Awhile back the Check Engine light came on. I pulled a code with my scanner and it said the #8 glow plug was bad. I then verified this problem with a code scanner from O’Rreilly’s. It pulled the same code.

After doing some research on how to complete the job. I swapped the old glow plugs out for new ones and the check engine light went back off. Success!

Here was the basic procedure of what I did. If this is your first time to do this kind of repair then I suggest allocating 5 to 6 hours. If you are somewhat familiar with your engine you can probably do the repair in less than 4.5 hours.

I encourage purchasing the Chilton Total Car Care Manual for your vehicle before tackling any jobs from your home garage. I picked mine up about half way through this repair. Fortunately I was on the right track. The manual will make most repairs easier and is full of good information.

First, I removed the stainless steel air tubes to get them out of the way and placed a plastic bag or a latex glove over the openings to keep any junk form falling in the system. I did not wash my engine before hand but I highly recommend it. I also backed the serpentine belt off with a break over bar to free up more space.

I then removed any other little items out of the way of the valve covers and took them off the engine. Under the valve covers are the glow plugs located next to the rockers and the injectors.

Next, I popped off the glow plug electrical connectors. After loosening the glow plugs I used a model airplane fuel line to slip down over the glow plug and back it out. They are in quite deep and if you back them out all the way with the long socket, the rocker gets in the way. New glow plugs were then installed and torqued* to the correct tightness with a traditional torque wrench. I used the model airplane fuel line to tighten the glow plugs all the way in before using the deep socket to torque the glow plug tight. The glow plug has numerous threads and this makes it very easy to install them before using the socket.

The 7.3 Power Stroke has 2 valve cover gasket that the electrical connections run through, connecting the wiring harness from the computer to the glow plug and injectors. I replaced both gaskets and carefully reattached the wires and installed the valve covers, again using the torque wrench. After putting the air ducts back on and installing any other little things that were removed, I fired the engine up and the check engine light did not come back on.

* I encourage getting a simple torque wrench, not a complex torque wrench with an internal torque adjustment. I purchased one of the more complex torque wrenches and almost damaged the threads in the engine. The internal torque adjustment failed. The more simple torque wrenches are only about 10 bucks and are quite easy to use. They have a gage down by the handle.