I've read all the material that I saw above re glow plugs and controller. I have the new system. I have not yet seen a response that I feel confident explains to me how the new system is supposed to work. This is my first diesel. I have 60 years of mechanical experience and, in the USAF, I was an electronics technician.

When I bought my mongrel, a 198? F-?50, I was told to turn on the ignition switch, listen for the clicking (about 8-10 clicks, one/sec) to stop, then start the engine. There is no WTS light. I saw a significant dip on the volt meter at each click. That process has worked fine for the last nine months. It last started about two weeks ago at 10 am in the morning using this process. When I went out at 2 pm, I turned on the ignition and WHOA no clicking and no starting.

Subsequent investigation revealed a rat's nest for wiring, 3 bad Autolite #1108 glow plugs, 5 "good" ones, pieces of the 'old system' on the right and, to emphasize, a rat's nest of wiring in and around the glow plug controller, including the black wire from the controller twisted with a ground wire but not soldered or crimped. Connecting the controller as I believe it should be would NOT result in the relay closing.Therefore I suspect it is bad. I have ordered a new controller and 8 new ZD-9's.

My question is, when all is wired correctly, including replacing the WTS light, how is this new system supposed to work? When I turn on the ignition switch, am I still to listen for clicking or do I watch the WTS light for when to start the engine? In the words of Bobcat Goldthwait, "I am so confused!!" I would appreciate a clear explanation of how this system is supposed to work. Thanks for any and all help.

 

<p>turn key on. wait to start light comes on. when light goes out, turn to start. the clicking is the&quot;after glow&quot;&nbsp; it is the controller closing the relay to keep the plugs hot to help with engine warm up. if you wait until it stops clicking, you will be trying to start the engine with the glow plugs cooling down.</p><p>what i do is put a small LED light in the glow plug line. this way i know for sure when the glow plugs are getting power and when they are not and do not have to rely on the WTS light. .</p>

 

Thanks, Tom, that is clear, concise and to the point. Your last statement perhaps explains why my truck never started on the first revolution as others on this forum have bragged. Perhaps it will now that I know how this old bird is supposed to work. Thanks again.

 

<p>don't get too confident!!!</p><p>just when you thing you have the old girl figured out, she will change her habits for no other reason than to **** you off.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>sorta like what the wife does.<img alt="Big Grin" src="https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/images/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="height:16px; width:16px" title="Big Grin" /></p>

 

Mine too!!!!!!

 

OK here is the latest on this beast. Eight brand new ZD-9's and a brand new glow plug controller properly wired per pictures seen on this forum.

Ignition switch turned on and after-glow clicking starts immediately, like within a second. WTS light barely blinked and blinked even dimmer when the clicking was going on.

It would seem that I have additional problem or problems in this circuit since I get very very little glow plug heating. I plan to install a bypass manual push button switch to heat the glow plugs for 5-10 seconds before starting to see if the old bird will start faster than in the past that always required several seconds of turning the motor over.

I'll update this report after I get the bypass working.

Any ideas as to no warmup of glows?

 

Usually the short cycling is a result of 2 or more bad glow plugs.

But since you just changed all of them I doubt that is the case. How is your harness that goes to the glow plugs? Do all the connectors fit good and tight?

The 85 I had, one would pop off every once in a while causing a shorter cycle time.

Just something to check and rule out...

Edit: It had been upgraded to the newer style system as well.

 

Like said above, sounds like you need to check the harness. Something is telling the controller to short cycle.