I have a new in box late style controller for the 87-94 system, my 86 has for whatever reason been changed to the late style (zd9) glow plugs and connectors by a previous owner but still retains the 83-86 thermal controller and inner fender mounted relay which is in all likelyhood what fried my glow plugs. I want to mount the new style controller where the old style relay mounts and run the required key on hot wire that turns it on, I cant mount the new style controller in its factory spot because the turbo is there and I dont have a rocker cover to mount it where it was on the factory turbo engines. Is this possible, do I need to change anything else. Thanks for any info on this one

 

After my review of the controllers, I believe the new 87 to 94 controller is supposed to be mounted on the engine. It has a temp sensor that turns itself off when the engine is warm enough. Yes, the old model relay was a problem, I've read similar to the stuck relay on starter problems. The ZD9 is a correct match to the 87 to 94 controller. I would think you need to find a spot on the engine where you can mount and ground the controller and put it in contact with engine block heat to trigger the sensor.

If you mount the controller where the relay is, I think a suggestion would be to make the relay manual trigger with a button. You disconnect the white wire then hook a momentary button that triggers a ground connection. It bypasses the controller but requires you to run the relay manually to heat the glow plug. I'm configured that way to get my van going again and haven't replaced my bad controller yet. the relay is good and I have more control over heat timing and not leaving the relay on for the full 2 minutes. So, my glow plugs only heat for 5 to 15 seconds to get the engine started and then maybe another 15 seconds to warm up on cold days.

Or you could wire a switch to that white wire that might allow you to manually disable the relay once your engine has warmed up. This would just prevent the controller from activating the relay by grounding that relay connection.

 

R&D IDI Performance has a plate they offer that bolts to the Valve Cover for
the late style GP Controller.


Misc.


I have a late style Controller and ZD-9 GP`s to put on our 86 6.9.
I also was thinking about putting the Controller on the fender where the
old style Relay lives. Didn`t give it a thought that the new style Controller
would need the heat of the engine to properly operate.


If you go with the ZD-9 GP`s, ya might check out this thread about using
the 6.0 GP harness.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-for-50-a.html




Charlie






Charlie

 

the banks turbo kit relocates the solid state controller to the passenger side valve cover roughly above the middle two cylinders.

 

there is no temperature sender connected to the controller for glow plugs on the late model controller, it senses temperature of glows by the feed back of the resistance of the glow plugs them self. it shuts its self off after 2 min. when you start a hot engine, the glows are checked buy the controller, for up to 2 min. you can mount it any where your heart desires, you may need to make your own loom for glows....

 

Well, I tried it just the way I said and it didnt work, the relay just clicks about twice a second for about 1 miniute oddly enough when it got through clicking it did start. What I did to get the truck driveable again is put the old relay back in and hooked up a push button inside the cab to activate the glow plugs manually so now it starts fairly well, I dont really know if I am doing it right or not. What I do is hold the button down, count to 8-10 slowly then hit the starter, it hits about twice then fires off but skips and gives off white smoke, skip lasts about 30 seconds but the smoke lasts a good 2min not a lot of smoke just like 1 cylinder is cold. I did go back to the oem spade terminal glow plugs because napa had those in stock and I figured I could replace the oem thermal controller eventually. I just need some advice on how long to allow the manual glow plugs to heat. Thanks

 

I don't know specifics on the spade plugs. was the brand motorcraft or beru?

For manual start the 10 to 15 second rule is good for me when cold. The idea is after the engine starts on really cold days you hold the glow on for a little longer. Ford design is up to 2 minutes, but the controller would cycle them based on heat and measured resistance. relighting the glow plugs after it starts is supposed to eliminate the white smoke quicker and burn cleaner. I haven't needed to keep my glow plugs on more than 30 seconds on really cold days. Nice thing is once the engine is warm, I don't use the glow plugs to restart. on warm day cold start I only need 5 seconds of manual glow to start.

Thing is my glow plugs were designed for long "on" times up to 2 minutes. But I feel for my manual control 10 to 15 seconds to start, i hope will make them last longer and minimize future problems.

Thing is even with new plugs from the auto shop, it's a good idea to test them. Sounds like one of your plugs may be bad already, I'd check them individually with a test light first. Your clicking noise is the sign of a bad glow plug or incompatible plugs with controller or bad controller in that order. Also don't forget to check the cable from each glow plug to the controller to make sure it's ok and not broken.

When I got my van, pulled the autolites that were in it. 5 of 8 were burned out. I just noticed one of them began to swell slightly compared to the others. My controller did the same thing so I disconnected it. I think the switching controller wasn't working properly and burned out the plugs. PO said those plugs were just installed. In order to get me going quicker, I went manual instead of getting a new controller.

 

what brand glow plugs did napa give you?
they very rarely sell motorcraft plugs. if they gave you autolite crap, plan on replacing them again by the end of the week. autolites usually burn out after the first or second use.

 

the clicking is normal, after 5-8 seconds the clicking will continue for two min. if you don't start it, the clicking means the controller thinks they are hot. if one glow is bad, the controller may not heat them as hot, so waiting for the glows to heat chamber may be necessary when real cold, turning the key on, and off several times or just letting it click.. remember the colder it is the more you step on the throttle when starting...