'89 IDI ATS turbo very hard starting

[cbarm]

Hey guys, my '89 sig truck has become very hard to start in this colder weather. I replaced all the glowplugs with Beru's this fall, but if I leave it plugged in all night (it also has a pan heater) then after the GP light goes out it will still roll over about 20-25 times before it fires. It will not even try to fire if it is not plugged in. Could this be the GP solenoid? I would really like to keep the factory setup workin instead of goin with a push button...

Can I test individual GP's with a test light, one lead on the plug end and the other in the socket that goes on?? Or maybe a multimeter will give me better results?

 

[stumiister]

I belive that is how you test them and if the test light lights up that pug is good.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

test light lead to positive bat post, test light probe to top of glow plug. light=good plug, no light=bad plug. what does it do once it finally fires? white smoke? stall out, then more cranking? how long does wts light stay on for?

 

[GOOSE]

The test light or a continuity meter will give you the same end result. The light is a bit more simple in that it either lights or doesn't. The ohm meter will usually give you less than 1 ohm resistance on a good plug and you will read meg ohms on a bad plug. There is no reason to bypass the factory set up. It works well when all the pieces of the system are in good operating order. Last year our low temp was 13*F and my truck fired up with one cycle of the gp system and about 2 revolutions of the crank shaft, no block heater aid.

The block heater usually wakes an engine right up that is suffering gp issues. I would do a compression check just to know and maybe think about the condition of the IP and injectors. The normal rundown of the batteries, starter, cables and such are also to be considered. Good luck and keep us posted

 

[vegas39]

I just posted about this the other day, the test light method is hit and miss. I've tested two trucks in recent months and have had a test light show that bad plugs were good. The ohm meter method is apparently better, I prefer to use a 12 volt heater or radiator fan motor for testing the plugs.

 

[kennyd]

Might it be a fuel problem?

 

[79jasper]

Might it be a fuel problem?

Sounds like it to me.