CORRODED RAIL (busbar?) FOR GLOW PLUGS ZD30 DI

hi all,

I am in the middle of replacing my intercooler & found number2 glowplug & the rail it is bolted to at the top all corroded, for the life of me I cannot understand why or how this could happen, I am having trouble starting it, I cleaned the MAF & it was noticably better but still not good, I have ordered a new rail for $45 from Nissan & will replace the corroded glowplug, is this common?, is there a reason for it?, has anyone experienced this issue?, I was told by one person that the air escaping the leaking intercooler may have caused this but I was dubious as it would have thought some oil contaminate would be in the leaking air, having said that one of the leaks was directly above this plug

regards

Morton

Morton,

I haven't looked carefully at the GlowPlug Rail, but speaking from experience, it is always a poor connection that causes corrosion at a joint.

It is unlikely that the leaking intercooler has been the primary cause, as the engine itself would be much hotter than the air escaping from the intercooler, but it may have contributed a little.

What can cause poor connections is the constant cycle of hot and cold. Everytime your engine gets up to operating temperature, the different metals and materials expand at different rates to each other, stretching and pulling against these joints. Then on cooldown, the materials shrink back to their normal sizes, but at different rates again, and at different times, as equipment further away from the block will cool down quicker.

Make sure that the new rail is clean. Try not to touch the rail at the glow plug connection so you don't leave grease or oil on the rail where the connections are, and make sure that the plugs are as clean as a whistle too. Then make sure they are then nice and tight, and you should be good to go.

Mic

thanks Mic, great advise & ypour comments sound feasible, thanks for the reply

I replaced the glow plugs today (done as suggested) & fitted the new rail, it was actually Plug 1 that was corroded that had the wire also connected, it had mild corrosion so I filed both sides down to new metal, I found 2 plugs (2&4) had the base broken off them & plug 1 was completely black, put it all back together with a new intercooler & it kicked over in 2 seconds & idled smooth as, noticable increase in power & response was much better, no smoke or strong diesel fumes on start up, will kick it over in the morning to confirm all is back to normal, fingers crossed

Good luck buddy tomorrow morning but by the sounds of it all is great. I like reading threads like this. I got a problem, some one helps. I fix problem. I thank everyone.


Sent from the secret chambers of our secret society, on a secret iPhone, with a secret pin code and eye retina scanning from a secret peep hole, just don't tell anyone OK, cos it's secret........

started this morning first go, happy as, saved some big bucks, thanks