champion glow plugs :backoff

[Smokey73]

I would like to find the sob at champion, who decided that they should start making glowplugs, and kick him square in the balls, twice. Two months ago, and I know its mostly my fault for doing so , I put a set of champion plugs in Big Russ('90 F250). After drivin it a few times and a few good cold mornings, the glowplugs quit working. I checked them this morning, and they were all bad. Now, I figured something was amiss, and come to find out the gp controller took a dump, all the resin was melted, and that might be what took out the gps. At this point everything was going well, no hard feelings toward anyone, until I tried to pull them out. Three of the eight actually broke off in the head. I used a pair of vise grips and a heel bar to get the rest out. I thought that maby, just maby the tips were small enough to not cause any further problems, I was wrong. I've never heard an engine knock like that and keep all the rods inside. I spent all day pulling the head and picking pieces of glow plugs out of the pistons.

 

[HammerDown]

Hmmm, I ran Champ GP's for some +12 years...every now and then one would burn out but NEVER had a swelled tip.
When I switched to Beru's I noticed right away they were a little thicker. >Heaven help me if one of those swell !

 

[david85]

It really depends on how they fail. If they are given just a slight amount of extra heat over time, eventually they will just stop working without any distortion. If they are burned out all at once, distortion is all but guaranteed. I ran wellman 080s, and they did exactly the same thing.

Berus on the other hand.......

I once burned out a set of 8 in one cold start because the controller failed in the on position. They all came out no questions asked.

The difference is the berus heat up more slowly but the tip material is also seems to be different. For some reason when they start to distort, they basically just rupture at small pinholes at the tip releasing the pressure so the rest of the tip remains more or less solid. The other plugs will swell up either until they rupture, or the tip breaks off completely. Even if it doesn't break of right away, it mostlikely will when you attempt to remove it.

I've heard that bosch and autolite make a nice self regulating dual coil glow plug that can practically be left on indefinitely without damage but I can't find them locally and they will not work with a stock controller. Heat up time is also longer.

 

[VanBoy]

Dual coil, self regulating..... sounds like a major refit, especially the controller. I wonder what they use those on....

 

[RLDSL]

I've heard that bosch and autolite make a nice self regulating dual coil glow plug that can practically be left on indefinitely without damage but I can't find them locally and they will not work with a stock controller. Heat up time is also longer.

I think these are the only engines left on the planet that Bosch has not designed one of their new Duraterm glowplugs for( their new self regulating types that are designed for a long afterburn and can basically be left on forever, that they've had for most other diesels for a few years now) for some reason these engines get the only **** of a glow plug that they make

 

[david85]

I think the military version chevy 6.2/6.5s used some sort of dual coil as did the old 5.7L diesel. Supposedly those have the right thread pitch and connector. These could work for the 1983-1986 trucks that have the tang connector on the glow plugs. As for the bullet connector on the 1987 and up glow plugs, I have no idea but at least the later diesels had a better controller and when used with OEM glow plugs are quite reliable.

The controller is an SOL situation though. Manual switch is the only option if you are able to get a true dual coil unless you know how to trick the controller to stay on longer. Yes, Duratherm is what I was referring to for bosch. I believe the Autolite equivalent is P/N 0111 (not sure though).

 

[Smokey73]

SSDiesel Supply (specializes in chevys) has a dual coil plug that they say gets hotter quicker and stays hotter longer. They've got them on EBay for the 6.9/7.3's. I couldn't find those on their website, but they had 'em for the 6.5 and such. Aside form the connectors, would they interchange?
http://www.ssdieselsupply.com/product_8_6.5_InstantHeat_Glow_Plugs.html

 

[david85]

Hook one up to a fully charged battery and see now long it lasts. Then consider using it in your engine. I recognise the pictures and sales pitch from the wellman website. As far as I know, they are american made, but the ones I had were ****. I ran the single coils for a while until they were burned out and the tips dropped in the engine. One piston was damaged enough to warrant a rebuild.

Also tried the dual coil glow plug on a bench test. It was dead after 23 seconds and swelled to about 5/16". I still have that glow plug somewhere. If I ever find it, I'll post a picture.

Always test a new type or brand glow plug before installing it in your truck. One extra glow plug is cheaper than an engine rebuild, and your test is worth more than a flag waving sales pitch.

 

[Smokey73]

I think I'll try that. I'm gonna see if I can't get just one and see how well they really work

 

[howards@howard]

Glow plugs

I put in Accurate Diesel duel coil plugs in my 7.3 IDI 1989 I burned out 5 in the first day. I have not heard anything positive in the last week about them. I also put 8 in my 6.9 after I pulled the swollen Champions out. I am glad I spent all that money

If I here much more negative about these supposed new better duel coil plugs I am going to ask that they go on the wall of shame