Why the $25,000 car is going extinct

Re:Why the $25,000 car is going extinct by doubled112 on Monday June 30, 2025 @08:01AM (#44422219)

I was shocked that we started replacing glow plugs one at a time.

I drove a 2002 diesel Jetta for a few years. $80 for all four glow plugs. It’s a no brainer to do them all. This was probably ~2015, it was old when it was written off.

This year, the cheapest I could find one (yes, just one) for my 2013 was $135 online. Thich was cheaper online than a mechanic friend of mine could get it through any of his sources.

There is a compression sensor in there now adding cost, apparently.

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Re:Why the $25,000 car is going extinct by geerlingguy on Monday June 30, 2025 @08:47AM (#44422606)

Aside, I had never heard of a glow plug, after working on a few generations of cars... I figured it might be a US vs rest of the world thing with naming something like a "spark plug".

But I looked it up and for the benefit of anyone else who's never worked on diesel, it's part of the diesel ignition cycle it seems. TIL!

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Re:Why the $25,000 car is going extinct by doubled112 on Monday June 30, 2025 @09:12AM (#44422877)

A glow plug is basically a heater.

Diesel being injected into the engine isn't ignited by a spark, but spontaneously by compression. This can't happen if the temperature in the cylinder is too low.

Having your fuel being ignited by the engine running, as opposed to something like a spark plug, has interesting side effects like dieseling and runaway.

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