Help! Stripped glow plug doing cambelt

[James99]

I am in the process of changing the cam belt, other belts, pump etc on my 1.9tdi AJM PD engine Audi A4 Avant.

I was removing the glowplugs to enable me to turn the crankshaft easily but the last glow plug was stiff. I gradualy undid it a little at a time, spraying WD40 on the thread and backing it a little way and it seemed to be coming, but then it just went loose and is now spinning in the engine head.

What are my options?

Firstly for getting the plug out of the head. I hate to say it but I think the only way is going to be remove the head. What extra is involved after removing the head, will I need to have re-timing work done? Because it is the PD engine I was just going to lock everything, change belt and then release (no need for fuel pump timing check as PD engine). I am guessing as a minimum it is new head bolts and gasket + all the extra work.

Any suggestions on how to get the plug out once I have the head off? Would it be drilled? I don't know if the thread on the engine head is okay, can you buy tools/kits to repair or would I have to take it to a machinist?

The other consideration is the mileage of the engine. Just to give a little history, I bought the car last month at supposidly 79,000 miles but have now found out that it has in fact done 185,000. It was clocked and all of the history forged. The matter is with Trading Standards who are looking into but I am not holding my breath, so decided to do this work. I have traced the vehicles true history and it has actually been comprehensivly maintained by an audi dealer from new. Even so, how much work do I put into an engine which is this well used? I was looking at buying a salvage engine and just switching but I think this is going to cost the best part of £1k so I don't think I can really afford this. Plus, with a newer engine what if the electrics start packing up before I have got my moneys worth out of it? Although, the car is a 2001 so not that old, just high mileage.

Any advice you can give would be exteemly welcome!!!

Regards

[the_wave_rider]

If the thread has been stripped in the head the glow plug should just pull out with a little force as there is nothing to hold it in right? But maybe the glow plug has broken and the thread is still locked into the head you need to check this

IF the thread is stripped you will need to remove the head firstly as you will have the broken thread falling through into the internals of the engine and secondly to remove the plug

Options for the head could be you get it spark aroded out - and personally with heads this is the best option as you break down the core and do not harm the internal threads

You could get it drilled out but in all honesty if it was me I,d grab a second hand head you maybe able to get an exchange for yours? Its easier as if the thread is stripped you may need it drilled out to another size fit a helicoil in there for the same size as the glow plug or you could just weld the hole and re-drill it and re-tap it but if it is alloy you are subjecting a small area to a lot of heat so make sure you g-clamp lots of other metal to it to reduce the heat

Take yours off after checking the glow plug and get a second hand head if you decide you want to tap it and drill it let me know I may have the drills/taps you require and can borrow

[adamss24]

Thats what happens when people look for low milleage cars, there are roghue dealers who know people who do mileage corection and there is no real way to check on the spot ! Rest assured, 200k is nothing for these engines, and thats most motorway miles....I am selling now a 98 a4 with high miles on the clock and no one calls !?! Thats why its tempting to spend 60 quid to gain 600 pounds by clocking the cars ! There are dealers stamps to buy on ebay and the service books are a tenner each ! I dont blame the people who adjust the mileage, is just the way things work. I have 3 friends who bought recently cars from Car Giant and gues what, none have real milleage ! And they paid top dollar for the cars.

[the_wave_rider]

Thats what happens when people look for low milleage cars, there are roghue dealers who know people who do mileage corection and there is no real way to check on the spot ! Rest assured, 200k is nothing for these engines, and thats most motorway miles....I am selling now a 98 a4 with high miles on the clock and no one calls !?! Thats why its tempting to spend 60 quid to gain 600 pounds by clocking the cars ! There are dealers stamps to buy on ebay and the service books are a tenner each ! I dont blame the people who adjust the mileage, is just the way things work. I have 3 friends who bought recently cars from Car Giant and gues what, none have real milleage ! And they paid top dollar for the cars.

Doesn,t make it right or the guy that finds out his car has been clocked doesn,t feel any better personally thats why every car I ever sell I always record the mileage on the V5 just helps a little bit and it does get logged.

I,d have no problem buying a high mileage car as long as it had service history from a garage I could check up on

[James99]

If the thread has been stripped in the head the glow plug should just pull out with a little force as there is nothing to hold it in right? But maybe the glow plug has broken and the thread is still locked into the head you need to check this

IF the thread is stripped you will need to remove the head firstly as you will have the broken thread falling through into the internals of the engine and secondly to remove the plug

Options for the head could be you get it spark aroded out - and personally with heads this is the best option as you break down the core and do not harm the internal threads

You could get it drilled out but in all honesty if it was me I,d grab a second hand head you maybe able to get an exchange for yours? Its easier as if the thread is stripped you may need it drilled out to another size fit a helicoil in there for the same size as the glow plug or you could just weld the hole and re-drill it and re-tap it but if it is alloy you are subjecting a small area to a lot of heat so make sure you g-clamp lots of other metal to it to reduce the heat

Take yours off after checking the glow plug and get a second hand head if you decide you want to tap it and drill it let me know I may have the drills/taps you require and can borrow

Thanks,

I think the whole plug is still together as it appears to turn as one, but then as you say, if this is the case it should come out with a little force which I have tried.

The head is coming off either way and I will see where to go from there. I have looked inti the Helicoils but don't know what the aroding option involves, can you expand? I was thinking about a Helicoil as I imagine this is the cheaper option. I am guessing a new head is going to cost me a few hundred pounds.

Thanks for the offer of the tools but welding and re-drilling is beyond my skill set at present. Do you have any adeas how much a helicoil will cost. I will have to have a phone around.

Thanks again!!!

[Issac Hunt]

Once the head is removed fitting a heli-coil insert is an easy job for a proper machine shop. Shouldnt cost more than 20 or 30 quid I would have thought.

[James99]

Doesn,t make it right or the guy that finds out his car has been clocked doesn,t feel any better personally thats why every car I ever sell I always record the mileage on the V5 just helps a little bit and it does get logged.

I,d have no problem buying a high mileage car as long as it had service history from a garage I could check up on

Absolutely agree, I am not disapointed with the car itself, but I paid more than it was worth and am now having to spend more money on it to do things which I was assured had been done, which I can't really afford to do as I spent all my money on a car.

The seller absolutely assured me repeatedly that it had been serviced a few months previously and that the cambelt had been changed less than a year ago (as documented in the service book). Turned out it was 20k last service and cam belt was about 80k!!! Had I not checked everything myself I would have driven the car to distruction in no time. The cambelt was even starting to crack. It's absolutely shamless!!!

I passed absolutely everything over to trading standards who are interviewing everyone involved so hopefully some justice will be done. However, I can't see I will get anything back.

Oh well, have to make the best of what I've got. I'll let you know how removing the head goes over the next week, I haven't carried out this level of work before so any tips very very welcome!

By the way, despite the problems with my purchase I have to say I am completely sold on the Audi idea. It is by for the best car I have owned!:Blush:

[the_wave_rider]

Thanks,

I think the whole plug is still together as it appears to turn as one, but then as you say, if this is the case it should come out with a little force which I have tried.

The head is coming off either way and I will see where to go from there. I have looked inti the Helicoils but don't know what the aroding option involves, can you expand? I was thinking about a Helicoil as I imagine this is the cheaper option. I am guessing a new head is going to cost me a few hundred pounds.

Thanks for the offer of the tools but welding and re-drilling is beyond my skill set at present. Do you have any adeas how much a helicoil will cost. I will have to have a phone around.

Thanks again!!!

Helicoils come in all different materials and I have used alloy ones before.

Its a very simple operation drill the outside diameter and tap the thread bit of loctite on the helicoil screw it in and job done - let me have a look pretty sure I have a full helicoil set here,if thats the case all you would need to do is get hold of the helicoil.

[James99]

Helicoils come in all different materials and I have used alloy ones before.

Its a very simple operation drill the outside diameter and tap the thread bit of loctite on the helicoil screw it in and job done - let me have a look pretty sure I have a full helicoil set here,if thats the case all you would need to do is get hold of the helicoil.

Cheers!

I'll get the head off first and see which way to go from there.

Regarding removing the head, I am a little unsure about engine timing. Because it is a PD engine I understood that it is not necessary to plug the car in and re-time the pump when doing just the belt. What about taking the head off? Is everything locked and just goes back together or will there be re-timing to do?

[James99]

Got the head off (have been a bit busy recently so has taken a while!).

I had the plug drilled and helicoil put in; it cost £40 plus the vat but the place I took it to was a proper set-up rather than a back steet garage, so I guess I paid a bit more for that.

Interestingly, the first place I took it to said they couldn't put a helicoil in and it wouldn't be possible. I was initially gutted but then thought that couldn't be right as this must happen all the time and I had read quite a bit on-line about having it done.

The head is now back on and am just putting it all back together again (albeit slowly).

[B8 TDI]

The first place probably just wanted you to spend the extra cash on a replacement head, and then probably thought they would have an easy job of fixing your trade in head and selling it at a nice profit.

[zollaf]

its no wonder nobody trusts the motor trade with people doing things like that. its an absolute disgrace and i hope that trading standards come down on this bloke like a ton of bricks. one point to mention is if you have removed the camshaft or injectors you must not re use any of the little bolts that hold them in place. they are stretch bolts and wont ever torque down again, and if youve had the injectors out new seal kits required for them as well..
really feel for you on this one and hope you get the motor sorted & that justice is done. at least you found a good engine shop who didnt try to rip you...:beerchug: