Brand new glow plugs, still no start

[Minuteman96]

Tuesday’s off to a bad start.

Ive been running on a few bad glow plugs for awhile now but after a no start yesterday morning and an increase in relay clicking, I was pretty confident that they all finally took a dump.

Last night went to orielly and picked 8 ZD-9s and went home and switched them out, wasn’t surprised to find the kid who owned the truck before me put autolites in there and I luckily was pulling them before they were too messed up and couldn’t get them out.

Got all the glow plugs in there, and turn on the truck; clicking gone. Then she starts right up like never before. Throw on the intake filter housing and walk away pleased.

Wake up this morning, come out to the truck, turn it on, and there’s the clicking again, and again a no start. Infuriating cuz I’ve been fighting tons of stuff on this truck. Can anyone tell me what’s happening?

 

[Austin86250]

I'm no expert but I'd start by checking for 12 volts at the glow plugs

 

[Reggie f250]

Check the connectors on the glow plugs. If they don't fit on tight they may not work.

 

[Cubey]

Last night went to orielly and picked 8 ZD-9s and went home and switched them out, wasn’t surprised to find the kid who owned the truck before me put autolites in there and I luckily was pulling them before they were too messed up and couldn’t get them out.

My F250 had Autolites when I got it and half were burned out after several months of owning it. They all came out fine, I just took my time, and I think sprayed WD40 or something as I slowly threaded them out to help get some lubrication down in the hole. They had carbon build up was all which gave them some resistance when removing them.

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[tradergem]

If all the glow plug wire connectors are good then check for voltage at each glow plug. If the voltage is good then try bypassing the glow plug controller with a manual switch and see if the truck starts properly or not. If it starts then you know the glow plug controller is bad. See https://www.oilburners.net/threads/“partial”-glow-plug-controller-bypass.89293/

 

[Mishka]

I've read a bad glow plug relay can ruin plugs as well as a bad glow plug harness not getting enough of a connection onto them.
If we're you I'd get a new motorcraft glow relay and classic diesel designs glow plug harness

 

[Norark]

I had the same problem. Replaced the 8 swollen Autolite plugs the with Motorcraft gp‘s and it still wouldn’t start. I then replaced the GP relay and it fired right up. If your relay is good, then like others have said it might be your GP harness.

 

[Minuteman96]

I’ll check them all. Already seriously looking at getting the CDD harness.

I bought a test light last night while at orielly and couldn’t get it to light up on both good and bad glow plugs. I did have the end of the light hooked up to a positive terminal. Was i doing something wrong with that? And to check the harness plugs, do I just stick the end of the receiver on the test light into the plug of the harness?

Also, how do I test my relay?

Thank you all for the information and help. It’s real appreciated.

 

[u2slow]

Almost every glow-plugged diesel I' ve owned got changed over to manual switch and relay (usually a cheap Ford starter solenoid).

 

[Minuteman96]

Okay so I’ve discovered that I don’t have the issue if my intake filter housing is not on the truck, the moment I put it on and tighten it down, it clicks. If I don’t tighten it down all the way, it won’t click. This makes no sense. There’s no contact happening between the relay and the filter housing, but my relay isn’t mounted to the motor as I see in some peoples trucks. Mines just sitting in the back chilling with nothing securing it down. What am I not getting?

 

[Cubey]

The

Okay so I’ve discovered that I don’t have the issue if my intake filter housing is not on the truck, the moment I put it on and tighten it down, it clicks. If I don’t tighten it down all the way, it won’t click. This makes no sense. There’s no contact happening between the relay and the filter housing, but my relay isn’t mounted to the motor as I see in some peoples trucks. Mines just sitting in the back chilling with nothing securing it down. What am I not getting?

The relay on it can go bad and needs to be tapped or otherwise disturbed to make it function. It might just be a coincidence that it works as soon as you disturb it again. The one on my F250 was going bad and had to be hit with the plastic handle of a screwdriver to make it function.

You can replace just the relay on top of the controller.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/standard-ignition/ignition---tune-up/glow-plug-relay/8ee77130b7de/standard-ignition-200-amp-4-terminal-diesel-glow-plug-relay/std0/ry175/v/a/5161/automotive-van-1985-ford-e-350-econoline?q=glow+plug+relay&pos=0

This is where it should be mounted:

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[Minuteman96]

The

The relay on it can go bad and needs to be tapped or otherwise disturbed to make it function. It might just be a coincidence that it works as soon as you disturb it again. The one on my F250 was going bad and had to be hit with the plastic handle of a screwdriver to make it function.

You can replace just the relay on top of the controller.

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/standard-ignition/ignition---tune-up/glow-plug-relay/8ee77130b7de/standard-ignition-200-amp-4-terminal-diesel-glow-plug-relay/std0/ry175/v/a/5161/automotive-van-1985-ford-e-350-econoline?q=glow+plug+relay&pos=0

Awesome, thank you. Is it a bad thing that it isn’t secured to the motor? I’ve looked back there and there’s nowhere to mount the controller. I’m not too crazy about the idea of it just floating around.

 

[YJMike92]

Okay so I’ve discovered that I don’t have the issue if my intake filter housing is not on the truck, the moment I put it on and tighten it down, it clicks. If I don’t tighten it down all the way, it won’t click. This makes no sense. There’s no contact happening between the relay and the filter housing, but my relay isn’t mounted to the motor as I see in some peoples trucks. Mines just sitting in the back chilling with nothing securing it down. What am I not getting?

It sounds like the air cleaner housing is causing a short or open connection on the controller when it is installed. I would carefully look at what is happening when the cover is put on. On your model year truck the controller should be mounted on the passenger side valve cover.

 

[Cubey]

Awesome, thank you. Is it a bad thing that it isn’t secured to the motor? I’ve looked back there and there’s nowhere to mount the controller. I’m not too crazy about the idea of it just floating around.

It should be able to be mounted. Have a closer look, there should be mounting points for the controller in that area. You don't want those terminals to contact anything metal or sparks will fly and wires will fry. You might notice the plastic wire sheathing running across there in my picture, that's my throttle cable because the plastic coating is cracked up and it's a cheap way to prevent the steel cable inside from contacting the glow plug relay terminals, which can happen on these trucks if you don't keep the cable insulated.

 

[Cubey]

It sounds like the air cleaner housing is causing a short or open connection on the controller when it is installed. I would carefully look at what is happening when the cover is put on. On your model year truck the controller should be mounted on the passenger side valve cover.

Ah, ok nevermind what I said above then about it mounting behind the CDR. If your wires are back there, I wonder if someone replaced the harness with one from an older truck due to a mishap with wires getting fried from something metal contacting the terminals and just left it dangling there. If nothing else, I'd wrap it up with a piece of bicycle inner tube, a roll of cheap electrical tape, or anything thick and insulating that won't fall off, to protect those terminals from coming in contact with something metal.