Glow Plug - Good news

[tc4332]

My EDC light has been flashing for a few weeks and VCDS reported it as a Glow Plug 2 bad circuit, or some such nonsense.
Usual Audi problems, are they ceramic or steel? My knowledgeable Indie says they are all steel in the D3 but according to this forum my year (2004) there was a mix!!!
I've been preparing for the change of Nº 2 only 'cos to do them all defo needs things removing from the top of the lump. How to prepare? Carry a can of WD40 with a nozzle and after every longish run spray the glow plug. The contracting as it cools drags?? the WD40 into the threads hopefully making it easier to remove.
Drove to my Indie this morning.
Big problem, the socket will not fit between the rail and the cylinder head to reach the glow plug.

Had to push the socket through sort of from the front, then using a thin magnet manoeuvring it over the plug. Forgot to mention that pulling the connector off the glow plug broke the plastic surround but I'm not replacing the cable to fit a good plastic bit.
Tried to unscrew the plug, dead easy, but only for a few turns. Presumably carbon on the inner threads. WD40 spray, tighten and untighten a couple of times and it was free. Recover socket using magnet and a hook. Snipe nose pliers down the small gap, grip the plug and pull it out. You've got to be having a laugh. It just wobbled up and down but would not come out, probably carbon on the shank. We tried all sorts without any luck.
Last chance saloon, stupid brainwave, fire the engine and switch off as soon as it fired resulted in the socket extension flying out of the engine area and landing on the floor.
Removed all the loose things that were lying around, pulled the plug upwards as far as we could. Stood back, took cover and started the engine. the engine ran OK then there was one hell of a big bang and glow plug 2 was flying. It hit the garage wall rather high up and vanished. We found it behind the car about ten minutes after we had ordered a new metal. Luckily it was metal.
New plug arrived, measured against the one with flight capabilities and it was similar. New one fitted a lot easier than the old coming out, fired the engine and the EDC light was flashing but I thought I could clear that with VCDS.
Then realised the EDC had gone off. My Indie said that's normal, it should reset itself.
Drove home, no EDC light. Result.
Cost? He wanted £40 for his time and the new plug was a gift.
I paid cash & made him have the extra tenner for the plug, then supplied half a dozen cream cakes and cheese and onion crisps.

[briang9]

Think you might have a future in Sitcom script writing Ray

Glad it all ended well

[tc4332]

Thanks Brian.
It all happens to me.
If it can go wrong it will if the Armstrongs are involved.
It is known as a general ckuf up

[H-M3]

Well done Ray! I am dreading my ones, 2 of mine were picked up on vcds scan, plus in the cold mornings my one hesitates to turn over at first. Need to bite the bullet and get a decent garage to tackle them

[snapdragon]

Oil's well that end well.

[Johnmed]

Sounds like fun that Ray. My sister’s C6A6 has had one of it’s four plugs faulty for about 3 years now. Without issue. Mine are all fine. Still. For now....

[tc4332]

I got fed up with EDC flashing.
I had it again this morning so did a scan before I set off. It reported plugs 4 & 6 faulty, plus quite a few other strange faults.
Then one of my two grey cells started chuntering away, just like being married. But it sort of made sense. I had the rear windows tinted a few weeks back and the chap did a proper job, took the windows out without removing the frames, don't ask me how, he just did it. So I thought HoHum let's clear all the DTCs and see what happens.
I stopped at Stafford Services on the way down and did another scan. No unexplainable DTCs, so I'm a happy bunny again.
Let's see what happens with a cold start tomorrow. Though I do cheat a little, I fire the Webasto remotely on cold mornings. The hard part is remembering to turn the heater temp to "Hi" when I shut down the night before.
That of course is down to the mod I did last year, wonder if anyone else has done that.

[dangerdred]

This was the newest thread I saw about glow plugs so...

...I've taken the car out of storage and have been driving it the last week or so. From cold every morning it takes several cranks before it starts - just at the point where I've started wondering is it gonna start - it then starts. When warm it fires on the first crank, so I thought maybe my glow plugs were on the way out. I've read around and then shopped around and at this stage I'm confused. 7zap tells me it's the same part number for all D3 diesels. Is this correct? Reason I'm curious is looking through €bay I see plugs listed but when I put in my car it says it's not suitable, but then when I change the car to a 4.2 it says it is suitable?? Also can I tell if I have metal or ceramic before it's removed? I will do a scan tomorrow, although (another question!)can my glow plugs be duff without throwing a fault?

[H-M3]

Temp has dropped so it could be. A reliable Porsche technician told me that with our diesel cars we should always let the fuel pump kick in before we crank the engine. It does help

[dangerdred]

Originally Posted by H-M3

Temp has dropped so it could be. A reliable Porsche technician told me that with our diesel cars we should always let the fuel pump kick in before we crank the engine. It does help

Yes, I was also thinking about the keyless start. Today it started first crank with the key after I paused a second or two after turning on the ignition. Is the ignition primed at all when using the keyless start?