glow plugs

[Pamila]

we had our glow plugs fitted at a garage the man accidently broke one and it fell into the engine, he says he'd put it right but he hasn't, he has give us the car back for now, what damage can it do if we drive around with it with one of the broken plugs in the engine, and what if the mechanic refuses to get the plug out, is it a big job?

[KebabMeister]

It depends how much fell into the engine.  If it was a small piece then he might of been able to get it out with a magnetic tool.

Basically any debris in the combustion chamber can cause serious damage.  It could damage the cylinder head creating cracks/weak points, or damage a valve, or damage the cylinder wall or piston.  If he started the engine then he might have been lucky and the debris went out of the exhaust valve.  Like I said, it depends on how big the debris is.  Ask him how big it was.  If it was sizeable, anything larger than 1 cm then I would suggest he takes the cylinder head off and inspect/remove the object.

[KebabMeister]

I forgot to mention, if it has a turbo fitted and the object goes out of the exhaust valve then it could damage the turbo blades.