Author Topic: Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap  (Read 2176 times)

Offline jakethesnake180

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Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap
« on: 26 January 2017, 17:19 »
Changing jobs and have to give my new Leon ST FR TSI back after 1 year of ownership 😢
I've bought an old altea to get me to work, it's stood at the minute cos I don't have to give the Leon back il the end of he month so I'm tinkering. I've just serviced it but considering swapping glow plugs as it's a bit smokey on start up when it's freezing cold. They are the type under the rocker cover. Anything I should know about before tackling the job? Is it worth changing the rocker cover gasket and glow plug wiring loom while I'm at it?

Offline itavaltalainen

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Re: Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap
« Reply #1 on: 26 January 2017, 22:42 »
Are they actually faulty?
If not I would leave them in place. They are easy enough to check, most likely you just need to run a scan on VCDS as they should be monitored.

2019 Seat Leon ST FR DSG 135kW - eclipse orange - 23k miles

Offline jakethesnake180

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Re: Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap
« Reply #2 on: 26 January 2017, 23:09 »
Judging by the amount of smoke and the fact that it disappears and never smokes again after about 3 seconds of running I would say so, I haven't plugged it in to diagnostics so will try that when I'm back with the car tomorrow to see what it comes up with. In all honesty I would doubt that it has registered a fault however I would say that one or all are definitely weak!

Offline itavaltalainen

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Re: Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap
« Reply #3 on: 27 January 2017, 09:34 »
Could be stem seals too.

Glow plugs generally work or don't, there is very little in between. You can also test them individually with a multimeter - they should be low single digit Ohms, or for a more accurate reading use a clamp amp meter around the wire going to each plug. The ECU flags faulty glow plugs pretty well usually, had the same on one of my old Golf Diesels.
2019 Seat Leon ST FR DSG 135kW - eclipse orange - 23k miles

Offline jakethesnake180

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Re: Seat Altea 2ltr TDI Sport glow plug swap
« Reply #4 on: 27 January 2017, 15:38 »
Plugged in to the diagnostics at lunch time.
Codes for Glow Plug 1, 2 and 3 stored and wouldn't clear.
Just ordered a set of NGK plugs and a new battery.
Battery is old and sluggish to turn the motor over after being left for a bit.
Going to fit tomorrow and see how we go, cheers for the help.