sooty glow plugs
 

hi i have changed the front 4 glow plugs now and noticed black soot on 1 side of each glow plug . my 940 tdi 1995 starts 1st time every time ,MPG is always about the same up to nearly 40 mpg on long runs and 30 round city . oil consumption is within limits im told ,1 litre about 5000 miles .
so is there any concern for the sooty plugs ?

You're good to go as long as the GP elements are not damaged, eroded, mushroomed.

We have to admit it, the diesel engine is a soot producer. There's going to be soot everywhere. In the oil, in the exhaust, in the combustion chambers, in the intake (where EGR), on the parking area, etc.

Your economy stats are great, that is the major yardstick I would measure the overall engine health by. When that number goes down, that is when you need to get concerned.

In fact that's what I do. Calculate the MPG each tank fill up. When the MPG falls, that's when I start looking for underinflated tires, dragging brakes, clogged air filter, state of engine tune, etc. 10-20% drop in winter is normal.

sooty glow plugs
 

thank you for your positive thoughts Ngoma, the weather is still cold here we have snow too . i just swopped no 4 plug yesterday . it was tricky to release it they have been in 6 years and car has done 60000 mile since last changed .the weather was sunny , i have spanners of different shapes some of them are not a great fit . i need some flanged 8mm x5mm nuts for the buzz bars .
my car is lumpy on fire up for a few seconds . but looking at videos that seems the norm this weather ,
thanks again for support
regards jim