M

Monty John

New Member
Hi, I just changed the glow plugs on my 300Tdi only to find that they were soaked in oil . Is this normal, or is it a sign of head gasket trouble to come :mad: .
She's not smoking, and doesn't appear to be using any oil; however the engine block is unusually oily. Can't tell where itÂ’s coming from as it pretty much al over. Never had a 300Tdi before, should I be worried?

Any help will be most appreciated

Richard
 
The oil was very thick and black, so assumed not to be diesel. As from where the leak is, its pretty much all over the top end of the engine so could be either the rocker or the head gaskets. Both areas are soaked!

Cheers
 
heater plugs are usually wet because they are goosed and not heating up, they tend to look oily, stick a jump lead on one for a second or so and see if it heats up. I've seen them wear down as well so check length with new ones. Doubt very much it's oil in engine it would burn off.

Oil leaks, mine ****ed oil when I got it, and why I got it cheap.

rocker cover bolts (three) have rubber washers on them if hard then chuck them, one of my bolts had run off at rear and done in the threads, it came out with the rocker bar retainer bolt, change the gasket as well of course, and when yer in there adjust the tappets.

The breather hose at the o/s side of the engine was also loose ****ing oil.

And the rocker cover cap was a **** fit, in fact it fell off at one point.

Either the dip stick tube or the turbo return pipe had run off at the n/s of the engine under the exhaust and it was hosing out oil full length of the vehicle.

But wash it first and take off that big dodd of rubber on top, and check all yer hoses for chaffing especially the one near the water pump pulley, mine nearly cut right through on the pulley. Total neglect from the previous owner.

bit long winded but hope it helps.

I also had a failure of them plastic blank/blead plugs, one on radiator and one on thermostat, bastid blew off on motorway, and if you check the threads you will see that it won't overheat until it siezes because of position of the sensor, too high in the engine. I was lucky and sniffed the antifreeze but it emptied the engine with the temp guage norm.

I don't know if you can get metal ones but I made ones out of brass plumbing fittings. Personally I would fit new plastic ones at least.
 
david451 said:
heater plugs are usually wet because they are goosed and not heating up...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say wet glow plugs are an indication they are goosed, if the engine runs the glow plug is going to get red hot and stay red hot from the combustion heat, so its not a good indication of a goosed plug.

It could be black and oily because its diesel mixed with soot, you say there is no smoke, it would probably be doing this at some point if it is engine oil. Does the engine feel down in power?

What were the conditions in which you removed the plug, cold morning before it had been on? just after the engine had been on for a short period?

To be honest I think it was some diesel on the plugs from a cold morning and or short run.

Its not using oil, not smoking then there is no problem, the 300tdi does leak a lot from the aformentioned locations, get a new rocker gasket and rubber washers for the bolts, it should be changed at the 12,000mile service if I remember correctly.
 
david451 said:
I also had a failure of them plastic blank/blead plugs, one on radiator and one on thermostat, bastid blew off on motorway, and if you check the threads you will see that it won't overheat until it siezes because of position of the sensor, too high in the engine. I was lucky and sniffed the antifreeze but it emptied the engine with the temp guage norm.quote]

I fitted my electric fan switch in the bottom hose and used a three terminal fan switch, the 'spare' terminal I wired to the redundant gearbox overheat light on the dashboard, now if the fan does not cool the engine or whatever water left in the bottom hose gets to hot a nice shiny red light gives me a hint! Incidently, the also redundant amber exclamation mark warning light (200tdi) is wired to iluminate if I have the fan disabled switch in the on position i.e for wading!

regards

Dave
Click to expand...
 
I wouldn't worry about it, heard some peeps saying its this that an tuther when in actual fact its just oil that has leaked from yer rocker cover and over time seeped down the sides of yer glow plugs..... If you removed your head with the glow plugs still in there would be no oil in the cylinders but soon as ya undo the glow plugs it allows the trapped oil to run out..
As for the oily engine problem.. gunk yer engine fit a new rocker gasket and wait and see if still leaks.:)
 
Hmm, I've got a dog of a Disco with terrible wiring. The previous owners had added a second battery which seemed rather curious. The job was done very badly using wire from Mickey Mouse jump cables. Sorted that out and shined-up the chassis earths. Alternator output lug now heating up. Fitted a new lug properly (crimped and soldered) Next the alternator packs up. Fitted fresh alternator which makes 65 amps on main beam and 39A with lights out. Glowplug wiring guzzling current. In actual fact some glowplugs appeared to be burnt out but in fact they had never been tightened properly. With not heating up some looked very oily but I'm not going to take the head off just yet! It fires on all four cylinders and uses no oil or water worth mentioning so there can't be much wrong with the engine. None of the instruments work so the speedometer is done via GPS for the time being. Anyhow the glowplugs will stay on for evermore at the moment and this is in spite of a new relay.:confused: Possibly the timer won't work without the warning light in circuit. Very odd.:(
 
Wet glow plug/s is normally a sign that it or they are not getting hot. Remove and test with cables AWAY from the battery. If they get hot and are red within about 10-20 seconds they can go back in, no sign of life then bin them, of course I am assuming the cables to the plugs have voltage/amps ect.

regards

Dave
 
david451 said:
I also had a failure of them plastic blank/blead plugs, one on radiator and one on thermostat, bastid blew off on motorway, and if you check the threads you will see that it won't overheat until it siezes because of position of the sensor, too high in the engine. I was lucky and sniffed the antifreeze but it emptied the engine with the temp guage norm.

I don't know if you can get metal ones but I made ones out of brass plumbing fittings. Personally I would fit new plastic ones at least.
Click to expand...

The plastic plugs are the same thread as domestic radiator bleeds/plugs pop down to your local plumbers merchant and part with a couple of quid. they won't fail and are easy to bleed.
 
Problem with those is sometimes they screw straight through. The ones with the flange won't. I been caught out before :(.
Judicious use if PTFE tape sometimes works, but not ideal.
 
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