terracotta

my car only has 35,000 miles on the ODO. Yesterday morning, the CEL came up. A quick Enhanced OBD I & II scan shows

P0676 Cylinder 6 Glow Plug Circuit.

The odd thing is that a glow plug issue had come up at 17,000 miles and MB replaced all 6 under warranty. Now this issue has come up again.

I'd like to hear from other forum members on what their experiences have been with this model in terms of the need for glow plug replacements and if there are any ideas on what could be causing this.

The dealers in NorCal charge an arm and a leg for glow plug replacements. Any leads into a good dealership/SA or indy here in the SF bay area would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Tschuss_Bill

It could be that your car suffers from lack of use

Kind of silly that the dealer replaced a 6 glow plugs. One would assume that correct 5v glow plugs were used. One thing you could do to check the resistance of the suspect glow plug without removing it. The resistance of a good plug is quite low around 1 ohm. Replacing a bad glow plug is not difficult. Do it when the engine is warm. Put a little anti-seize or ceramic grease on the new glow plug, torque to 20 nm.

Replace the sick plug yourself or have it done. Should be less than an hour of labor. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Some plugs last over 100k some fail much sooner. Your issue is normal, no chronic pattern yet.

-B

mtrevelino

I had all six replaced at 58k (#4 was bad and decided to replace all six), and #4 again at 80k. I also replaced the Glow Plug Controller at 137k. When I turn the key on, I wait until the light goes out then start my cdi. Others have said this does not matter, but in the back of my head, it does as I feel it shortens the glow plugs life. My cdi has 148k and is running strong.
Mike T.

terracotta

Thanks for your replies;
1) it seems like glow plugs are a hit or miss and there are different schools of thought about whether to replace the offending one only or to replace all.

2) could you let me know the exact part number for the glow plugs?

3) could you point me to the steps I need to measure the correct resistance without removing the glow plug.

thanks a lot.

terracotta

I also wanted to ask if there would be any loss of power or a performance difference if a glow plug went bad?

is there any issue driving around with it? i don't want to damage anything further.

odfly the pigtail glow plug light still comes on for a couple of seconds as usual and everything is working fine. The car cranks up just the same. It is just that the CEL is on

mtrevelino

The part number used on my cdi was:
001-159-51-01
Just make sure the glow plugs has Beru 5V marked on them. The indie that my dealer uses gave him the 12V glow plugs first. They must have the same part number.
Just do a search for glow plugs and you will come up with instruction on how to change. I tried to change my #4 plug, but it kept turning, so I let my indie do it. They build up with carbon and may be hard coming out. You also need to make sure you clean the threads.
Mike T.

terracotta

Thanks for the tip on voltage difference while the part number being the same. Is there any way to definitely say which one my vehicle uses?

alsi is there anyway to check the resistance across a gliw plug without actually taking it out?

mtrevelino

If your cdi was purchased in the U.S. it has the 5V glow plugs. There may be a way to check the resistance but I do not know how. With your scanner showing #6 is bad, I would agree with it.
Mike T.
2006 cdi

Tschuss_Bill

Yes. Remove the plastic engine cover. Look for the Glow Plug. For # 6 that is the last one closest to the firewall. Using long hemostats or long nose pliers pop the glow plug wire cap off. Using an ohmmeter, test one side to the head and the other to the end of the glow plug. You can compare the resistance of a the new plug which should be around 1 ohm. If you have a digital meter note if the read is in ohms or K ohms. Any readout in K ohms will trigger a check engine light.

terracotta

I am having difficulty locating a vendor that sells The Beru glow plugs part number 001-159-51-01

all I find is
http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/0011597401

I am assuming this is the incorrect part?

mtrevelino

The part that you found is the correct glow plug.
Mike T.