Ok I know another glow plug question, but how do you test the glow plugs, the guy at the dealer said an ohm meater but HOW??? Also should i change just the bad ones or all 8? and how will you now if the pluge are bad or if its the connection? ANY help will be Greatly appreciated!

 

Comeon guys i need help!!! Oh do you need to use antiseize when changing the plugs? someone told me you did

 

There are several ways to do it. Here is the easiest and cheapest.

All you need is a 12 volt test light.

1, Connect the test light to the +ve on your battery and touch the negative on your battery with the tip of the test light. The light should come on bright.

2, Remove all the leads to glowplugs and touch each glowplug with the test light. (Only touch the part of the plug that connects the electrical connector. If you touch the body of the plug the light will come on as it is grounded back to the battery)

3, If the light comes on bright when you touch the plug, the plug is most likely good.

4, If the light does not come on or is dim when you touch the plug, the plug is most likely bad.

If you find one bad plug, change all the plugs with new plugs.

If you only change the bad plug you will most likely have to deal with another burned plug in a very short time. Since all plugs are fed from the same power supply point on the glow plug controller, electrical current usually picks the path of least resistance. If you only install one new plug any scenario of things can happen. I have seen brand new plugs burn out in less than a day. I have seen existing plugs burn out in short order.

The best way to put your mind at ease and not have to look back is to buy 8 BERU/Motorcraft plugs and change them all in one shot.

And yes use antiseeze on the plugs.

 

Ok Thanks hamberger, the guy at the dealership said hed never heard of changing all 8, propbably cuz they cost so much! Also what about an Ohm meter?

 

checking the glow plugs is a crap shoot. you may find 1 that tests good, and 3 days later it will go out. just change them all. autozone has them for $9.99 each. i had 1 that tested good, but was cracked, and only lit up half way. 2 others tested good, but took 15 seconds to light.
as far as the connections go, you will know if they are bad or not. if it is good, it will come off the plug. if it is bad, it will fall apart when you try to take it off.
use a blow gun, and clean the area off real good. then spray with pb blaster. start working the plug. if it turns hard reverse directions a few times. before you have the plug out all the way, blow the area around it off good again. put a dab of never-sieze on the threads and screw it in. do one plug at a time, if you pull them all out, when you use the blowgun, there is a chance that crap can go down one of the plug holes. a 1/4 inch drive ratchet, a few different size extensions, a universal, a 3/8 deep socket and a 3/8 wrench are all required.
another good thing to have is a long pair of needle nose pliers, and a piece of vacuum hose. i used the vacuum hose to start the plugs, then when they were snug, i tightened them with the 1/4 drive. don't go nuts with tightening them.


btw, if this is for your 83 6.9, you want the BERU ZD1 glow plugs.

 

It is for the 83, and i went out and bought a test light cuz the one i had is for 110 V and i connected it to the positive terminal and then to the glow plug, where the conection is and nothing happened, i did this on all and nothing happened, so im kind of starting to believe tom. I dont know when the plugs were last changed, and im wondering if I should just change them even if theyre good or not just for the peace of mind, should i do this or no?

 

New installed GPs are 12 ftlbs or 1/12th of a turn after bottoming. I use a small amount of antiseize on the threads and dielectric grease on the GP electrical connectors.

 

One question.... Is it starting rough or is it just taking a long time to start?

 

that tells me nothing

 

bassproguy the resistance is so close to a dead short that a cheap Ohm meter will probably not register the Ohm reading. You will be looking for between .75 and 1.5 ohm's resistance.

On the 83 model engine you need Motorcraft/Beru ZD 1A plugs with the spade connector.

Looking at the face of a clock 1/12th turn is the distance from 1 to 2, or not much of a turn after the glow plug bottoms out. 12 ft. lbs. is not much torque on the glow plug, you don't want to strip it.

dielectric grease will help keep corrosion off the connector
Neversieze will make it easier to remove them next time around

On a NA motor it is not hard to get at the glow plugs. I would just replace the bad ones as long as the ones you are removing have Beru stamped in the base of the glow plug. If it says anything else get them out while you can and replace them with Beru plugs.

The test light has to be a 12 volt to work.

Also watch the little squeeze clip on the connector if they are not already broken off.

 

Ok i was waiting for you to reply to this dave, you seem to know a lot about these trucks and ive read and done almost everything youve told me or other people so thanks! Ok Hamberger said take the test light and touch it to the positive terminal on the battery, then take the other part and touch it to the connector on the plug? I did this on all of the plugs and it did nothing, they all cant be bad, any suggestions? I dont have a cheap ohm meter Family full of electricians and a father for a phsics teacher we pretty much got nething n everything electrical. Except the knowledge of Diesel Electric systems lol! Does the ignition need to be on when testing the plugs or shoud it be off? My WTS light comes on for about 4 seconds and then shuts off, and it is getting harder to start in the cooler days, Im in texas so it doesnt get below freezing but even around 50 it gets hard to start and the other day when it was 35 i couldnt even get it to turn over, even in the late afternoon when it had warmed up to about 60 it wouldnt start, im thinking this is a gow plug issue could i be wrong?? Thanks for the help I greatly appreciate it!!

 

When I test mine I clip the test light ground clip on the positive battery terminal.
Remove the harness connector on the glow plug and touch the testor to the spade connector on the glow plug.

Switch does not need to be ON since you are removing the wire before you test it.

You have a manual switch on your glow plugs don't you?
Did you remove the purple wire from the relay when you converted to manual?
A lot of the old style systems would turm the glow plugs ON while the engine was running. Since the "Wait to Start" light is down where it is easy to not see while driving it may have come on and toasted the glow plugs while you were driving.
If this has happened it would be easy for them all to be bad.

One thing you said,
"The other day it was 35 and I couldn't even get it to turn over, even in the late afternoon when it warmed up to about 60 it would not start"

Did you mean the engine would not crank over at all while it was cold?

 

No i dont have a manual switch, at least i dont think i do. And yes i did mean the engine wouldnt start. I have never had a problem starting in the cold before, so i plugged the truck in and after 2 hours i could finally get it to start. I hooked the light to the positive terminal and then touched it to the spade connector and nothing happened....I did this on all of the glow plugs and none of them lit up. They should light up if they work though right? I also have another question about my return lines, they look cracked and rotten and im wondering what i should use for replacements, i was thinking braided steel lines would they work? I bought this truck in august, from a friend of the family and he had said nothing was wrong with it.....i got in a wreck in october and the damge showed a lot of bondo and rust on the right rear quarter panel. In finding this i have started to wonder what ealse could be wrong with the truck and im finding more and more every day. Also is there newhere where i can buy the stock rear seat, there is an aftermarket seat in there but it leaves NO room for pasengers and is Kind of pointless.

 

Anyone out there????

 

i would just get a return line kit and change them when you change the glow plugs.