Since I got my 94 I've had to crank it at least twice to get it to start. The glow plug light would only stay on for five seconds or less, then start clicking like crazy, and would click a lot after the engine started too.

I ordered a set from Accurate Diesel. These are Wellmans, also known as Diesel Rx, and apparently are the same ones the US military uses in HMMWVs.

This afternoon I pulled my old glow plugs. There were three Berus in each bank ... and one Autolite. Grr...

Fortunately none of them were even slightly swelled. Came out without a hitch. A 3/8 U-joint is a lifesaver for this job.

I put anti-seize on the new plugs and they went in with no problems.

Engine fired right up! What an amazing difference. No smoke now, whereas before I'd get a huge puff of gray smoke. Of course, it was almost 90 outside this afternoon, so I look forward to seeing how it does on a cold morning. Should be able to do that test tomorrow or the next day.

A lesson learned: people aren't kidding when they say to disconnect the batteries' negative posts before doing anything in the engine compartment. I was able to get the air filter housing off with no problem, but when I put it back on, I somehow bridged the terminals on the glow plug controller (behind and below the air filter) and got one hell of a spark. Fortunately, no damage done. Thanks, Ford Engineering -- my day wasn't already exciting enough.

I hypothesized that the six Berus were still good and the two Autolites were bad. After putting them all on my 50-amp engine starter, my hypothesis proved correct. The Autolites pull almost no current and barely get warm. All six Berus take about ten seconds to begin glowing from cold, but they do work.

One of the Autolites was under the cluster of fuel hard lines in the driver's side bank. That plug is somewhat hard to get to (especially if you don't have a U-joint), so I can see why it might not have been replaced. But the other Autolite was in the frontmost hole on the passenger side -- very easy to get to. What gives, previous owner?

... I will report back periodically on how life with the Diesel Rx plugs is going. I know nine out of ten FTE members say you should only use Motorcraft/Berus, so I'm volunteering to be a guinea pig.

 

Woohoo, 40 degrees outside and the truck started within a second of hitting the starter, and no smoke at all. Good deal. With the old plugs I would have had to do two crank cycles (total about ten seconds) and there'd be a lot of smoke.

Tomorrow morning should be colder.

 

I myself bought the same exact Diesel Rx glowplugs as well, from Accurate Diesel, but I also got the glowplug controller set from them, too. I installed them about three weeks ago, and so far they seem to be working.

Glad I'm not the only test subject here

 

Thing is, I don't know if any amount of personal experience is ever going to convince certain people that there might be glow plugs other than Motorcraft/Beru that are worth anything. Oh well. I'm glad I don't sell glow plugs.

 

your not wrong there brother,but best of luck to ya.

off brand glow plug advice

 

Yep, I've read that thread. Glow plugs are second only to oil brand as a subject of religious controversy in diesel forums.

I'm going to keep recommending ACDelco 60G plugs (for 6.9s) and Diesel Rx (for 7.3s) until my personal experience proves otherwise. My recommendation is based upon nothing other than what I've personally seen. I believe it's possible to get bad or swollen glow plugs regardless of brand, if they're left on too long.

 

many people have to live and learn and experience their own failures first hand rather than learn from the experiences of others.
it's as if they feel they have immunity from others failures,no matter how prevalent.also known as the "it cant happen to me" mentality.crossing my fingers for ya friend.

 

I could get offended by that, but I choose not to. I'll simply thank you for your well wishes.

This is more a case of refusing to parrot what everyone else says. I'm performing my own research and anyone else can take it or leave it.

From a scientific perspective, one person's (David85) bad experience with Wellmans / Diesel Rx does not constitute statistically significant findings. I'm sure we could go back and find quite a few variables he didn't control.

By the same token, my experiences aren't really statistically significant either, but I can only report on what I've personally experienced.

The only glow plugs I've consistently seen everyone complain about are Autolites. I certainly haven't seen droves of people urging others to stay away from Wellmans / Diesel Rx.

I'm not all that worried about it, honestly. But I promise if I experience engine failure, I'll let you and everyone else know.

 

It's just anecdotal, but I'll throw in that I've had zero problems with Autolites. When I first bought my '84 the GP system was completly dead. I replaced all the GPs with Autolites and a store brand controller. No problem for about a year, then on the way to work one day the controller turned on the GPs on the freeway. Stayed on all the way to work. Yep, fried them all of course. Replaced all the GPs again with Autolites, none of the dead ones were swelled or broken. But instead of a store brand controller I went to International and got a Navistar replacement. Drove that truck for another 7 years with that Navistar controller and Autolite GPs. System still worked flawless the day I sold it.
Now, that was many years ago, I'm sure it's possible Autolite's quality has gone down, but my past experience with them is a positive one.

FWIW.

 

Indeed! The two Autolites that I pulled yesterday prove that you can have a burned-out Autolite glow plug that is not swollen.

It seems that: with any glow plug brand, it's possible to get bad plugs that swell or burn out prematurely; with any glow plug brand, it's possible to burn them out if you leave them on for too long ("too long" varies among brands and even within a brand and model); and quality comes and goes regardless of brand as well. Even Motorcraft/Berus are reputed to have quality variations between the ones made in Germany and the ones made in Ireland, and this is for the same model...

Glow plugs are simply the bane of our existence. Hasn't anyone anywhere figured out how to set up a grid heater system for Ford diesels? Seems like that's one thing Cummins sure got right.

 

Just changed out my glow plugs. All were a/c's , non were working. Only a bit of carbon build up on a couple but werent hard to get out with a wriggle. I replaced with Rx's, because thats what I can get in Aus. Hadnt started it for 2 months , put a bit of air pressure in the tank because I know i have some air leak problems, cycled the gp's, cranked for 5 seconds and started.

WOOHOO!
will keep you posted

 

i have to agree. i bought mine with autolites in it, and a few of them were burned out, but all of them came out perfectly intact. having read of other failures on here, i counted myself fortunate.
but it seems that statistically, people have the least problems with motorcraft plugs, and the most problems with autolites. this is probably due in part to the fact that every parts store carries autolites, so everyone who doesn't know better will get them.

flainn, may your glow plug research produce nothing worse than the minor inconvenience of having to change plugs that are dead but intact, and by all means let your experience be shared for all to learn from

 

Idk if anyone has figured out how to do the grid heater yet but when I do my rebuild I plan on attempting to do it!

 

Did you get a new controller too? What was your cost on everything?

I'm going the ZD9 route, seems to be a good product from reviews and I can't afford to waste time/money but theres always a risk.

The motorcraft plugs were $21 retail, $12 my cost. I got a complete controller from napa for $125

 

I like this guy's intake heater: