I have seen a couple threads that recommend Motorcraft GPs. What about the dual coil GPs??? Are they any good??? I see a guy on the bay selling them. Looks like he runs a diesel shop. Anyone have any luck with them?? (dual coils)

If everyone uses the Motorcraft where do you get them from??

Having cold start problems. Guessing GPs. Relay checks out. I tried checking the current draw, but my ammeter is AC only. Tried ohming them out but it is hard to get a test lead on the VC gasket connector. I think I will pull the cover and get a good connection.

BTW 97 7.3 powerstroke.

 

Oreillys has a good price on motorcraft gp's. 8 or 9 dollars a piece

 

It may be the valve cover wiring. I had this last year . 6 out of 8 were showing bad . Covers off only one was bad . The rest were from the harness plugs being burned.

 

If the gaskets/pigtails are burnt swap over to SD pieces.never have to do that job again.

 

motorcraft ZD-11
rock auto price is $9.17 each

any other glow plug in your engine is a crap shoot. it may start once, it may start twice, or it may not start at all and swell the tip of the plug forcing you to remove the head to get the off brand glow plug out.
if there was a better glow plug than the motorcraft ZD-11, ford would have used it.

there ain't, so they did not.

 

Rookie boy here... What are SD pieces???

 

You can swap to the Super Duty style valve cover gasket. It requires some re-wiring if you decide to do it. But there is good info here on how to do it. I will see if I can find one for you

 

Try this one
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-work-42.html

 

Thanks for the info... Will pull the valve covers and see what I find. Maybe not get to it this weekend. At least the Motorcraft glow plugs are stocked at the auto part stores. Looks like they are about $11 each. Advance wants a little more. Last time I was under the valve cover I replaced the wires and gaskets. Seems like 6 months ago, more like 3 years.

 

How time consuming is pulling the valve covers and doing the GPs and testing the wires and harness? Afternoon project? Weekend project? Is the Haynes sufficient to do it, or do I need a better book?

 

It is not really bad, I just have a few things going on. I bet if you never done it before and you are mechanical, you can probably do it in a couple hours. The passenger side is pretty easy, just pull the valve cover and stuff is right there. The drivers side is under the turbo hose so IIRC that needed to be taken off.

Just like any project if something goes wrong it will take longer. What I was told doing when I did it the first time. If it hasn't been done in a long time, replace the valve cover gasket and the wiring under the valve cover. (short little harness)

If you are not sure, start on a Saturday early and have time to kick back in the afternoon. You really don't need a book, once you pull the valve cover it is pretty easy to figure out. Going from memory, I think you needed a 10mm deep well socket to get to the glow plugs. If you search, there is info on testing the glow plugs in this forum.

From what everyone tells me stick with the Motorcraft plugs, if you are in there and find a couple bad, you might as well replace the set.

BTW my info is from my truck, 97 Powerstroke.

 

Thank you sir. One last question: are there torque specs on the plugs?

 

Sorry, but I don't buy this for one second, and I am kind of surprised you do.

Anyone that knows anything about mass production of anything knows that the almighty dollar almost always wins. So if Ford can save even $.07 per glow plug, on a production run of 2 million motors and 16 million glow plugs needed for those motors, then you can see that right there is a huge savings.

I do not put the quality of ZD-11 plugs any better than some of the other top brands like Diesel RX and Bosch. Maybe because I had multiple Motorcraft plugs swell in my truck when it was 5 years old and I had to pull that heads off to get them out.

Stay away from parts store glow plugs, and stick with Motorcraft, DRX or Bosch and you can't go wrong.

 

They probably do, but I just tightened mine snug, not real tight. The threads are a taper like a pipe. Might leave the exact torque to someone that knows more than me. Which would be quite a few.

 

^^^^ I do the same, however the book indicates 14 Lb-Ft, from here ...

1996 Bronco/F-Series Workshop Manual