I just bought my first diesel,a 1983 f250 6.9. While I was changing my glow plugs I ran across one broke off. Is there any alturnitive to pulling the head or is that the only solution? I also dont have a manual, could some one tell me the step by step way to pull the head?

www.thedieselstop.com

probably have better luck there

Soak it in Carburator spray cleaner (breaks down the carbon on the plug) let it sit overnight like that and then put a piece of plywood or lots of towels/rags over it and turn the engine over. Should blow the broken piece right out. If that doesn't work, have to pull the head.

thanks for the tip. I have throttle body cleaner will that work?

well, take this advise if you want, at your own risk, BUT..

A few years ago my uncle(who is a diesel mechanic) had the same problem on his 84' with a 6.9

When he fired it up, the broken tip would rattle around, making all sorts of racket. After talking to a mechanic at the international dealer, who had worked on 100's of 6.9's, he said he had NEVER seen a 6.9 with valvetrain issues(meaning tough to bend) The mechanics solution was to start the truck up, head to the road, and rag the piss outa it. My uncle trusted his adivse, and tried it. Before he got into 3rd gear, the motor spit the chunk of the old glow plug out the exhaust.
It seemed to be a simple solution for a otherwise time consuming problem.
Whether you choose to try it is up to you.

I know it's a different engine, but on hummers we could remove the injectors and sometimes get at the plug.

Usually.....we just suspiciously looked around, then fired them up. In 4 years, I don't recall it ever causing any other problems.

What I spoke of is a common fix for the issue with the powerstroke glowplugs.
Never worked on a 6.9 but it can't be THAT different.

What I spoke of is a common fix for the issue with the powerstroke glowplugs.
Never worked on a 6.9 but it can't be THAT different.

The problem we had with the hummers is the glow plugs would swell up so bad there was no way they were coming out.

I have a tool for pulling glowplugs on 6.2 diesels
works awesome
got it online from a atv website.
cannot find the link now but will try and locate it for you

Thanks for the tip. It rattled around for a little bit,and then the noise went away. I guess so did the piece. Everything else seems to be fine. You saved me alot of time and trouble, thanks again.