Hey guys,

Here's my story,
I bought an 06 CRD a few years ago. I was aware that the #3 glow plug had been damaged by a Tech trying to swap out ceramic plugs with steel. The hex head had snapped off and the remains were flush in the cylinder head. The previous owner decided to leave it as is, hard starts, but ran it for a few years like that. I too ran it for a couple years like that, until...

Last week during normal driving, bang, it seemed to blow out the 'guts' of the glow plug, leaving a 'hole' in the combustion chamber.
So tear down.

First process was a pretty deep teardown of the engine bay to get enough clearance for extraction. (Annoying because a year ago I did the rockers)



The extractor (Irwin Master Kit) worked quite well. I also tried a straight 'slot' style extractor which worked for this case (empty glow plug sleeve) but would require much more drilling if it was a bolt, than a typical conical extractor.

Next the sleeve was completely stuck in the head, as if it was press fit. I had been soaking it with penetrating fluid for days but could get enough purchase to pull on it safely so I had to get creative and make a custom slide hammer type puller.



1/2" steel tube stock can be perfectly tapped for M10x1 (glow plug threads) and then a hex coupler for some minor weight to provide some impact motion.

a few hours of hammers and slowing turning the tube's thread in to keep pulling the glow plug sleeve got it out.



I also had some air blowing into the cylinder to try keeping any debris from falling into the chamber.


A strange issue, but glad to remove it without damage to the head.

A question for the masses though:
How likely is it that there's debris in the combustion chamber? The glow plug seems to be an original ceramic one, but there's clearly nothing left of it. The guts blew clean out of it and the motor ran for a few minutes in that state, obviously not well, but no grinding, metal colliding sounds.
The head has no leaks or compression issues, so I'd really prefer to not break the seal by pulling the head.
Am I foolish to not just pull the head at this point? Any ways I can have more certainty about the safety of cylinder #3?

_________________
2006 Liberty Sport CRD (Tow machine)
-3" Rockfather Deluxe lift
-32"x11.5"x15s
-dual battery set-up
-EGR, FCV delete. YETI tune
-HDS thermostat
-Trans Cooler
-Lots of rust

The pics are not showing for me. I also tried to go directly to the pics, but Dropbox says I don't belong there

You could pull the injector on #3 and use a vac tube down the injector hole to see if you can pull out any debris. You will need a new o-ring and crush washer to reinstall.

_________________
My collection of CRD's:
2005 Deep Beryl Green Pearlcoat
2006 Light Khaki Metallic Clearcoat
2006 Inferno Red Crystal Pearlcoat
2006 Midnight Blue Pearlcoat
2006 Gold Limited
2015 Black Ecodiesel
2015 Black Ecodiesel 2

Like Jay said, pull that cylinders injector, rig up a tube to a shop vac to suck on the injector opening while at the same time blowing compressed air into and through the glow plug port.
Any loose debris should be evacuated.
You could also purchase or rent a borescope to look into the cylinder through the injector hole for peace of mind.

_________________
Supporting Vendor and Moderator of LOST
05 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited
Ironman Springs/Bilstein/Shocks
Yeti StgIV Hot Tune
Week's BatteryTray
No FCV/EGR
Samcos/ProVent
SunCoast/Transgo
Carter Intank-pmp
2mic.Sec.Fuel Filter
Flowmaster/NO CAT
V6Airbox/noVH
GM11 Bld.fan/HDClutch
IronrockArms/wwdieselMount
98 Dodge Cummins 24 Valve

Fixed the pics (I think)

I've got the Injectors pulled already, and yea new o-rings and seats are on the way



I'll do some more suction, I've actually got a borescope but the ports are so small I can't get into the Injection port or Glow plug port.

Thanks for the responses!

_________________
2006 Liberty Sport CRD (Tow machine)
-3" Rockfather Deluxe lift
-32"x11.5"x15s
-dual battery set-up
-EGR, FCV delete. YETI tune
-HDS thermostat
-Trans Cooler
-Lots of rust