Glow plugs not getting power

[EMD_DRIVER]

My truck has been hard to start since I bought it. The only way to get it running is to plug it in, or give it just a whiff of ether. I know ether is BAD, but I need the truck to get to work.

I replaced the glow plug relay, when the old one fell apart. I was in the process of changing the oil pressure sending unit at the time. Since it was a new relay, I assumed that it worked and that there were one or more GP's that were bad.

I decided to check, to see how many GP's were actually bad today. All of them tested fine using a test light, so I ohm'd them out too (Just to be sure) All of them ohm'd out just fine too!

I found a post that says you can ground the terminal on the relay, with the white wire on it and it will cause the relay to engage. My truck is an 87, with the solid state controller. When I tried grounding the terminal, nothing happened.

I know I have power to the two 10ga yellow wires and power to the terminal with the red wires on it. There's just no clicking in the relay and no power to the GP's

Any other ideas?

Gary

 

[Mr_Roboto]

To close the relay you must get ground (the white wire) and hot which is the other small wire. This power comes from the same circuit as the FSS solenoid.

Check to make sure you are getting power at the other small wire (drivers side).

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

I have power to the other small post, on top of the relay. It has two red wires going to it. I jumped a ground wire from the negative battery terminal, to the terminal that has the white wire going to it... No joy..

Gary

 

[Agnem]

Gary, sounds like you may have a bad relay if you can't get it to engage at all. Maybe that's the real issue. If true, then at least that makes getting away with either a little easier.

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

I bought a new relay today at NAPA. I'm waiting for the motor to cool down, before attempting to replace it. No matter what I tried yesterday, I could get no power to the GP's. I plan to test the new relay, before I install it. Something I should have done with the other new one..

Hind sight is 20/20!
Gary

 

[EMD_DRIVER]

Got the relay tested and it clicked as it was supposed to.

I replaced it in about 10 minutes. Turned the key.... So far, so good!

I tested the other "New" one and got nothing out of it at all! I'll try it out in the morning and see what happens.

Thanks for the help!
Gary