question about glowplug lengths?

[teenmal]

this is doing my head in i thought i had it sorted out then mr solutions reffered me to ngk technical and neither will tell me a part number that will work aaaargh!!!

Hi,
The Normal plugs for a vehicle up to 1999/vin number up to 300036 Usually has 83MM plugs,the later model after VIN 300036 usually have 101MM plugs.

Cheers.

[francophile1947]

this is doing my head in i thought i had it sorted out then mr solutions reffered me to ngk technical and neither will tell me a part number that will work aaaargh!!!

Hi,
The Normal plugs for a vehicle up to 1999/vin number up to 300036 Usually has 83MM plugs,the later model after VIN 300036 usually have 101MM plugs.

Cheers.

102mm ones were fitted before then (my 1995 had them), when there was a shortage of the 83mm ones. You can fit 83mm ones easily enough - I just slightly bent down the fuel pipes to the injectors. Others have raised the glow plug rail by fitting washers underneath. If you do a search, people have come up with various ways of doing it

[randombit]

excellent thankyou i can stop pulling my hair out now

[teenmal]

this is doing my head in i thought i had it sorted out then mr solutions reffered me to ngk technical and neither will tell me a part number that will work aaaargh!!!

Hi,
The Normal plugs for a vehicle up to 1999/vin number up to 300036 Usually has 83MM plugs,the later model after VIN 300036 usually have 101MM plugs.

Cheers.

102mm ones were fitted before then (my 1995 had them), when there was a shortage of the 83mm ones. You can fit 83mm ones easily enough - I just slightly bent down the fuel pipes to the injectors. Others have raised the glow plug rail by fitting washers underneath. If you do a search, people have come up with various ways of doing it

Hi,

I did say NORMAL

[tim & angie]

Hi, Ive just changed the glow plugs in our 97 bongo and they were the 102mm 'long' ones. I initialy bought a set of standard length plugs (having been told they would be the right ones) and looked at fitting these but the glow plug live rail was getting too close to shorting out even with bending and fitting spacer washers so ended up buying a set of long plugs (the club shop sells them). They will cost you more than the £25.00 you were quoted but they fit and save all the hassle . Tim

[Bully bongo]

Hi there on with my glow plugs.Checked the two front one just for length.Mine is a 95 model and it has 102mm ones in.Got onto nipponnev on ebay for ngk plugs and told him i required the 102.He quoted me a number and said these were the ones.So i bought them,just waiting for them to arrive.I read the thread and i hope they are the correct ones or i will be doing a bit of a mod on them.Watch this space.Mine needed changing as it is like stephensons rocket on a morning.CHUG,CHUG,CHUG etc etc.You no what i am talking about.Also a lovely smell of veggie.Runs great though after about 2or3 mins.

[Bully bongo]

Well got my 102mm plugs fro ebay.Nipponnev for £40.Fitted them today took about three quaters of an hour.Jobs a doddle.Fired van up tonight from cold and its sweet as a nut. .Ordered them on Tuesday they were here on Wednesday.Will get a good try in the morning as its very cold outside tonight.

[tallbongo]

Is the only difference between the two lengths the length of the top thread?

[dandywarhol]

Nope, the physical length of the plug body

[randombit]

i took a gamble and got the short ngk plugs and with a bit of gentle persuasion shes like a new van. big thankyou for everybodys help

[Bully bongo]

Yes totally agree got the new plugs in the van is running great Thanks to all for the help

[tallbongo]

Well it seems I would have struggled to get the wrong glow plug length as mine had extensions on the short ones to make them long - hence my earlier question about thread length.



Changed them today. It took about 2.5 hours and I have no previous experience working on car engines. Most of the time was spent debating whether I could put something back together again if I took it apart. Re-assembly only took about 45 mins, despite wasting at least 20 mins of that trying to retrieve a socket that wouldn't free from the tightened nut of the foremost plug.

Hopefully these pics might help someone who like me was debating whether they were capable of this job (no pics on the fact sheet and some of the steps listed were unnecessary).

First the end product, after reassembly (hopefully the same as the initial state except with new plugs)!



First step was to go for a run in the Bongo to warm up the engine. Apparently this reduces the chances of a plug shearing when removing them. You don't need to remove the gearstick links as stated in the factsheet (at least not on the manual gear shift). You do however need to remove all the fuel line gubbins as in the pic below. Two bolts several hoses and about 5 electrical sockets need undone (note where they all go back). Perhaps this is unnecessary if you do remove the top panel and gear links, but access looked very tight if it is possible.



Remove the bus bar and the old plugs.



Fit the new plugs. I used a fine coating of copper grease on the threads to ease future removal. Reassembly is simply the reverse of the previous steps.

After this hopefully the Bongo will start and run more smoothly from cold. Mine seems to be smoother, but I guess I'll find out for sure in the morning.

I'd hope next time it would only take me an hour or so, but I'll be fitting the relay mod to hopefully prolong the life of these plugs.

Hope this is helpful to someone.

[Northern Bongolow]

just checked mine today as i thought i had a plug down all winter,took them all out with a view to replacement.
found a loose nut on the rear most plug top, (bad connection)removed them all,
tested,cleaned, all ok.
refit them and all is well.
i love a cheap fix meeeeeee !!.