Total repair bill, including the $125 machine shop fee and the extra seven glow plugs, was $4,500. I had all eight glow plugs replaced (and the tech did use anti-seize on the threads) in order to prevent a re-occurrence of this problem. The primary Chevy tech on the job commented on how clean my truck was, and that no signs of abuse or other problems were present. If the seized plug on the other side of the engine had also broken off, it would have meant also removing that head and an additional eight hours of labor (and hundreds of dollars more in parts such as gaskets which are part of head removal and replacement). Per the dealership, the quickest method to remove the head involves lifting the entire cab and front end off the frame and into the air in order to have access to the complete engine, and this is what they did with my truck.Ī total of 30 hours of shop labor was required (not counting the machine shop work). To remove a seized and broken glow plug the entire head must come off of the engine and taken to a machine shop. The other six plugs were removed without any major issues, but the thin galvanization on several was rusty in patches, and one showed a whitish residue similar to aluminum oxidation on the threaded area. They worked for three hours on the other seized plug, and it finally came free. The electrode pulled out of the hollow tube while still attached to a portion with the nut, but part of the hollow tube was still in the head. Per the dealership, three Chevy techs with a combined 75 years of experience used all their knowledge and techniques (including heat and extended soaking with penetrating oils) to free the stuck bad glow plug, yet (as they warned was possible) the tube still broke in two. A truck will likely start with a bad glow plug, but the continuous check engine light will make it impossible to tell if any other systems are failing. The Chevy tech told me that no anti-seize is used by the factory during initial assembly of the engine. Like a spark plug, they do not last forever, and are designed to be easily accessible and replaceable. One per cylinder, a glow plug is a little heating probe which assists in igniting the fuel in cold weather. The nut to remove it is approximately 1" up the tube from where it enters the head, so torque to remove it is in this unsupported area of the hollow tube. There is an electrode running through the center of the hollow tube, and the exterior of the tube has approx 1/2 " of threads located at its midpoint which screw into the aluminum heads. I had them check the other seven plugs (there is one per cylinder) and the same plug on the opposite side (number 8 cylinder) was also seized in place.įor those who have never seen one, a glow plug is a 5 1/2" long, hollow, galvanized steel tube the same diameter as a Number 2 lead pencil. More importantly, the local Chevy dealership found that the bad glow plug was also seized into the aluminum head. Last month my truck showed a continuous check engine light with the underlying code found to be PO677 (a failed glow plug on the number 7 cylinder). I do not know if my problem is confined only to trucks in the snow belt or not, but I would suggest that all owners take note. It’s not a rusted, abused, neglected work truck in any fashion, and although exposed to Mid-Western salted winter roads, it was kept clean and never used to plow snow or have other exposures to excessive salt. It has 65K miles, never had any problems, and engine/trans/gear fluids are all synthetic Mobile One (with oil changes at 5K miles and fuel filters at 10K miles). It has always been a garage-kept, middle-aged owned, unmodified, pleasure vehicle primarily used to pull light snowmobile or bass-boat trailers on long Interstate highway trips. I bought it used, but with a known history and an inspection by a Chevrolet dealership prior to purchase. My particular truck is a 2006 2500HD crew cab LT2 with a multi-thousand dollar Waldoch interior and exterior conversion installed by the original dealer prior to initially being offered for sale. I contacted Chevrolet Customer Service after this happened to me last month, and the District Specialist's quote to me was that the problem was "not uncommon", and therefore no assistance (even as a shared cost) is available for an out-of-warranty truck. There is a serious problem with the Duramax which can bite you even if you religiously maintain your vehicle. $4,000 Duramax glow plug problem "not uncommon" per Chevrolet Customer Serviceįirst, I realize that many of you on this forum probably are aware of this issue, but I thought I would post this in the general discussion area for those who are unaware, those considering the purchase of a Duramax equipped truck, or those searching the internet regarding Duramax problems or glow plug problems to find out a little info about this issue.
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