Just did manual gp mod.

[Cincinnati Guy]

On my 94. Does the ten second glow also apply to the solid state system also? I was wondering since it still goes through the gp controller. I'm thinking its just like when it was auto and it has a slow glow then clicks on and off for the after glow. Am I save to push.until it starts the afterglow cycle or are the gp's getting full voltage?

 

[rhkcommander]

What?
You only need 5-12 seconds, no after glow needed. For Bosch 5 seconds seems perfect. Beru I do up to 12.

 

[TWeatherford]

I don't think you will have any afterglow cycle, ever. I never have on mine anyway. With the switch YOU now tell it when to be on. Afterglow isn't necessary anyway.

In summer temps I never go over 6 seconds and she fires right up. Saves wear and tear on the gps. In the colder weather I do up to 16 seconds max. 16 is reserved for below zero, usually 10-12 for below freezing though. Its a balance between saving glowplugs and saving your starter.

 

[Kevin 007]

I have a fill manual mod that bypasses the GP controller. At freezing and below, I light up my Berus for 10 seconds, off for 4 or 5 seconds and then hit them for another 5 or 6 seconds and it starts great.

In 70 degree temps that we are getting now I give them one 9 or 10 second shot and thats all.
I Never go over 12 seconds.

I never afterglow no matter how cold it is....makes no difference, just extra wear on the alternator. Even on the coldest days, my 7.3 will idle smooth the instant it fires, no coughing or smoking.

 

[Brianedwardss]

Yep no afterglow. Glow em for 8-12 seconds and fire it up. If it thinks about coughing, just hit the go pedal for a few seconds.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

I unhooked the white wire, taped it off. Ran a 14 gauge wire from the terminal the white wire was on then ran it into the cab to the push button. ran a ground from under the dash to the other side of the push button. I also incorporated my wts by cutting the blue wire and attaching it to where the white wire also use to be.

Ten seconds won't cut it geting it started. Remember the glow plugs in automatic run longer than ten seconds. I think I'm just manually controlling the glow plugs but are still setup like the automatic system.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

The reason why I did the manual conversion is sometimes when things are at a certain temperature it won't allow the glow plugs to come on, but my truck will not start without glowplugs no matter what. Maybe I could rewire to only use the push button when the truck is at that certain temperature and will not kick them on. All I have to do is attach the white wire back right?

 

[Brianedwardss]

I did this to an old 6.2L GMC of mine. I had the ground wire push button switch there for the times that the glow plug controller would be off, but the truck was cold enough that it wouldn't start. I never had any problems because all you're doing is cycling the relay, not jogging the controller internally

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

WIll my wts light still work or will I need to hook it back up the old way?

 

[FordGuy100]

I manually give an afterglow at temps of less then 20* watching the pyro without an afterglow it takes 5-10 seconds to even register a temperature, and with an afterglow it gets the idle temps higher faster. This ought to be better for the motor.

 

[Flagship]

For what it's worth, I was also confused about the length of time the WTS light was on and the clicking afterward.

Then, I replaced ALL the glow plugs with new BERUs. Now, I turn on the key, the WTS light comes on and stays on longer than it did before. When it goes out, I twist the starter and it fires up like it's been running all day.

This winter, I went out and started it at -21F. It had been sitting for 3 or 4 days with no block heater. I gave it one cycle of the glow plugs. It fired up in about 3 revolutions, smoothed out after about 10 seconds and ran like it should.

I still get absolutely no clicking after the WTS light goes out.

I can't help thinking if your truck isn't starting, there's something wrong and converting to manual it not the answer.

 

[franklin2]

WIll my wts light still work or will I need to hook it back up the old way?

You are over-thinking this whole thing. By changing to manual operation you are not changing the voltage the glowplugs get. They work and get the same voltage they always did, only you are manually controlling how long they stay on.

There is also no set time, each truck will be different, each engine is a little different. My engine is in good shape, and it won't start either without the glowplugs, even in the summer. That's the first start of the day though. After that it will start without the glowplugs unless I only run the engine for about a minute or so. How do i know this? I just experiment with it. That's what you need to do. Hold the button in for 5 seconds and see if it will start. If it does good. If it doesn't, hold it in for 5 seconds more.

If you have some bad glowplugs, it will still start, but it will miss-fire and run rough till those cylinders warm up enough to fire. I had 3 bad glowplugs in my truck one winter, and it still started with the manual button till I was able to replace them. It never would have started with 3 bad glowplugs with the automatic system.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

Thats what I been thinking franklin! It will start after about 15 seconds of holding in the button.