Glow plugs again. Motorcraft/beru/borg-warner AC Delco??

[tbutt130]

First, I am new to the diesel world with my 90 F250. I have been searching on this subject long enough to thoroughly confuse myself. The general consensus I have found is to use the motorcraft/beru zd9 glow plugs. However, one place I looked has them listed as beru/borg-warner glow plugs. Then, what about the ac-delco 32g ones? Some have mentioned that they are self-regulating and won't burn up. That sounds like a good option, but I don't have enough experience to know if that is the case.

Thoughts??

 

[Diesel JD]

If you can find them you want the ZD9 Motorcraft/Beru plugs. You might find a set on ebay if you're lucky. Second choice would probably be Borg Warners or Delphis. I think someone got theirs from Ryder products online or someplace? Stay away from autolites/champions. I've also heard the Bosch plugs tend to burn up though not usually swell and break like the autolite/champion stuff. Don't let the dealer or somebody charge you $25 each for these plugs, but they are probably worth 15 bucks each or so if you have to.

 

[RLDSL]

The place that had plugs listed as beru/ borg warner turned out to be a bust, Those are borg warner plugs and they have nothing to to with beru and I don't recall them lasting very long.
Stick with the collective wisdom and keep looking till you find the beru plugs

 

[tbutt130]

Are motorcraft the same as beru? After a little poking around on the net, apparently borg-warner bought beru. So...are the borg-warner plugs the same as the beru?

 

[Diesel JD]

If I recall, one person had one or two of the BW plugs die right away and then however Tractorman 86 still has his.

 

[Andylad13]

2 of my borg warner "beru" plugs died within the first few days of installation. I replaced the 2 crap ones with 2 old ones that i had and havnt had any issues with the other 6. But if i do ill be sure to post. I would go with motorcraft ones definatley. They are only 2 bucks more per plug than the borg warners and your basically guaranteed to get good ones. I felt like experimenting with the warners, could have been worse, because they didnt swell, but im not buying them again.

 

[Mullis23]

i just got some motorcraft zd9 glowplugs last week from dieselfiltersonline.com you could try there they were 9.99 a piece if i recall

 

[Diesel JD]

For $9.99 each the berus are worth every penny. I may think differently if they were 19.99 each. I can't say anything bad about berus, although some have had scary experiences with them, that seems to be rare. My advice is always berus if you can and something other than Johnson Controls(champ/autolite) if you can't.

 

[tbutt130]

Just ordered the zd9's from dieselfiltersonline.com. Thanks for the info. And the controller and return line kit from adiesel.com. Hopefully this will solve my issues.

 

[Diesel JD]

I think it will, the new controller probably wasn't necessary but hey now you have it... its good insurance. Make real sure all your connections are very tight and that you have a good ground.

 

[tbutt130]

Well my only concern was that the controller stuck on and that was what burned up the plugs. It had been starting relatively consistently until my voltage problem "fixed" itself. I had low voltage for a couple of engine starts accompanied by a smell of electrical burning. I never left it running long because of the smell. When the voltage problem resolved itself, I could hardly get it started and couldn't in the mornings. My fear was that the controller was the problem. I had gotten it off of a "yard" truck that had been sitting for several years and after this deal, I didn't want to burn up $100 of plugs. I was tempted to just run a push button switch.

 

[Diesel JD]

Sounds like something with the controller was amiss so you probably did the right thing. Good luck with it all.

 

[Andylad13]

I had a low voltage light come on about a year ago and it turned out to be the plug on top of the alternator wasn't pushed down all the way IIRC.

 

[tbutt130]

wow, what a difference. Changed the plugs out for beru's and a new controller. Starts at the first hit of the key and doesn't run rough for the first minute anymore.
Thanks again to all for the responses.

 

[rocketattack]

Dieselfiltersonline list the ZD9 but they state they are for non-turbo 7.3. They also list the Ford P/N F2TZ12A342A. Is this still the same part for a 7.3 factory Turbo?