A few days ago my truck started a slight miss at 1200 rpm cold. No smoke. I checked it out and found on the drivers side that one of the connectors for the plug had a burn in it. See the next to last female plug on the drivers side harness plug. I am thinking it's a glow plug circuit, but I have never had a valve cover off of a PSD to know what it looks like, so I am guessing here.


Ok so I call up Bill Pierre Ford and order a wiring harness for under the valve cover and also they said that they have repair kits for the burned external plug.
Well they sent me this:


Notice that the plug in the picture above is ALSO female. This is supposed to be the replacement harness. The harness in the engine has male spades in them. See below. Sorry about the focus, my camera didn't like the close quarters.


So I gathered everything up and drove out to the dealer where I got the parts and explained the situation to them and they looked it up on the computer. They showed me that there is only one choice for wiring harness's from 98 to 03. I believe them. But I still have all the wrong genders on the replacement harness's. Is this a manufacturing mistake for the new wiring harness's? Or do I have an oddball truck?

 

The valve cover gasket has 2 male plugs. You need a new VC gasket from what I can see, not a replacement UVC harness, although, it wouldn't be bad to have one on hand when you yank the VC off just in case.

 

Ditto what 82F100SWB said. The wiring harness for the glow plugs has a male connector, and the valve cover gasket has a female on both sides. One side is under the valve cover, and connects to the internal wiring harness, and the other is outside the valve cover, and connects to the main injector wiring harness that runs across the top of your engine. If the fault lies in that piece, brace yourself when you price a replacement. It's several hundred dollars.
If you need to replace one of the terminals on that beast, it can be done independently, without going to the expense of replacing the whole thing. I've done it before, and though it's a bit of a hassle, it's a lot cheaper than replacing the whole thing. Since you're local, I could even tell you where to buy the stuff you need to do it yourself, assuming that's what you need.
My cell number is 253-315-1222. Call me if you need part numbers, or whatever.
Scott.

 

I purchaced two new valve cover gaskets, two new wiring harness's, and two "repair kits" for the plugs. I didn't even pull the gaskets out of the box to see but I am going down to work today and do that. I didn't even think about the inside plug for the gasket.
Yes Quadzilla I do need to replace one of the connectors for (I think) #6 glow plug power wire. Thank you for the offer to help. I will call you sometime in the next couple of days and talk about part numbers and techniques on extracting that conductor out of the plug. I think I can reuse the housing but the connector inside is all discolored and deformed from too much heat. Also the terminal in the valve cover is blue at the base from the beating that it took. I am thinking the inner harness is fried and that's where the heat came from in the first place.
Dan @ Louis Foreign Car Repair.

 

Kwikk;

Need some wrenchin' help on this project?

 

That's very generous of you Craze. I could easily get this job done myself, I own and operate a small VW and Audi only repair shop north of the University District in Seattle. Shouldn't take more than two or three hours is my guess for both sides. Stop by and see me sometime. Info in my public profile.

 

I was kinda thinking that I could use some experience from a seasoned mechanic like yourself - not so much on the generous part .

 

Well that's fine, stop by and say hello sometime.

 

Am I correct in saying that the valve cover gasket has a built in electrical connector to connect the internal and external harnesses together?

 

Yes, I checked them while at work today and there is a passthrough type connection for joining the internal and external harness's together.

 

Be glad it's the drivers side... The pass. side valve cover is a total PITA to remove, 2 of the bottom bolts, I only had room to get in my 1/4 drive rachet and a shortwall socket from the wheelwell... And, the nut that holds the dipstick bracket was seized on it's stud... still haven't figured what to do with that.

 

I am doing both sides regardless of the condition of the right side. I can see that it is tight in there.
Interstate battery sells a penetrating oil that works better than anything that I have ever tried, and I have tried many. WD-40, Liquid Wrench, etc. What Interstate sells is called: Free-all. Once you have tried it you will use nothing else. I buy it by the case for the shop. I don't know if they sell in Canada but you could try and call them. 1-800-CRANKIT.
No I do not work for them. I am one of thier customers.

 

I've used it before, but, I won't be able to get it until I can get to the city, and, I need to get that PSD apart so I can figure out what's wrong with it... A bit more time fooling with it is alot more effective than putting 100 miles on the 'ol 460.
I'd just break out the heat, but, I'm a bit leary of that plastic valve cover.

 

Yeah, be careful. If there's room get scrap piece of sheet metal and put it between the valve cover and the torch like a heat shield. That will prevent any errant flames poking holes in the plastic. If you're really paranoid, put some soaking wet rags under the shield. The water will boil off pretty quickly but very little heat will be transferred that way.

 

I got fed up and heated the heck out of it, and, well, I ended up twisting my dipstick tube into a corkscrew... I was VERY suprised, even though that valve cover looked, sounded and seemed to bend like plastic, it's not.
Got in there, and found my UVC harness to be fine, all injectors to be functional, and a ton of condensation(milkshake on the bottom of the valve cover) and surface rust on the rockers...