Glow plugs

[LCAM-01XA]

Personally I think with a solid state system a batch of ZD9s at $9.99 or even $15 is money well spent because at worst you'll be replacing one here and there and the set will last years as long as the ground is good and the controller doesn't have some catastrophic malfunction(unlikely)

You know, that's a good point about that ground - for the last month I've been having issues with my glow plugs, I had them resistance-tested and 3 of them failed (showed open circuit), then after a 400 mile haul on Tuesday they all of sudden started working properly again - no frantic relay cycling, glowplugs stay on for several seconds like they should, and I haven't even touched them either, they just "magically" fixed themselves - not until after I bought a set of new ZD9's of course, but at least I haven't installed them yet...

 

[NCheek]

The 7.3 system will have short cycles if there are failing plugs. It will cycle longer if you have a bad ground. M.L.S.C., if your plugs have "magically fixed themselves", methinks you are getting a false sense of security due to bad plugs and bad ground.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Haha, gotta love it, so two wrongs kinda make it right for now - it does fire up like all 8 glowplugs are working again tho, before it'd hesitate firing even after two complete auto-cycles of the glowplugs, now it fires right up! Also duration of having the glows active does vary with ambient temperature, just like it should, so it really don't act like there's anything wrong with it... Oh well, I'll check on the ground and then just keep running it as is, when it goes stupid again I'll put the new glows in.

One thing tho - the glows fixing themselves just so happens to coincide with me turning the injection pump down and re-timing it. Come to think of it, them "failing" also coincided with me turning the pump quite up about a month ago... A bit too much of coinciding there for my liking - is it possible the extra fuel somehow fouled the rearmost glows, while the much cleaner burn for the last road trip cleaned them up, or something of that sort?

 

[HammerDown]

The local Autozone told me they quit carrying them. Don't know why...

Yea, and when AZ wanted to get rig of their stock they were selling them for $3.00 each >of course I was to late.

 

[Diesel JD]

I doubt it. The only effect timing would have on the glow plugs is that it'll kill them if its too far advanced for too long. I'm guessing loose connection or a ground.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

I doubt it. The only effect timing would have on the glow plugs is that it'll kill them if its too far advanced for too long. I'm guessing loose connection or a ground.

Well ain't the ground the only connection that when loose can make it glow longer? At least that's the only one I know of... That controller is supposed to ground to one of the valve covers, right? I'll pull the airbox this weekend and investigate...

 

[Diesel JD]

I think that's usually the problematic one, plus obviously make sure all your bullet connectors to the glow plugs are very tight. Even a little loose will make it short cycle.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

The connectors are all tight, I made darn sure of it - they are very hard to pull off and a royal pain to put back on.

 

[Diesel JD]

No kidding man, that stuff is no fun to deal with. Were you having them cycle too long or short cycle? If it was short cycling, I think you may have fixed your problem when you took it off and reattached them for the test. It doesn't take much I tell you.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

It was cycling short, like I'd turn the key and the WTS light would come on for like 2 seconds, then it'd go off and the controller on the other side of the firewall would be like tick-tick-tick-tick-tick frantically for another 5-6 seconds or so - I'd wait till all ticking is done then actually start the engine, a tap on the throttle and 2-3 turns of the engine and she would be running. Now tis like it should - WTS light stays longer like it used to, then just a few clicks from the controller, hit the start switch and she fires up on first revolution, tis almost instant, no additional throttle input need either. Like I was saying, it works just like it should, beats me what's up with it, but hey, it works so I ain't complaining

 

[datkinsonsr]

if u cant find any, i have several extra sets i bought when they were $3 from online i could part with 8 of them for $5 a piece plus shipping. but i wont be able to send em till monday.

Thanks for the offer. The local IH dealer is very good to work with down here. His prices are very reasonable for what I have needed in the past.

 

[RLDSL]

Got to thinking about it, list price is higher than that. I get one hell of a discount because of the volume of parts we buy from them through the bodyshop. That's probably why they were only $11.

That sounds more like it. Heck if I could really get them for $11 each, I could jump in the truck and drive up to that dealer and back and even after fuel , still get away cheaper than buying a set at the local dealer , these folks charge list plus ( as do most of the various dealerships around here, it's not just them )
Thankfully I grabbed a set from AZ online as they were closing out and had them on the shelf so the fresh engine got a fresh set of plugs cheap