has anyone figured out a way to isolate readings from each G/P without disconnecting input from G/P relay. A zener diode was suggested once. I tried to find one that would handle the ampreage, but no luck. I rewired my G/P's and now have eight 18 ga wires going inside. I am still doing other mods in cab, so have not been able to get readings. If I need to seperate relay wiring from 18ga what do I need? This has been a great topic and looking forward to more input from people with gray cells that still work. I am also following the thread on hydrogen generating.

 

See post 351 on page 24. I used CAT5 network cable and can read each cylinder independantly.
Just dont ground it when the glow plugs are hot. After they cycle it is not a problem.

Scott

 

Hello All,

Just joined the forum so that I could read this post.

Nice to see a fair bit of interest here.

I know crossbones has been experimenting with and promoting this idea for some time and I've not seen many picking up on the idea and heling to take things forward.

I have been slowly experimenting with this technique for a while.

I have a box of relays wired to disconnect the GPs from each other when they are not glowing so that I can record individual readings. Also have a data logger that can record all data as I drive.

see a wiring diagram and read about this at

http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/foru...1071029711/p/3

Best

Darren

 

for a slightly quicker read, use the "find all posts by crossbones2" function found when you click on his user name.

just finished copying posts the second time (first time the power went out 2/3 way through, doh!), now to see if i can distill it a bit. i noticed a couple others mentioning similar efforts but did not find the results.

too cold in the barn to actually mess around with the beast but in a month or so i'll get off my ath and do something. seems like a visit to harborfreight is in order for a cheap hydrolic ram and a thermometer.

for wiring computer networks, i use a little disk shaped device that has a pigtail that plugs into a cat5 jack and then breaks out all the wires into metal tabs you can hook test equipment onto, one wire at a time. i picked this up at graybar but any wiring place should have them. you can get little single port cat5 surface mount boxes w/jacks you could mount in the cab or if you used a patch cable with the ends already on it you could just use a coupler to make the "cab" end female. one thing about patch cables, because they are intended for outside-the-wall use, the better ones are usually made of stranded wire instead of solid conductors. if you're trying to do anything with the conductors (after removing one end and stripping the insulation), i'd think the solid wire would be much easier to work with. solid wire is always run in the walls so worst case you can buy some plain wire by the foot and put your own connectors/jacks on it.

 

i like what pasotx did and he included a pic, post 351

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...&postcount=351

other info from the thread:

For initial readings before driving, connect the positive lead of the multimeter to the glow plug relay on the terminal that feeds the glow plugs, the negative to a good ground on the block. clean both connections to shinny metal.
For driving readings, extend the same connections into the cab with speaker or cat5 wire. Be careful of the polarity on your wires.

Do not use the millivolt scale when power is connected to the glow plug system, use the 20 volt scale.

if you get a negative reading, just reverse the leads of the meter.

Resistance between leads in the cab, truck off should be Zero

 

Hello everyone. I am still interested in this thread. My Pc hard drive has crashed and I am having to use my girl friends Slow PC. So, I do not get online as much for now. I still have not had the time to work with recurving the IP. I see that many people are learning how to use glow plug reading for diagnostics. Once you get the "hang of it", you can do all kinds of test and use them for possible improvements.

keep up the good work,

crossbones

 

Just finished reading an article in the TDR magazine #57 concerning spark plug reading when I also read this:

"The point here is that there is always more to be learned, more ways to recover information from engines that will point to how they can best be improved."

Seemed to point right at the gist and my take of this thread; that it is all about this quote!
Thanks xbones and all who are involved.

 

Ok,
I also want to be able to do this on my Cummins where are the Glow Plugs at?
I just spent all day with a flashlight and my wifes compact out of her purse to really get into the nooks and crannies and I can't even find one. Aren't there supposed to be six. Or maybe even twelve! Since I think mine is one of the REALLY good ones with the "dual plug" technology.


Man this is starting to really p**s me off!!
I pulled the turbo off, they weren't in there.
Of course I had to then pull the injectors out to see if the glow plugs were somehow incorperated into them, you know how crafty those "injunears" can be. It would probably save on assembly time if they were!
I'm gonna pull the head off tomorrow to find the sucker(s) I'm begining to think that there might only be one, that will really be a time saver for me as I will have less wirin' to do.
I did pull the intake off and there was this REALLY HOT screen thing in there, now my hand looks like a waffle.
Actually with my injuries I think I might have to wait on pulling the head off. My hand is starting to hurt like a summbitch again, I took three of my wife's hydracodone, or something like that, from her pregnancy about three kids back right before I started righting writing this.

 

Alright, feelin' a lot better now! Took a handful of them suckers, I hope I feel this good tomorrow 'cause there ain't that many left, wife must'a really been hurtin' as bad as she said 'cause she used mor'n half the bottle. Anyway I stumbleed out to check out the truck "in the middle", THERE WAS THREE OF THEM! Goldern neighbor copies everything I get, but he usually don't park in my driveway.....oh yeah...my Cummins ain't got no carburator or sparkplugs either! Neighbor might'a stol'em for his new trucks!

I don't know what to do now. Even when I get the turbo and injectors back in, it ain't gonna run with out the carb. and spark plugs! How am I gonna get to work?

 

I don'tknow if anyone is stillmonitoring this thread. An oppertunity recently presented itself for me to have access to several types of fuel. (mineral oil, transmission fluid, motor oil etc...) I want to use an old mercedes for a test vehicle to tell what the fuel is doing.
Besides the fuel, I have a hydrogen generator and injector line heaters which I suspect will change the readings a bit.
I hope to publish the results as a report that can be easily duplicated and serve as a guide to alternative fuels.
Any ideas for a test fuel cell. I am guessing it will need to support both the return and supply. I was thinking I need about a 1/2 gallon capacity to allow the IP to purge.

 

Hello pasotx. Comparing the results from your Mercedes could be very miss leading as applied to the Ford 7.3 IDI engine. If your Mercedes has the "M" style head or more correctly said chamber, then the results will be very different. The Mercedes "M" will out perform the Ford 7.3 IDI chamber "hands down" with the fuels you will be testing. The Mercedes IP is ten times more robust for these heavy viscosity fuels than the Standyne IP. If memory serves me, the injectors of the Mercedes are screw adjustable on the pop off setting (again ten times better than on the Ford)

I am not trying to discourage your testing, I am just saying to the Ford owners that the Ford fueling system and chamber design are very different and require more preparations than the Mercedes will require (not that the same preparations should not be done on the Mercedes as well, it is just that most people will only do just enough to barely get by with using these fuels.......................the same preps to get by on a Mercedes will KILL a Ford in just a couple of thousand miles.)

I hope this gets my point across. I have diesel trucks properly prepared to run any "free fuel" I choose to use....................I am paying over $4.00 a gallon for diesel for my Ford 7.3 and will not put a drop of "free fuel" in it until it is completely prepared for these fuels....(if I ever get the time to do it)

keep up the good work and testing.......it's very important to America's economic future.........

crossbones

 

CB2,

Thanks for your reply. I did not make my objective clear. I do not have the resources to determine the suitability of any fuel for several vehicles. I am hoping to produce a report which shows a comparison of the different fuels in relation to diesel. Rather than making it overly complex, the goal is a baseline that I have not seen elsewhere.

I used your directions on the 1990 Ford my Daughter drives but it is never around long enough to play with.

I have a 1980 Mercedes 300CD that is non-turbo. I built a hydrogen generator from another thread on this forum and am looking forward to getting the results of that.

My question for you would be...Do you know of any reason the glow plus on the Mercedes will not function like the glow plugs on the Ford?

Any Idea how much fuel I will need to purge the IP and lines? 1/4 gallon should purge and allow for enough run time to get good readings.

Another problem is that I have no tach. the rpms should be the same for a valid comparison.

Thanks again,
Scott

 

I put 10 gallons of mineral oil in with ~10 gallons of diesel and was uable to tell any difference.

The reason is I know a guy who just got a contract for 6,500 gallons of used mineral oil every two weeks. projected price to end user is $3.00 a gallon. If I can put together good research, my cost may be even lower.

My research will hopefully identify the optimal blend of "free" fuel. Getting it to run in a particular vehicle is another matter.

 

ya ya i hear ya man right with ya

 

Hello pasotx. The amount of fuel in the injector pump, lines and injectors varies, so with your test I would do it with two 1 gallon containers.............one for the new fuel and on to collect the over flow from the return line..........you can add a little food coloring to the new fuel......when the return line fuel turn to that color you will have a good idea that it is flushed..........

To my knowledge any glow plug will give you a reading (the actual reading is not important unless you have readings from several of the exact same engine and fuel. The change of the readings is what you are looking for........if they go up or down in value.....)

Choose a speed to do your test such as 55 MPH on a flat grade road...

You need a infrared temperature gun to measure all of the different temperatures: top radiator hose, lower radiator hose, intake snorkel air temperature, ambient temperature, fuel filter temperature and exhaust...

Have two charts for your readings, one for idle and one for road speed ( I pull over to the side of the road after making the road test and get my temperature readings)

Usually, if the glow plug readings go down, the engine "likes***" this fuel more than the previous fuel and vice versa....

It is imperative that everyone understands what I mean by "likes" the fuel tested more than another fuel.......................this does not mean it is the absolute best fuel for this engine...................it simply means with the present temperatures of all of the above and the present "engine tune" that the tested fuel is more compatible to these conditions................

6.9 diesel.......a funny story for ya......."yesterday I went to Lowes to pickup about 2500 lbs of floor tile in my 1982 Luv 2.2 diesel........just so happened that there was guy ahead of me in 89 7.3 Ford getting not even a full bed of lumber.........I could hear all kinds of comments from " it will never pull off to I got a chain".......the Ford guy and I happened to go the same route and came to a long hill...............I wondered if the guy was surprised when he looked in the mirror"

crossbones