i30 diesel starting issue ...

[xkxlxm]

2007 i30 diesel ... 211,000 ks ... today it started almost instantly (not quite as quickly as it probably should) but ran roughly for a few seconds before settling down ... excess smoke out the exhaust until it did settle ... elsewhere on the net someone said these are symptoms of stuffed glow plugs. (Subsequent starts on the same day are fine.) This problem has been there for a while now, sometimes not so bad. Battery is strong.

Diesel experts: what do you think? Is it worth just getting a Hyundai service centre to replace the glow plugs? Or should I get them to diagnose the problem first and possibly incur unnecessary expense/wrong diagnosis?

I would almost have a go at just doing it myself; access to the glow plug on one end isn't great and I might need to buy a long socket to fit the glow plugs.

I saw a horror story of a dealer (O/S, I think) breaking one of the glow plugs and the head needing to come off. I don't need that problem.

(If this is the wrong place for this thread please fix for me, moderator/s; thanks)