Glow Plug problems on diesel engine

Just a quick update, Subaru replaced all of the glow plugs under warrranty at about 7000km's, all though only one was faulty. I've now done approximately 14000km's and no problems so far. Hopefully it was one faulty plug. The Outback is returning about 6.5l/100 on average which is about 80/20 country/city driving.

Good outcome from a bad situation, should never have happened ps, thanks for the info.

I think their is merit in MrB's procedure of putting anti seize on the g/plug threads, at least if they fault after some years 

they stand a chance of coming out easier and with no damage (even on new motors at time of purchase.).

6.5l/100 is quite good economy, at least that is a plus for the car. I found with the diesel Fozz that it was getting better as it got a few more K's on it and I agree with your comment re gravel road driving, the Fozz was outstanding and this sure footedness is one of the reasons we'll buy another.

Good info and outcome also for plume although I think they ripped you a little for the $200 fee.

The three dreaded warning lights came up on my 61 plate diesel forester last week at 45,000 miles.  At first I did not know what it meant, but as soon as the the garage saw it they said "glow plugs".  They tried to get the front two plugs out.  One came out , the other snapped.  They then called a 'specialist' in who drilled out the old plug, before putting in a new one.  Final bill nearly £600.00.  Surely, Subaru must accept some responsibility for this problem, which seems to be all too common.

Well it certainly seems as if this topic, I started, has demonstrated that there is  a significant design problem, or simply poor quality, in the glowplugs fitted to the Subaru diesel!  Surely Subaru should, for their own market image come clean and admit the problem and agree to help out with owners' costs to fix the problem.

This is my 5th Subaru and whilst I like the brand the costs of repair are making me look to other makes for my next car.

Dave

quite shocking have this problem on a 3 to 4 year old car, between this injectors & dpf I can't be bothered with a diesel subaru for my own use as just not worth the hassle for the price they demand. Still not had one snap off yet but they do feel close to it at times.

Subaru really needed help out on this & also introduce preventative measures for replacements ...

Subaru really needed a good diesel but the introduction experience to owners has done serious brand damage ...

I'm hoping they've solved this problem with the 2012+ engines which they claim they have, the dealers I've spoken to have said they've not had this problem on any diesel built since 2012. Fingers crossed

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Thanks for this thread. Fascinating reading. My Forester's a 2012, 46k miles, bought new UK car, and the three dread lights just lit. Local garage identified the problem, replaced the rear two plugs, but both fronts are seized solid, and the r/hand front is showing as the faulty item. Great Christmas present. Off to the nearest Subaru main agent in the new year then.

OK I have the tea shirt! If you get the engine warning light for your glow plugs, yes it disables the skid control. The offending plug is almost guaranteed to be the one behind the alternator! the conductive dust off the alternator deposits on the plug insulator and puts it out of specification. Yes the £28 glow plugs off eBay work as long as you select gen2/ XV spec. Don't worry if its not ceramic! You wont snap off your plugs if you undo half turn and WAIT 10sec, then another half turn until the plug turns freely. It is the friction heat undoing the plug in one hit that seizes it and makes it snap!! Then check the fuse as the dust deposits may have taken it out. Subaru's engine is about as good as a 2L diesel gets, £28 will fix 90% of this fault.

Thanks for that. Exactly as you said. The car's been dealer serviced from new, and although the servicing dealer lost their Subaru franchise (no idea why) they're so good that I've carried on taking it to them. They were aware of the prob and its fix, fixed it as part of the 48k service. Full marks to Pollitts of Exeter. Agree with you completely about the Subaru diesel, too. We were loaned a new SsangYong Tivoli while the Scoob was being fixed, and although a decent enough car it's not a patch on the Forester.

Realise this is an old thread but we have just had the glow plugs on our Forester replaced after they seized and thought people might be interested to know that there is now a specialised glow plug removal tool which can be hired (not sure where from as was done by our garage) that removes them even when seized without shearing them off

I guess that main dealers will also have this tool now?

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I would have thought so. Ours wasn't done by a main dealer as nearest main dealer is 2 hours away.

The warning lights have just lit up on my November 2012 car with only 36,000 miles.  I have booked it in to the local dealer but I need the car for an urgent trip shortly so I'm concerned that the repair will be (a) expensive and (b) time consuming.

I have a cheap OBDII device that sends data to an iphone app so I plugged it in and it duly confirmed a glow plug problem - rather more than the garage was able to say.  By cancelling the diagnostics error message I can get the cruise control and skid control back on line.   The lights only come on for a cold start: a restart is fine.

When it was new the fuel consumption without trying too hard was usually in the high forties .  I'm now getting around forty to the gallon: if I drive really carefully I can get 43mpg, so something has changed.  I did find that putting a horse box on not only crashed the fuel consumption into the mid twenties, lower than the Nissan Terrano 3.0 we used to have, but that after unhitching the trailer fuel consumption stayed poor for quite a long time.

^

yeh the learning function on the diesels is junk, mpg is also pretty awful all round considering it 2ltr & high tech.

really wanted to love the boxer diesel but it not that good to be honest .

injectors are not that expensive (unless use main dealer) & as long as don't snap off it no big job or bill.

£420 to replace all the glow plugs.   They suggested that they'd charge £204 per plug if any broke on the way.  In the event there was thread damage on two but I wasn't charged for repairing it.   That may have been because I made it clear that I'd read up on the subject first.

Hello Folks. Just thought I'd make my first ever post on a forum to say whilst I love my 2015 Forester diesel CVT, and the main dealer is being very helpful, I am worried. First glow plug incident occurred at 14000 miles with all the accompanying warning lights. The second occurred at 17000 miles. The offending plug and module is being replaced this time. It's still a new car, it is the Euro 6 compliant model, and frankly I am worried about both it's reliability and Subaru's bizarre approach to allowing main dealers to holding spares for what is clearly a known fault. Also the car very occasionally (usually on short drives or up steep hills from a standing start) splutters and loses a bit of power and then seems to 'clear it's throat' and drive normally. I don't know how to describe it but in the old days it would have felt like fuel line blockage/dirty fuel but it clears itself. Any thoughts?

The trouble is I actually really like the car and the dealer, otherwise it would be gone already!

Hi. Did you ever find out what caused the problem as I've got the same thing here with my Forrester in the uk ? 

Yep, as has been mentioned above it was a glowplug.  Rather than trust the main dealer and their crazy price I opted for my local friendly mechanic.  As was probably inevitable the glowplug being extracted broke.  The ingenuity of a good mechanical engineer managed to plug the hole so no further damage would be done.  Several years ago now and the car never missed a start in winter (in Aberdeen!) since.  I've still got the car.

Dave

It took 3 days of penetrating oil and teasing out 3 duff glowplugs but so far I haven't had one snap. I now get the front two changed annually with the rear ones removed, cleaned then re-fitted. Currently I expect the rear two to be changed bi-annually. All plugs are now lubricated with copper grease which seems to work well when it comes to removing them again. Plugs are available online for around £30 each when last checked.

Hello 

new to forum and subaru's, 

Moved on from honda civic (owned for 10 years 2004 model petrol) no issues got my subaru very pleased with drive /ride height . regarding glow plugs issues my diesel forester 2011 model has about 57k miles bought from dealer fully serviced no issues so far however was looking for some advice on glowplugs 

is it worth changing them all now and had look for replacement and on my engine  EE20Z i can only seem to get blueprint glowplugs at around £30 plug  thats all that seems available or that i could find 

also regarding servicing car has anyone used blueprint parts for fuel filter etc asd dealer fuel filter is around £70 seen blueprint ,bosch etc under £15

thanks in advance any tips well appreciated 

n

Hi

I've had several plugs fail but fortunately all were able to be removed intact although one took a very long time and much penetrating oil to tease it out. I now replace the front pair every year  due to very heavy salt corrosion and the rear pair every two years. This may seem excessive but I got fed up with that damn warning light coming on. When a plug goes you also lose traction control which can be extremely dodgy on ice even with 4-wheel drive.

Blueprint service parts are fine, we use them a lot .

For glowplugs we use ashika at about £22 a plug.

You can also find the Blueprint plugs around 75-95 pounds a set if hunt around.

No need change annually , fit them with high temp ceramic based anti-seize or similar and schedule a removal, inspection and refit 1 to 2yrs and replace 4 to 5yrs .

We get them out engine hot and use a gentle low power impact for several minutes as vibrations help remove the carbon jamming up the tip threads .

3 hours ago, Far North Scooby said:

Hi

I've had several plugs fail but fortunately all were able to be removed intact although one took a very long time and much penetrating oil to tease it out. I now replace the front pair every year  due to very heavy salt corrosion and the rear pair every two years. This may seem excessive but I got fed up with that damn warning light coming on. When a plug goes you also lose traction control which can be extremely dodgy on ice even with 4-wheel drive.

hi , thanks for pointers , is that brake pads front and rear that you change ?

1 hour ago, Mr B said:

Blueprint service parts are fine, we use them a lot .

For glowplugs we use ashika at about £22 a plug.

You can also find the Blueprint plugs around 75-95 pounds a set if hunt around.

No need change annually , fit them with high temp ceramic based anti-seize or similar and schedule a removal, inspection and refit 1 to 2yrs and replace 4 to 5yrs .

We get them out engine hot and use a gentle low power impact for several minutes as vibrations help remove the carbon jamming up the tip threads .

hi , 

thanks for tips , ashika plugs couldnt find them on eBay and regards to blueprint my forester uses ADL 22439AA010 there seems to be engine change in 2011 few options on plugs ,

do these subarus need car to be undersealed ?

thanks again 

n

No, I change the front pair of glow plugs annually and the rear pair bi-annually. Probably no need where you are but there is a massive amount of salt in the air here and I've had several close calls with corroded plugs.