I am looking at an '86 F250 with the 6.9. The ad says the truck needs the glow plug controller replaced. I've looked this part up, seen pictures of it, know where it's located, but I am not sure what it does or how it affects how the truck runs. I think that it is some sort of sensor that tells the GP system when to turn on and off, but I am not sure. I also do not know if this part needs to be replaced before driving the truck home (it's about 250 miles from here). Any advice would be appreciated. I hope to be able to get this truck this weekend.

 

For the drive home, you could probably get away with starting it with ether. How the 86 GP system works, I don't not know.

 

The 86 Glow Plug system is simple, the controller is the heart, yes it says when to turn on the Glow Plugs, it is a good system with one minor flaw, the controller typically fails on burning out all Glow Plugs ...

Glow Plugs are a starting aid and are not required once running.

Though you could simply bypass the controller and operate them manually with a jumper wire for short term or install a push button ... either are easy. That is of course if the Glow Plugs are good ...

WARNING! If the Glow Plugs are any brand other then Motorcraft/Beru disconnect the purple wire from the Glow Plug relay and leave it disconnected until Glow Plugs are replaced with Motorcraft/Beru Glow Plugs or engine damage may result!

On the Inner fender (not on the inside of "The Fender") there is a relay (solenoid) that has two big terminals and two little terminals ... one little terminal goes to ground (white/black wire), the other is the 12v+ signal from the controller ... It is a purple wire, remove that wire from the relay, apply 12v+ to that terminal (not wire) for NO MORE THEN 10 SECONDS!!!!!

That can be accomplished with a push button or a jumper wire ... JUST DO NOT APPLY POWER ANY LONGER THEN 10 SECONDS!!!

SUGGESTION:
If you buy it, I suggest getting on uhaultruckparts.com quickly and purchasing the newer style controller listed under their part number 12B533 and cover 12A345, you cannot beat the deal PERIOD!!!

You will need to re-wire parts of the Glow system to use it, it is fairly easy swap and is the best way to go.

-Enjoy
fh : )_~

 

Ok. Great! Thanks for the information. I am bidding on this truck on Ebay and I wanted this question answered before bidding any higher on the truck. I guess I need to find out from the owner if any of the GPs have been damaged because of the GPC being bad on it. Good information, fellas, and a really quick response.

 

If you get it you may not want to remove the old controller, sometimes they break off in the engine and its a real mess to fix then. It screws into a water passage, so if it breaks you will have a water leak until you plug it and may have broken parts in your cooling system.

 

Hmmmm. I didn't think of that. The original auction ended without meeting the reserve, so he relisted it with a much lower reserve which has now been met. I am the current high bidder, but I am getting second thoughts. I know this truck will only get me 13mpg on a good day and I am wondering if it would be worth the extra fuel expenses just to say I have a diesel. It's not like this is one of the newer ones that gets good mpg. I was thinking about maybe doing one of those fryer oil set ups with it to save money on fuel. The wife works at a Wendys, so I know I can get all their used oil and I've read that many of the fast food places will let you have their used oil. I think it would be a good way to save some duckets. Of course, I am not sure what my exhaust smelling like french fries all the time would be like. LOL

 

Hold your horses, these old diesels (from the sheets I saw) get better mpg than the new ones!


Is that truck an auto or standard trans.? Either way since it's an '86 it doesn't have OD but since it's only an F250, it MAY have 3.55 gearing witch even with a C6 will get you anywhere in-between 13-17mpg depending how you drive, elevations etc.

Thing is though, so get optimum mpg, probably gonna need a fresh IP, injectors and return lines and T's. These are ~150k miles wear items. They can go MUCH farther, but mpg and power drops.

IP ~350$, 8 injectors ~150$ for the set, return line set ~15$.

Now if you can't do those things your self, labor will get you.



How much is the bid at now?

 

Relatively flat where you are, you should get more than 13 MPG unless you drive fast and throttle on the floor away from every stop sign.