My wts light comes on for 15 seconds without any clicking or voltmeter jump. after the light goes out the voltmeter jumps and the clicking starts. I changed out my alternator last weekend when it died on me. I replaced it with one I had on a parts truck. the problem started today after my dad spilled water on the fuse box trying to put water into overflow container.

 

Does the truck not start?

 

ionly started the truck once but it turned right over no problems. also its a 1994 7.3 idi n/a

 

The clicking is normal after WTS. So that's not a problem. If it starts like it should then what you are experiencing is normal!

You said the volt meter doesnt drop when the plugs are on, which is odd. Try putting it in run or accessory first to get a voltage reading, then turn it to start and see if it dips. If you already tried that my only other thought would be that the meter doesn't read correctly when the glows are engaged or key in start. Neither of which really matter, to be honest.
And cover your fuse box!

 

If the clicking is normal why hasn't it happened before . almost a year ago i changed the glow plug system out because the wts light would flash with the clicking, the clicking sounds similar. i don't think the volt gauge jumped then either. everything else is normal. i pulled the gauge cluster apart 6 or so months ago to swap the speedo. if i need to pull it apart again can i use the volt gauge from a bronco same year.

 

Dunno why it didn't happen before, but the controller has an "after glow" deal that runs the plugs off and on over and over for a time after the engine is started. Thats what the clicking is, it's the glow plug relay activating and deactivating. Even if you don't start it, it's just a basic circuit tied to the main glow system and does it's thing either way.

 

The clicking is countinous and in sync with the volt guage jump. It happened when i started it so i shut it off and now every time i let the wts light go out(15 secs) the clicking and volt guage jump starts and continues as long as i leave the key turned. just yesterday i could let the wts light go out and sit there for little bit and start with out volt guage jumping or clicking.

 

Oh, didn't realize it never turns off. That's not normal.

I bypassed my controller long ago, and don't remember all the ins and outs of how it works.

Did you check the fuses in the block to make sure everything is A-ok?

 

I'm on my way to town I'll check when I get back. Thanks. I hope I didn't seem like I doubted you, I just wanted to make sure I explained myself correctly.

 

No worries!

 

I've had this happen before. It was my relay controller. The plastic thing on the bottom. Changed it and it worked. I'm no expert so I don't know if this is your problem though.

Clicking is normal. My 94 idi has a wts light and clicks.

The clicking goes away in about 5-10 seconds.

My 87 6.9 has a brand new Motorcraft controller and relay but it doesn't click. It works so I don't care.

Maybe go to autozone/O'Reillys and buy the relay. If it doesn't work, maybe you can return it. It's electrical so I don't know what their return policy is on it.

If they allow a return, go to rockauto.com and buy it (if it is the controller). Can't remember if they sell the controller alone or if you have to buy the controller and relay. You can get a Motorcraft controller/relay unit for about the same price as a cheap brand from autozone.

 

It's NOT normal for a 7.3 style solid state controller to click at all after the WTS light goes off. The afterglow cycle is silent and you can only detect that it is working by watching the voltage gauge as the afterglow continues to draw down the voltage.

When the afterglow finally stops (time will vary) the voltage gauge needle will rise up to normal.

In my experience the clicking means that you have 1 or more bad or completely failed glow plugs. You should check them all and if they are not Motorcraft/Beru then replace them all.

A few other brands MAY work but from what I've researched these glow plugs are designed to hold up to the initial glow times plus the afterglow cycles of the solid state controller which can go on for quite some time, up to two minutes or longer. I think that the 87 shop manuals, (the year the solid state controller was introduced on the 87 6.9L) doesn't give any cut off time but says something like "up to several minutes." I don't want to look it up again right now

Some glow plug brands apparently are just not designed for that kind of constant use.

The after-glow keeps the combustion chamber heated during engine warm up to reduce smoke and emissions from the exhaust during warm up AND IT WORKS!

If it isn't bad glow plugs (first suspect thing to check) then I would speculate that it's the controller RELAY that has some burnt contacts or might have a weak coil - most likely not the controller itself but the relay at the controller.

That is my perspective on the problem.

 

That's strange. I've owned 4 uhauls, all 7.3 idi, they all clicked.
The 94 IDi that I have now has new Motorcraft glow plugs. Not saying you're wrong, I'm no expert, far from it.

 

I've had only motorcraft plugs for the life of my pickup and it always clicked during after glow before I switched to manual plug controller.

While the controller is solid state, the RELAY isn't.

My question for you would be:
Why would the after glow NOT click the relay if all the plugs were healthy? But then only click the relay if they aren't all healthy? Doesn't make sense to me since the plugs can only activate via the relay. There isn't a secondary activation unless I'm totally missing something.
I fully agree that the after glow cycle works well and is useful. But I don't see how it can be activated without the relay.

 

I would test the glow plugs, then the connection/cables.