Glow Plug Replacement

[chandler32]

on my way to my 80k service this morning, the engine management light came on. Turns out that the glow plugs needed to be replaced. I have 2 questions:

1) is this normal for a 4 yr old car with 80k to need new plugs?

2) whats the average cost for this?

I paid £146, of which £70 was for parts. Seems a fair amount to me, but as i wasn't prepared to have a go myself, i left them to it....

thanks

david

[JohnYossarian]

on my way to my 80k service this morning, the engine management light came on. Turns out that the glow plugs needed to be replaced. I have 2 questions:

1) is this normal for a 4 yr old car with 80k to need new plugs?

2) whats the average cost for this?

I paid £146, of which £70 was for parts. Seems a fair amount to me, but as i wasn't prepared to have a go myself, i left them to it....

thanks

david

Hi Dave,

I paid £ 120 with Mr. Toyota (that was the best deal including the guaranteed service) and my Avensis had 60k on the clock. I suffered the same problem, engine service light was poping up quite often. I have noticed the the fuel economy also improved slightly afterwards. All in all I am quite happy with the new set. If everything is fine these should carry on for another at least 60k.

Cheers,

John

[igormus]

on my way to my 80k service this morning, the engine management light came on. Turns out that the glow plugs needed to be replaced. I have 2 questions:

1) is this normal for a 4 yr old car with 80k to need new plugs?

2) whats the average cost for this?

I paid £146, of which £70 was for parts. Seems a fair amount to me, but as i wasn't prepared to have a go myself, i left them to it....

thanks

david

g/day David

look each engine has own fate. Four years may be enough time when each glow plug performance is poor.

My advise to you is as follows -- before changing all plugs -- you'd better buy only one and compare an ohmnedance of the new one and yours actual plugs having tested all of them. In case you'll see a sharp diference with readings, then go ahead with all plugs changing -- otherwise you can throw money for nothing.You have to prove to yourself that all plugs have to be changed. I think all is clear with my statements.

Cheers/Igor

[JohnYossarian]

on my way to my 80k service this morning, the engine management light came on. Turns out that the glow plugs needed to be replaced. I have 2 questions:

1) is this normal for a 4 yr old car with 80k to need new plugs?

2) whats the average cost for this?

I paid £146, of which £70 was for parts. Seems a fair amount to me, but as i wasn't prepared to have a go myself, i left them to it....

thanks

david

g/day David

look each engine has own fate. Four years may be enough time when each glow plug performance is poor.

My advise to you is as follows -- before changing all plugs -- you'd better buy only one and compare an ohmnedance of the new one and yours actual plugs having tested all of them. In case you'll see a sharp diference with readings, then go ahead with all plugs changing -- otherwise you can throw money for nothing.You have to prove to yourself that all plugs have to be changed. I think all is clear with my statements.

Cheers/Igor

Hi Igor,

I agree with you, provided one has theskills and facilities to do it. Just imagine that you snap the plug, this automatically means another couple of hundreds to get a new thread in the engine head etc. Small changes in the impedance could also result in uneven enigne performance, so something that passes your test might not perform up to the standard. I take the analogy (alhtough a bit extreme I have to admit) with the situation when you change your tyres. You do not change only one, but at least two to keep the car balance right (hewre I do not mean chaning two plugs instead of one ;) .

I might be totally wrong here, but some of the parts are better left to the professionals.

Just my 2 p

Cheers,

John

[igormus]

on my way to my 80k service this morning, the engine management light came on. Turns out that the glow plugs needed to be replaced. I have 2 questions:

1) is this normal for a 4 yr old car with 80k to need new plugs?

2) whats the average cost for this?

I paid £146, of which £70 was for parts. Seems a fair amount to me, but as i wasn't prepared to have a go myself, i left them to it....

thanks

david

g/day David

look each engine has own fate. Four years may be enough time when each glow plug performance is poor.

My advise to you is as follows -- before changing all plugs -- you'd better buy only one and compare an ohmnedance of the new one and yours actual plugs having tested all of them. In case you'll see a sharp diference with readings, then go ahead with all plugs changing -- otherwise you can throw money for nothing.You have to prove to yourself that all plugs have to be changed. I think all is clear with my statements.

Cheers/Igor

Hi Igor,

I agree with you, provided one has theskills and facilities to do it. Just imagine that you snap the plug, this automatically means another couple of hundreds to get a new thread in the engine head etc. Small changes in the impedance could also result in uneven enigne performance, so something that passes your test might not perform up to the standard. I take the analogy (alhtough a bit extreme I have to admit) with the situation when you change your tyres. You do not change only one, but at least two to keep the car balance right (hewre I do not mean chaning two plugs instead of one ;) .

I might be totally wrong here, but some of the parts are better left to the professionals.

Just my 2 p

Cheers,

John

Hi John

Normally one can test each plug by a normal tester having switched to a R mode. Just check with ethalon's impedance (new plug) and compare. The gold rule is that all plugs must to have the same impedance value -- and the engine will be started smoothly.

cheers/igor

[Parts-King]

Glow plugs come on and go off everytime you start the car from cold, they sit in the head and are exposed to the rigours of the combustion chamber on a daily basis. It is not unreasonable to expect they would start to deteriorate after 80K, Igor is correct in saying only one or two glow plugs might actually need replacing, but what we used to call "good engineering practice" comes into play here. If your handy and can do the job yourself, then maybe consider only changing one or two faulty plugs, personally, I would change all four as they have all been subjected to the same wear rate and I wouldnt want to be doing the job again next month. Just my own opinion of course

Chandler32

PM me your chassis number and I will price you a set with TOC discount, there are a few types depending on VIN number

Kingo

[cmia]

Glow plugs come on and go off everytime you start the car from cold, they sit in the head and are exposed to the rigours of the combustion chamber on a daily basis. It is not unreasonable to expect they would start to deteriorate after 80K, Igor is correct in saying only one or two glow plugs might actually need replacing, but what we used to call "good engineering practice" comes into play here. If your handy and can do the job yourself, then maybe consider only changing one or two faulty plugs, personally, I would change all four as they have all been subjected to the same wear rate and I wouldnt want to be doing the job again next month. Just my own opinion of course

Chandler32

PM me your chassis number and I will price you a set with TOC discount, there are a few types depending on VIN number

Kingo

My glow plugs in my old avensis lasted me ... 180k

and it was a taxi

[chandler32]

thanks for all your replies.

Parts-King: I have already had the work done by Toyota Silsden, but thanks for the offer

Cmia: sound like you were lucky.

I read around a bit and it seems that you shorten the life if you don't wait for the glow plug light to go out before cranking the engine. Although there is a relay to cut them out when you turn the key, any excess heat to the plugs will deteriorate them. worth remembering...

david

[Parts-King]

My glow plugs in my old avensis lasted me ... 180k

and it was a taxi

Probably coz it never has chance to go cold

Kingo

[KAP67]

My glowplugs were replaced at approx 40,000 miles.

The dashboard had the engine diagnostic, traction control and the vehicle stability lights on. Mr T diagnosed this as glowplugs and fortunately replaced them under the used car warranty. He claims to have fitted modified glowplugs ? not sure what the difference is. Anyway excellent service from RRG Denton.

[mazimo3]

I have a 2004 54 Avensis D-4D T4

It has 104,000 miles.

I also have 2000 1.8 Avensis GS, 1999 2.2 VTi Honda Prelude Motegi, 1997 1.4 VW Polo

2004 Avensis is my first diesel car.

The engine management light came on last week, I informed Toyota about this, the guy at the dealership said it would cost me £60 just to connect to the car and have a look for the fault. I was not impressed! I told the guy, why dont you first tell me what the fault is and then I will decide if I want the work carried out, he didnt have any of it, and said just to touch the car they want £60.

In a forum on the net I read someone called their breakdown service to come and have a look at their car, and they were told what the problem is. So I went to work, and called the RAC guys. Told them that a light has come on, dont know what it is, and don't want to drive the car incase it is not safe to do so. RAC guy connected his laptop, it told him the Code was a P0380 (glow plug circuit indicator). He said the car is fine to drive if no loss of power is felt and if the car starts first time.

After a couple of days, I thought as the car has covered 104K i would just get them changed. Toyota wanted £80-£90 for the glow plugs and £120 for labour on top.

I bought the glow plugs for £37, Bosch Glow plugs. I took the car to my most trusted mechanic, to whom also I take my other cars, he replaced them for £20, this included him connecting his laptop and the right connection adaptor, going into the management system, finding the fault, reseting it and then running another check. and it came out all clear.

I spent a big total of £57

Why do toyota want money to tell you what the fault is, when everyone else can tell you for free???????

Regards

M

[igormus]

I have a 2004 54 Avensis D-4D T4

It has 104,000 miles.

I also have 2000 1.8 Avensis GS, 1999 2.2 VTi Honda Prelude Motegi, 1997 1.4 VW Polo

2004 Avensis is my first diesel car.

The engine management light came on last week, I informed Toyota about this, the guy at the dealership said it would cost me £60 just to connect to the car and have a look for the fault. I was not impressed! I told the guy, why dont you first tell me what the fault is and then I will decide if I want the work carried out, he didnt have any of it, and said just to touch the car they want £60.

In a forum on the net I read someone called their breakdown service to come and have a look at their car, and they were told what the problem is. So I went to work, and called the RAC guys. Told them that a light has come on, dont know what it is, and don't want to drive the car incase it is not safe to do so. RAC guy connected his laptop, it told him the Code was a P0380 (glow plug circuit indicator). He said the car is fine to drive if no loss of power is felt and if the car starts first time.

After a couple of days, I thought as the car has covered 104K i would just get them changed. Toyota wanted £80-£90 for the glow plugs and £120 for labour on top.

I bought the glow plugs for £37, BOSCH Glow plugs. I took the car to my most trusted mechanic, to whom also I take my other cars, he replaced them for £20, this included him connecting his laptop and the right connection adaptor, going into the management system, finding the fault, reseting it and then running another check. and it came out all clear.

I spent a big total of £57

Why do toyota want money to tell you what the fault is, when everyone else can tell you for free???????

Regards

M

hi should i be in the UK then i could to change them all free for you.. but ......

sometimes i also can not understand MrT with advance payment just for nothing.

cheers/igor