It was well and truly seized in the head, but after two hours of drilling and careful filing, I managed to get the last of it out without ruining the threads and without dropping crap in the cylinder.
I bought my minivan in 2008. It was cheap and basic and I took good care of it. But the north is harsh on vehicles, and that glow plug had been seized in the head for a good 4 years. The engine was still starting and running like a champ, so I left it there. But lately it’s started acting up bad. And there’s rust at the bottom of the bodywork too…
Now it’s come to the point where, in the past, fixing a vehicle like this wouldn’t have been worth the money, and it would have been time to consider buying a newer, more reliable ride.
But… that was in the past. There’s a new variable in the equation: this old minivan isn’t on the internet, it doesn’t have a camera or a microphone, it doesn’t have telemetry and it doesn’t snitch on me. And the mere thought of having to buy a new car fills me with a sense of dread and nausea.
So I really, REALLY want to keep this old minivan on the road. But if I hadn’t been able to get the glow plug out, I would have had to replace the head. That’s not cheap. It would probably have cost more than the residual value of the minivan. But I got the glow plug out, so now the minivan is suddenly a whole lot more worth saving.
Now that the engine is sorted out, I replaced the ground strap. And what do you know: now it turns over really healthy. I measured a 2V drop across the old strap. Yikes! But there’s still something wrong with the afterglow, because the engine dies seconds after starting when it’s cold. I’ll sort that out later.
When it’s all nice and reliable again, my plan is to bring it to an auto body shop to have it rust-proofed / repainted and have the various dings fixed up here and there.
Pouring money into that thing would have been insane 20 years ago. But in 2026, I reckon extending the life of an old vehicle is an investment in privacy. That’s how disturbing the world we live in is.
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Nice job! I admire that determination to get the job done. Hard jobs are just a matter of “want to”. And even badly botched the job, the old glow plug could still be removed and the hole rethreaded. It just would have cost a bit more and taken longer.
Holy shit. Congrats!
They don’t tally the external costs of that new car in the purchase price. It still makes sense to fix up most old cars until the spare parts all disappear, imo. Electric changes the equation though. I very much want a small electric SUV or minitruck.
I’d like an electric vehicle too. But I just can’t stomach the privacy invasion.
Someone told me to get an older EV once - like a first gen Nissan Leaf - that doesn’t connect to anything anymore, and have the battery replaced. The trouble is, I haven’t found someone to replace batteries in order EVs. But I’m looking into it as a second car, or as an alternative to diesel when the price of the fuel gets crazy because of demented orange pedos.
New EV truck/SUV called Slate is coming out soonish. Base model has zero tech. Not even bluetooth for your phone. You can add-on infotainment, but even that seems pretty barebones.
Slate
Not possible. Slate is a Bezos venture. I’m not giving my money to Bezos.
Totally fair.
I’ve been keeping my eyes on the growing EV converter kit world. More and more companies are popping up and selling converter kits for more car and truck models.
I’ve got plans to buy a nonworking older car I like for cheap, and convert it to an EV. Sounds like a fantastic project once I’m an empty-nester in a few years.
So here’s a realistic look at how that goes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53ZV1GMrf50
You should be aware that it will cost you more than just buying a used Bolt or something, and have less capability (in mileage, top speed and torque output). EVs are designed around cutting weight to increase the mileage, but you can only strip so much weight out of an existing vehicle, and there’s only so much space for bricks of battery.
If avoiding the privacy issues is the main goal you might get better results from learning the electronic control side of it and replacing the computer of an EV, rather than trying to rebody an EV system into an ICE vehicle.
Oh absolutely. This is likely blasphemy in many places, but my favorite muscle car from when I was a kid is the old ~'68 corvette stingray with the massive fins.
Never actually owned one, just love the look.
I’ve done a little research on them, and hahahahaha they’re really not that fast. Like, my minivan has a faster 0-60 than the vette I love.
Anyway, since that research, my plans to fix one up became fix one up and convert it to an EV with a much faster engine. And no, it probably won’t be cheap, but I think it will be a ton of fun.
I had to look up wtf a glow plug was, apparently because I’ve never owned a diesel vehicle. It’s actually pretty interesting!
Congrats!
Is this a European van? I though minivan was US term (just being “vans” everywhere else, because ‘merica also has even bigger vans), and i cant think of any diesel mini vans in the states…
Yes I’m in Europe. I don’t know if minivan is American English. That’s the name I’ve always used. But I’m an expat, so maybe that explains 🙂
I think Europeans tend to call them “MPVs.”
What make/model is it?
Man I read this as butt plug 😵
