Little relay help please

[seawalkersee]

I am trying to wire in the 6.9 to my bronco. Thus far, the only real info I can find is later year wiring diagrams. I have most of the wiring but it was butchered by a deer from the doner truck. I would like to see a pic of the after glow relay, the wait lamp/latching relay, and the glow plug control unit. I THINK I know which is which.

I have two relays that looked like they hooked to the fender and are heavy duty (like a starter relay) and a smaller (than those) that has a metal top. I am pretty sure the one that is not the main power relay is my after glow relay and the smaller one with four plugs (white with a metal silver top and square) is my wait to start relay. As far as the glow plug controller, the ones I can find pix of is a square piece on the rear of the engine. I have a round plug that is about twice the size of my thumb. Is that the correct one?

Next, Is plug #3 on the after glow relay supposed to get a constant 12v from the alt while running?

I have looked at the moostang photo album and have cut a ton of the crap out of the harness from just tbe junk scotch locked to the harness and the old alt stuff (swapping to a 3g). I just want it to go smoothly and could use a bit of a boost...per say.

One more thing special for Mel, my engine is touching the body at the rear on the drivers side. I hav 3" of body lift on it. Do/did you have the same problem?

Chris

 

[Agnem]

Chris,
We had pretty well documented here that anything more than 2" of body lift will hit the engine. Sorry if you got surprised by that, but we would have told you if you asked. Saw 1" off your lift blocks and you'll be OK. As for the afterglow relay, this is built into the 6.9 controller. If you're even considering using the 6.9 controller - don't. All you need for glow plugs on your Bronco, is the fender relay (which is basically a starter solenoid). just run the wires from the glow plugs to the relay, and control the relay with a wire run to a momentary switch in the cab that will feed 12 volts to it. The early style schematics are all in my Moosestang album (link below).

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

my engine is touching the body at the rear on the drivers side. I hav 3" of body lift on it. Do/did you have the same problem?

Chris

I don't know what year your Bronco is; but, when I installed a 3-inch body-lift in my 1985 F-350, that part of the old 6.9 engine came into HARD contact with the fire-wall; I know it doesn't make sense, nor seem possible.

When I cut the risers down to 2-inch, the contact problem went away.

The point of contact is in such a place that it is nearly impossible to move the metal away from the engine, unless the engine is out of the truck, giving room to lay into it with a big hammer.

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Seawalker, if you really wanna overbuild the glowplug system you can use a glopwlug relay from a '78 Olds 88 with the 350 diesel engine, those have slow-glow plugs that require continuous power supplied to them and the relay is built to handle that and the heat generated in the process - if you compare it to a stock Ford relay, the GM unit is just massive.

However, for sake of ease of operation, why don't you upgraded to the solid-state controller used in the 7.3 trucks? You only need power from the battery, a key-on trigger, and a ground, and you won't have to mess with counting seconds at startup.

And if you feel industrious you can have the best of both, a solid-state controller with a manual pushbutton override switch for those situations where a plug goes out on you while you're out in bfe during winter and you can't start your truck due to the controller going into "safe mode".

 

[seawalkersee]

Mel, the problem with your pix, is I can not get them full size on my screen. When I push the full size button, they just go into a smaller size that shows the whole scan on one page. Is the afterglow relay the one on the back of the engine that is itty bitty and half way in the block?

As far as the glow plug timer, does the 7.3 one plug in to my harness or will I have to source some pigtails and wire it myself?

And what does the "wait to start" relay look like? If it is the one that has a "T" shaped plug, I think I am golden.

For the body lift, can I get rid of it and have clearance or do I NEED at least some to clear? I cant imagine that I need it and If I dont, I wil be pitching it, doing a shackle flip in the rear and 4" with the SAS in the front.

Chris

P.S. The bronco is an 84.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

I wouldn't completely ditch the body-lift, maybe cut the risers back to 2-inches, but keep at least some lift.

Without the body-lift, everything about the big diesel is against the fire-wall and floor-board, leaving no room for working on things.


The body-lift on mine made everything else I have done MUCH EASIER.










By the way, I have the same problem with a lot of peoples pictures, they are so small that detail can't be seen, and no way to make them bigger.

 

[seawalkersee]

Okay...here is more things I have found. The after glow relay IS the small relay with a "T" shaped plug...bonus. Now, I have no clue what the "wait lamp latching relay" is. It looks like it grounds the waitlamp until the engine starts, and then diverts power to #6 of the GPC. It gets its power from #1 from the GPC when the engine starts. Not THAT big of a problem, except I have no clue how strong of a relay I need for this.

Chris

 

[LCAM-01XA]

Seawalker, there's a good reason why we try to persuade you to go either with the manual pushbutton, or the 7.3 solid-state controller - the stock 6.9 controller is very unreliable and is known to fail, and when it fails it likes to do it with the glowplugs engaged, which of course burns them out in less than half a minute. With a pushbutton you are the time, hence why plugs will never burn. The solid-state 7.3 controller does all the clocking and afterglow cycling for ya, and unlike the controller you're trying to revive tis dead-reliable.

As for your question - the 6.9 system has no special "WTS light latching" relay, the wire that powers the WTS light hooks up to the same stud on the main relay (the one behind the battery) that the wires powering the glowplugs are attached to - essintially that's three ring-terminals on top of one another, with a nut clamping them down - whenever the relay engages it powers bot the glowplugs, and the WTS light.

 

[seawalkersee]

Ok. That makes better sence. Like I said, I have not been able to find a good reliable diagram to do this. Also, I was not disputing the 7.3 timer is better than the 6.9, I was simply trying to figure out the wiring. It is basically a birds nest that was wrapped up on top of the engine with some of the relays. The 6.9 controller is still in the block at the rear so I need to get to work on making that transfer.

Chris

 

[seawalkersee]

GP controller for the 6.9.

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GP RELAY for the 6.9.

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Starter relay.

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Latching Relay.

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If it is not the latching relay, what is it?

Chris

 

[seawalkersee]

So I have read up on the GP relay on a different thread and no have a different question. Does the GP relay on the 7.3 also send the signal to the pump? It has two selonoids on it and I have to get something figured out with it. Do both selonoids have power from the switch when it is in the run position or what? How do you shut the engine off (have to know before I put power to it....its called learning from other peoples mistakes).

Chris

 

[Agnem]

Sorry you can't see the picture. I don't know what browser your using, but in I.E., you just click the picture to enlarge it. That particular schematic is really just one of three versions that existed. Obviously Ford felt there were issues with the 6.9 glow plug system, as it took them 4 years to finally settle on one version which arrived on the last 6.9's in 87', and survived unchanged through the 7.3 lifecycle. That stated, the 6.9 system is to be avoided at all costs, as Ford themselves deemed it unacceptable. If your building up a new vehicle, or even just replacing an engine, be it 6.9 or 7.3, adapt the 7.3 glow plug system, or go with a push button.

 

[seawalkersee]

I found the answer I needed. I am going to install the 7.3 GPR onto mine. I do not have any wiring colors in my book so I will have to follow it back to the controller and just jump them across. I can then put the new controller in it and get rid of a lot of the pre existing wiring that is on the "truck" side of the harness.

Chris