New to me 6.9, hello and questions!

OLDBULL8

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Welcome to the OB.
I would suggest that you purchase at any auto parts store this manual, very informative. Haynes Techbook Diesel Engine Repair Manual. about $16

There is some misinformation in the previous posts.
If your glow plugs are the spade type where the wire hooks on then they are not ZD9, they are ZD1 for Motorcraft/Beru, a ZD9 glow plug has a bullet style connection.
The starter relay mounted on the pass fender has nothing to do with the glow plug controller, the battery POS. wires are direct from the battery, they are fusible links, size 12AWG, there is a connector that sometimes will melt due to corroded contacts.
I would suggest you get a timer for the block heater, the heater is 1000 watts, only needs 1-1/2 hrs plugged in to heat the engine.
One other thing not mentioned is the coolant, it's important that the SCA (Suplemental Coolant Additive) be kept up, Not knowing what you have , it would be a good idea to change it, a good coolant is FleetGard with the SCA in it, good for 100,000 miles, 4 Gal's of concentrate and 4 Gal's of steam distilled water. Available from NAPA or IH truck dealer.

1st pic----GP controller
2nd pic---GP Relay
3rd pic ---Heater core I believe this is the one you have. PM me if needed, I have three of them new.
4th pic----GP relay
5th pic--- GP relay, but is a 200 Amp Stancore White Rogers 802-586-902 from Mouser Electronics. This will last forever. $52
 

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dgr

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Old bull,
Isn't that first pic for a solid state system? My 86 doesn't have the resistor z strip on it since it doesn't have anyway to compare voltages. My gp relay loos exactly like a starter solenoid. The only other part is the controller screwed into the head.

Thank you for the mouser part number. Might come in handy if mine dies again
 

91idi

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I converted my 6.9 to 7.3 glow plugs and wired it so the wait to start light works. If you enjoy wiring I will let you know how to.do it.
 

warhog

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Alright guys I haven't had a chance to read through the replies just yet. but i compared a diagram someone posted in another thread to my truck...even just following the wires things don't seem right at all. i attached a silly drawing (the best i can do sorry) of what i'm looking at and where the wires go. i'm partially color blind so i'm not sure if the pink is pink or if the pink is purple. it appears purple, and can only fit on the "S" or "I" type smaller connector spots. I don't see a pink that could control my "wait to start light", though there is a black wire running off the same connector as the big orange ones for my glow plugs. have a look if you don't mind. THANKS!

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edit: i connected the purple wire last night to the spot marked in some of the pictures in that thread, and all day my truck would not shut off per the ignition. Related? I'm going to get a book like was suggested so I can figure out what everything does. I'll post pictures later, some of yall might recognize the truck and can lead me to his threads and see what else might be botched cookoo So far I've ripped out his wiring for the manual switch (which went from the connector, to a button..to a ground. No need for fuses here!) so that's out of my way. He also has a blue wire coming off of the thing next to the solenoid/relay going to a horn...No idea where that's supposed to go yet but i know it's not for the horn LOL I've found a good 4 or 5 wires cut in the driver's kick panel, so this could turn into me re wiring this whole truck. My weekend project will be tearing out his hack of wiring for trailer brakes.
 
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dgr

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According to your diagram, you have battery positive being fed to the GP relay I terminal at all times. That doesn't make sense.

You should have positive battery to one large lug. This is from the battery to the GP relay. On the same lug you should have a thick wire to the starter relay (the one on the side of the fender well).
You should have a purple wire that connects to the S terminal on the GP relay.
You should have a ground wire that connects to the I terminal on the GP relay.
You should have two large orange wires and a smaller wire to the last large lug.

The purple wire is the wire that sends the signal from the GP controller to the GP relay.
The orange wires are the ones to the GPs to provide current to heat them.
The other wire that is connected with the orange wires is the wait to start light wire. If you disconnect it and provide it with 12V +, it should light the WTS light in the cab.

Those are the only wires you should have hooked up for your GP system. If someone added some more to the battery side, they are just power taps for something else. You should definitely not have a hot wire from the starter relay to the S terminal on your GP relay.

Once you have your wires sorted out, there were step by step instructions for testing earlier in the thread.

Here is the Ford wiring diagram for the GP controller. There are a total of 7 wires hooked up.
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idi_econoline

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Back to the block-heater-on-a-timer issue for a second:

Since I have yet to use mine, how long does it take to heat up? If I set it on a a timer, how far ahead should I expect it to run?

Thx in advance......
 

Hydro-idi

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Back to the block-heater-on-a-timer issue for a second:

Since I have yet to use mine, how long does it take to heat up? If I set it on a a timer, how far ahead should I expect it to run?

Thx in advance......

Hey Rich with our fairly warm winter temps compared to those who live back east, you can plug it in for an hour or two and engine will be nice and toasty for start up. When I get a chance to plug it in during the winter, I run it for 2 hours. It just allows easier starting and less internal engine wear when the engine is already warm. Your heater will also work alot nicer too.
 

warhog

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Thanks for the input everyone! I think I have the wires straightened out now, still no wait to start even with a temporary switch hooked up. But i'm assuming the plugs are toast by now anyways. I will probably run through the rest of the wiring in the truck this weekend, get it all straightend out as best as possible, and then replace the whole system. Appreciate everyone's help up to this point!
 

warhog

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Do any of you know what the part circled in red is? There is a wire coming from it (the blue wire) going to a horn...It's right next to the GP solenoid.



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I'm done messing with the GP circuit til the weekend. there is something seriously going wrong with that wiring. If I push too hard, or bump the bunch of wires there, it kills the whole truck. No lights, no nothing. So i'm going to leave it be until I can be very detail orientated to straightening it out. but this blue wire going to a horn is making me curious.
 

dgr

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And a vacuum line? Vacuum failure switch. Tells you your brakes are about to suck. Should be wired to brake light in dash
 

warhog

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So it's safe to assume the blue wire going to a car horn was spliced in by the previous owner and should be safe to remove? Unless he was hoping instead of a light on the dash, that it would just blow a horn GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY LOL
 

dgr

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Probably didn't like his wife. I think that would blow the horn until the vacuum got to a certain level :dunno
 

Dieselcrawler

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Glad you found this place. We will get you straightened out. And I didn't mean to be a **** on pirate, it just come with the nature of the site lol
 

dgr

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Glad you found this place. We will get you straightened out. And I didn't mean to be a **** on pirate, it just come with the nature of the site lol
Good old pirate. I hope that wasn't warhogs first foray into looking for answers. Kind of a rough crowd
 

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