how good are the ZD9 glow plugs for manual button systems??

[SparkandFire]

I had Autolites on my brown truck with pushbutton control... They were all swollen and tough to get out. The previous owner put them in and only would glow for 5 seconds. then wait 5 seconds, then 5 seconds off heat... Still fried them.

The Beru/Motorcraft plugs are the only plugs to use. For all uses.

My '94 has the factory controller, only time I had trouble was when I bought it, had two bad plugs. Changed those two (about two years ago now) and the system has worked great ever since. The newer controller will protect the remaining plugs if one burns out. That is why it short-cycles when one or more plugs are bad. When one plug burns out, the remaining plugs will have a higher voltage applied to them. It's a chain reaction at that point. They will all eventually burn out, with or without a manual pushbutton, since you have no way of knowing if there is one burnt out. The 87-94 controllers are "smart" and they can detect the current draw and load resistance, and they go into a fail-safe mode when one or more plugs burns out.

 

[Black dawg]

What 12 volt glow plugs are good?

the bosch 80034 is a very good plug. You will not get one to burn out. (for manual control only)

 

[LCAM-01XA]

the bosch 80034 is a very good plug. You will not get one to burn out. (for manual control only)

That's a spade-connector plug tho (not like it's a bad thing, but still), do you happen to know the part # for its bullet-style version?

 

[LCAM-01XA]

I hold 'em for the time the seat belt light is lite, witch is 8-10 seconds.

Now that is an excellent idea! Too bad my seatbelt light don't ever come on, wonder what's up w/ that... Out comes the slantnose EVTM, hopefully bricks work in the same manner.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Not if it's the "new" solid-state controller, which his '90 is. The older 6.9 controllers that screw into the block or head or whatever and read coolant, they are temp-sensitive, the newer ones tho have no coolant temp input whatsoever! I got pissed off at mine (solid-state) some time ago and wired in an ice-cube relay between the controller and the big glow plugs relay, when there was power to the high idle and cold advance the ice cube would enable the connection between controller and GPR and plugs would work normally, but if coolant temp was above 112F (or whatever the high-idle/cold-advance cutoff is) the ice cube would break the connection between controller and GPR and plugs would not glow regardless of what controller wanted.

Then one beautiful day the controller decided to hold the GPR on indefinitely - I killed power at 25 seconds, replaced 2 or 3 burned plugs, cut any and all wires connecting controller to GPR (or anything else for that matter), and started using my backup pushbutton switch as the primary means of triggering the GPR. Controller is still there, but only as a mounting location for the GPR and cause it has that neat plastic guard over the GPR.

what would be the cause of the controller glowing the plugs when the engine is warm, ie go to store, come out 5 min later, turn key to WTS position and it runs the plugs for 10-15 seconds? Brand new controller and relay, new ZD-9's. the glow plug wiring harness is in good condition. my truck has always done this. that is why i went to manual control. then switched back when i did the head gaskets. no change what so ever. annoying as hell.

 

[Black dawg]

That's a spade-connector plug tho (not like it's a bad thing, but still), do you happen to know the part # for its bullet-style version?

there is no bullet version of this plug.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

what would be the cause of the controller glowing the plugs when the engine is warm, ie go to store, come out 5 min later, turn key to WTS position and it runs the plugs for 10-15 seconds? Brand new controller and relay, new ZD-9's. the glow plug wiring harness is in good condition. my truck has always done this. that is why i went to manual control. then switched back when i did the head gaskets. no change what so ever. annoying as hell.

And now you know exactly why I went thru the trouble of wiring up that additional ice cube relay - mine did exactly the same thing, drove me nuts, there was absolutely no need for glow cycle whatsoever yet the SOB did it anyways. Why it did it I dunno, but ice cube fixed it good. I actually put the manual push button in there just in case she dropped a plug or two and went into cycling frenzy some morning when I have no time to deal w/ her BS, then when the controller went loonie on me I just assigned the backup switch a fulltime operations task, lol.

In retrospect the ice cube relay itself probably wasn't the best choice due to heat and vibrations it's subjected too, if I were to do it again I'd probably use a junkyard-sourced factory relay from the fast idle and cold advance circuit since it's designed to live in adverse conditions and seems to survive them just fine. Regardless of relay choice, the overall setup performed excellent and did exactly as I wanted it to do.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

there is no bullet version of this plug.

Dangit, not the answer I was looking for, lol. Can proper connectors for the spade plug be had new from somewhere for a reasonable price?

 

[smolkin]

Dangit, not the answer I was looking for, lol. Can proper connectors for the spade plug be had new from somewhere for a reasonable price?

The spade-type connectors are a standard size. Take a plug to your local appliance or electrical supply outfit and ask for the high-temp version of the connector, they should have them for use on stoves/compressors/other things that get hot. I wouldn't trust the light-duty version for this application.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

0.250" wide blade I take it? I seem to recall the GM plugs being slightly different... Regardless, that is a good suggestion you made, didn't think of the electrical outfitters as a possible source.

 

[dgr]

They are blade, not spade connectors. If you order spades, they will be for under a screw

Idk if the GM connector is different but the GM plugs in my 6.9 connect and lock with the factory connectors

 

[ldeikis]

Figured this was as good a spot to show this and ask. A few months ago I replaced 6 of the 8 autolites in the truck (PO put em in). Only did 6 because that's all NAPA had in stock. I put in Bosch, because they didn't have Beru, I was in a hurry, and that's what I've always used in my little diesel VW (about as far from my 6.9 as you can get, but hey). Anyway, I went to replace the last two autolites and of course one broke off. So I went through the whole hassle of pulling the head to retrieve it, and replaced all the Bosch's with Beru because they seem to be regarded as The Best. As far as I'm concerned, the truck can take it's damn time starting if it means I never but NEVER have to pull that head again unnecessarily. Anyway, one of the Bosch plugs looked like this after only a couple months' use:

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I have a manual push button running them and they never see more than 8-10 seconds max. The previous autolite that came out of this hole showed no signs of distortion. Thoughts? I guess I'm wondering if it's likely that the injector is pissy and squirting the GP tip, or if that's even possible in these engines. This is a farm vehicle and funds are really tight around here right now, so I can't afford to start replacing injectors just for fun, but I'd be very sad to have one of those GP tips burn itself off.

Interested to hear what you guys with more experience have to say.

Luke

 

[7.3 man]

I have a decision I'm gonna go with the accurate diesel glow plugs.

 

[Pino2234]

I've been running AC delco 60G's, they are a self regulating 12v plug. I've glowed them for 30+ seconds on occasion when its below zero and have no place to plug the truck in. Pulled a couple out the other day and they all looked like new.

How long have you been running them?

the zd9 will work ok, but they are not a true self regulating plug. (or maybe they just dont do it very good). The 60g is self regulating, but I wont use them as I lost a good 6.2 motor to one loosing the tip. the best that I have found for a true self regulating 12v plug, is the bosch duratherm 80034.

In the stock application, with stock wiring and controller, nothing works as good as the zd9.

Are you still using the Bosch 80034? How long have you used them? Do they work in the cold (-15 F)? The 80034 is the repalcement for many AC plugs: 7G, 12G, 11G

 

[FordGuy100]

7 seconds glow is all I need, down into the 20's (havent seen colder than that in a while). My current Beru glow plugs have been in there for about 5 years now.