Glow Plug Snapped!!

yellowskunkcabbage

yellowskunkcabbage

Member
Just as I thought my week couldn't get any worse, it does. After being told my contract was ending the week after Christmas, and being told my Honda FR-V needed a new fuel pump (£1500 + VAT + labour) the glow plugs on my A2 have snapped/burned in two!!
I bought some new BERU ones after reading through the posts on here from ECP. I checked against the Bosch ones that came out and they seemed identical (not longer ones, as previous posts have indicated there are two lengths). Fitted in no time and drove the car to my sons swimming lessons with no problems. All was well until this morning when I started it up. A funny rattling noise occurred so I turn off the engine immediately. Upon checking the plugs, I found that one had nearly sheared off, so I proceeded to change back to the original plugs. When I removed the central one though, half of it was missing!!! Now the car doesn't seem to run as it did. I am terrified I am now faced with a repair bill for my A2 following the repair to my Honda, all whilst out of work!! What are the consequences of this? Help!!!:(
 
Bad news I'm afraid. If you are lucky the debris may have just bent a valve but depending how long the engine ran, worst case the piston crown, cylinder bore, cylinder head, injector tip and turbo may all have varying degrees of damage.

Cheers Spike
 
That sounds like it may be terminally expensive? Is there any chance that it did no damage at all?? When I took it for a little test drive round the block,(after changing back to the original plugs) the car did sound & feel like it used to before the incident?

What could cause the plugs to do that? I feel literally sick when I think about it :( and angry that the Beru plugs should do that and potentially have ruined my car.:mad:
 
OK...follow up on the above post. To cut a very very long story short, ECP had incorrectly catalogued the plugs I fitted, with the end result being them meeting the cost for a re-manufactured engine from Ivor Searle to be supplied & fitted at my local garage along with a new cambelt & water pump. Not best pleased but at least my car is back with me. However, after having it serviced the other day, I am having a problem that hopefully you guys can shed some light on. I was driving uphill the other day and gave it a bit of wellie in second. As soon as I changed to third, the turbo stopped working & wouldn't kick in again until I had turned the car off & restarted the engine. No warning lights were in evidence at any time. I replicated the series of events and the same thing happens. I took it in to my mechanic to see what he thought it could be. He connected it up to his diagnostics equipment and it gave the fault code 17964. He said he suspected the turbo may be at fault, but I can't help thinking after reading the previous posts about this code it all seems a little coincidental that my turbo should go after all the work it has just had done.:confused:
Any help/suggestions would be very very gratefully received.
Cheers
Mick

http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthrea...t-10-mins-of-motorway-driving&highlight=17964
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?17520-TDi-Loss-of-power-(not-my-car!)&highlight=17964
http://www.a2oc.net/forum/showthread.php?14536-Cambelt-tensioner&highlight=17964
 
i would say it is just the usual boost leak--either sprit intercooler or one of the rubber pipes has perished or popped off. plenty of other people on here have had it. hope you get it sorted. cheers mike
 
This happens to em very ocassionally and very random, sometimes twice in a week then nothing for months so haven't bothered getting it sorted.
 
Thanks Mike. Anyone have any pics of the area of the engine to check for loose/damaged pipes? I did have a quick look before whilst it wasn't raining, & there did seem to be a connection towards the back of the engine bay that did seem a little loose, but I am by no means an expert so I am a little unsure if it is correct. My mechanic did say he had smoke tested the engine on Friday & he says they were no leaks?? The car hasn't felt the same since getting the car back following the engine/cambelt change & I did give Vince at Stealth a call to check if the engine swap would affect the remap & he said the remap is in the ECU and performance should be the same.
 
Booked in for Wednesday morning with Vince at Stealth. Spoke to him on the phone a couple of times now & he sounds like a thoroughly decent bloke. Fingers crossed its something simple...:)
 
Follow up to this saga. All sorted now after visiting Vince & David at Stealth Racing. By gum...those boys know their stuff. Absolute legends. Back up & running at 109 bhp so actually gained an extra hp!! Well chuffed! :D
 
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