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hi, if you have any problems starting any type of diesel engine then this is a very good indication that one or more of the glow plugs need replacing, to get you home you can try turning the ignition on and then wait for the glow plug light to go off then instead of trying to start the engine turn it off then back on again, doing this usually gets it started just to get you home but this wont allways work.
Its best you replace glow plugs sooner rather than later as it could leave you stuck without a vehicle.
To change the glow plugs follow these quick instructions.
1. Look where the injectors go into the cylinder head then just under these you will see a smaller plug that will have a fixed wire this wire will be running from glow plug to glow plug this wire is held onto the glow plug by an 8m nut undo this nut on top of all the glow plugs, once undone you will notice that one of the glow plugs has two wires the other wire is the wire that carries the power to all the glow plugs so just remember witch glow plug this goes to.
2. now once you have removed the connecting power wire remember witch way it runs so as to get it back on the right way round it doesnt matter to much but might be a bit tight if you put it on the wrong way round.
3. Now how to undo and remove the glow plugs: To remove you will need a deep 10m socket place this over the top of the glow plug push down to ensure tight fit then undo this glow plug will then pull out (make sure their is no muck around the glow plug that can fall inside the cylinder so just check)
once you have it out its best you replace all the glow plugs as once one goes you will find that the others wont be to far behind.
4. Fitting new glow plugs. When your fitting the new glow plugs put them into their hole and gently screw in by hand to make sure you dont cross thread the thread as this can be a nightmare to put right. tighten the glow plugs in as much as you can by hand then nip them up using 10m socket and extension bar now dont over tighten them as this will damage the thread just tighten up till just after they stop then you should find they are ok.
Refit the wire loom on top of all the glow plugs remembering to fit the main power wire to the first plug make sure you tighten the nuts up properly on top holding the wire in place.
Once you have done this you are now ready to start your vehicle you should now find it starts with no problems.
If you still have problems starting you need to now start looking at things like the diesel filter or even the diesel pump, ill explain about these in my next post ok
If you need to check glow plugs on a Ford or Chevy Diesel engine, run a hot wire from your battery. un plug the glow plug wire and strike the hot wire to the end of the glow plug. If you get a spark the glow plug is good. you should do this to each one, but one at a time then replace the glow plug wire as you go.
Are the glow plugs single or dual wire if they are twin or dual wire one wire is positive and one is negative. I will base this on twin wire
I hope it is a negative earth system as I won't bother with positive earth instructions at this stage.
Get a multi-meter that has alligator clips on the cables attach black to a good ground then with the solenoid power wire removed on the starter (so it wont crank) get someone to hold the ignition switch in the on position, then test each pair of wires one will show voltage this is the positive one (mark each positive wire) now release the starter switch and change the multi-meter to ohms test the wires that did not show as active they should show good low resistance (hopefully 0) connection. now you can reinstall the glow plugs making sure positive on the glow plugs is paired with active positive wires that were marked then attach ground wires to the glow plugs.
Reattach the solenoid power wire and try starting it
Yes. I'll try to explain this. The glow plugs work by electric resistance. When they are clean and new, they work very well as there is no crud or coating on each part. The material composing each glow plug deteriorates over time something like a sparkplug.
The amount of time it takes to heat up increases as the glow plugs fail. This puts a strain on the wiring feeding the glow plug circuit.
You can test each individual glow plug using auto jumper cables and securing one end to the base and the other is briefly shorted to the top of the glow plug using battery voltage
Be careful-they melt. As you will see, some stay dark(bad) and some glow brightly(good). Or you can just put in all new glow plugs and be done with it.
not always the golw plugs can be bad and the engine can be low on compression. does it start alot better if you add a gallon of kerosene to 5 gals of desiel? Or a quaart of gas? the glow plugs can be checked with a test light the connectrs are in plain veiw and the wires going to them are big. Follow the wires back to the relay they go straight there, the relay is real close to the battery as it draws alot of power follow the big wire on the battery that doesn't go to the starter and thats the glow plug relay. they last good but the connections get dirty, reconnect all the connectors on itand see with the key on if the glow plug light comes on on the dash that wire that lights the light is the same wire that lights the light fires the glow plugs. You can take the wire off the glow plug( you need to do it anyway it's a yearly service anyway and with a test light connected to power touch the disconnected glow plug with the lights probe and the light should light, not all of them are likly to be bad but if you find two or more just change them all as the ones that aren't out are likly to fail anytime and if you want to drive though the winter you need all the help you can gt. the battery cables and the one going to the glow plug relay are likly to fail at the battery so go over this good It might start fine with just two glow plugs working I'd pick the two center cyclinders or the two outboard ones as once the engine starts it'll keep running long enough to start the other ones. low voltage as your cranking can effect the glow plugs but the relay is suposed to turn the glow plugs off at cranking and time out after they've been on long enough. dirty connections are almost always the problem so clean everthing before you replace anything. Needs cleaned before yu put on new parts anyway and the glow plugs need to be taken out with the right tool or you may end up with a broken off glow plug in your cyclinder head.
The diagram is simple each glow plug is connected in a series circuit like this -0-0-0-0-0-0-0 that's a in-line 6 for a V-8 it would look like this
[-0-0-0-0
[-0-0-0-0
and the plugs would be hooked up on the back then if you follow the wire to the glow plug relay you will find that the relay has four wires one to battery one to the glow plugs one to the ignition switch and one to ground in the box. If you want you can purchase a manual for 5.99 on-line. and it covers the three fuse-able links for this system and the new Glow plugs available for this truck here is the web page. http://www.wiring-diagram.com/?gclid=CMuAvJ3Ql58CFQZfagod0jpAxQ
this is a common problem for these cars glow plugs go bad like spark plugs however the smoke would lead to bad mass airflow meter. it is not telling ecu corrcet miss. disconnect mass airflow meter. when cold see if this makes it start better. it should would means you need new m.a.f. glow plug issue take a test light place clamp on positive of battery then pull off glow plug connectors place tip of test light on glow plug the bad one will have a dull light unlike the good one which will be brighter. will need new plugs and wire harness four **** connectors and wire striper and crimper will fix concern good luck
If you are sure the glow plug relay and timer, which looks like a starter relay sitting on the intake manifold, are good. The glow plugs are located under the rocker arm covers between each injector. I would recommend purchasing new rocker cover gaskets, which incorporate the wiring harnesses for both glow plugs and injectors. They can be reused, but they will generally start to leak oil before long. The injectors are pretty easy to identify, they're the big square things with the electrical plug. the glow plugs have a single wire running to them. if I can recall they require a 10mm hex. hope this helps.
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