how do you make to glow plug switch. my relay just went south for warmer weather and i need to make the plugs work. and what about the block heater, i pluged mine in and i can hear bubbling??? type of noise. is that normal?? how does the thing work and what does it do??

 

Look at the relay on top of the controller. It should have a white wire to one of the terminals. Take it off and tape the wire end. Take another wire and connect it to the terminal that the white wire came off. Run it to a push button switch and then to a good ground.

 

Block heater is basically a miniature version of the heating element in an electric water heater. If yours is actually boiling water (bubbling sound) then it is one powerful block heater!

 

that is what i think i hear. but i dont know, i have never used it befor. it doesnt get that could in louisiana. how long should it be left on and shouldnt it show that hot water on the temp guage in the cab??

 

I haven't seen my temp guage go up but if I lay my hand on the radiator it's warm

 

Depends on how cold it is. A couple hours is enough for sub zero temps from what I've read. If its not all that cold, an hour would probably do it. A lot of people use a heavy duty timer to turn the heater on a couple of hours before their planned morning departure time. Gotta be a heavy duty one though.

As for the tem guage, most of them don't even register anything under about 100 degrees. Your block heater probably ain't gonna' get it that warm....

 

How the heck would you ground two wires like that? Is that why switches have 3 prongs on them? 1 for pos 1 for neg and the other for ground?

 

Agemenon, your push button switch should only have two terminals. You just replace one ground for another that you control. The white wire coming off now does nothing.
You are not adding a positive to anything, just a ground.

Most people with the later style controllers like them. They are more reliable. But some like me want the control. I don't know if you can get the relay be itself or if it is only with the controller. I put my switch in about 2 years ago, and hardly use the GPs, only when it is real cold.

why165, are you sure it is the relay that is bad and not the GPs? Have you tested them? Could it be the controller?

 

i have not checked the controler,but the plugs are good. i put them in 2 years ago. how do i check the controler?

 

The controller is mounted under the relay, this picture shows the relay with the cover removed.

To test the relay.
At all times you should have power to the battery terminal of the relay, use caution working around the relay, if you short out this terminal there will be a very large spark.
When the key is on, you should have power to the ignition terminal on the relay.
The ground wire is responsible for a lot of problems, it has to be attached to a good clean ground.
If you short the white wire terminal to ground while the key is on, the relay should click and turn the glow plugs on.

When you are changing to manual control you are installing a push button that is wired to supply a ground to the white wire terminal with the key in the on position.
So one wire attached to the push button is attached to the white wire terminal on the relay.
The other wire on the push button is attached to a good ground.

To operate the relay, you turn the key to on, push and hold the push button for 10 seconds, start the engine.
The switches that have three terminals are lighted on off switches, not momentary contact. They are not good switches to use because if it gets bumped on, the glow plugs will continue to heat till they burn up.
Either a momentary switch (spring loaded to return to the off position) or a momentary push button is the correct switch to install.

I would also check the glow plugs, two years is a lot of start/heat cycles if the truck is driven very often.