’t know

A bit fiddly but once the attached brackets and plug under the rear side were unclipped and also the egr valve bracket it came of with a bit of pulling…..

Leaving the ports open and me now 100% sure that I had no swirl flaps



Then was the even more fiddly task of removing and replacing the glow control unit which was buried underneath just about ever pipe and wire on the car

This is it here sorry about the pic but awkward to take


I’ts here ….

Then onto the plugs and I was bricking it after someone on the forum said to be care full because if they snap of the head needs to be drilled out so after plenty of wd40 left to soak they reluctantly came out (very tight)



Then with one more plug left to change I made a school boy error and dropped the socket end down into the bowels of the engine bay

Here are the plugs new and old together…

It was then a case of putting everything back together starting with the manifold here it is ready to go back on….

And here is a pic all done with a quick clean of the engine cover to finish


Just had to fire it up then to test the x……….and would you believe it it started on the button a very chuffed me.

I was very impressed with the 1.4.0 scanner that Lez has lent me as well


So I was a very happy bunny last night and celebrated with a few beers and sat smugly in front of the tv telling mrs x555 what great mechanic I was …………………………however it was short lived as a new problem has developed

I took the car for a spin to get some oil to top up the car as it was a little low and half way into the journey and to my horror I had an error message FUEL INJECTION SYSTEM flash up and I lost power as if it had gone into limp mode.
I was getting this message before but thought it may be to do with the glow plugs etc.
Instead of starting straight away now and then cutting out like before (glow plugs etc have now fixed this) it is now turning over/cranking for longer and struggling to start but when it does start it runs fine.
So I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me then my first thoughts are injector/injectors as I diagnosed a very similar fault for someone else on the forum and his was the injectors. I’m keeping an open mind at the moment though as it could be a simple sensor or fuel relay possibly.
Here’s hoping it’s not too expensive to repair.At least it's starting ish now and we can use the car

Sorry about the long winded post by the way just thought I would share my experience good and bad.
I would also like to thank Nige for posting his pics when he had a cracked manifold as these helped me to research how to do this and visibly see how the manifold came of etc….cheers Nige