We have had a recent cold snap here in Texas and if my truck isnt plugged in it takes an act of congress to get it to start. My question is, should I replace the glow plugs, the glow plug relay or both. I saw a relay on e-bay that is a manual glow plug activator, are these good or a problem waiting to happen? I'm afraid the multiple cranking times in the morning may be causing damage to something.

 

A lot of people are having this issue. It could help by just leaving the glow plugs on longer before you start it. Try waiting 30-45 seconds after the wait to start light goes off, then crank it. You can ohm out the glow plugs to see if they are any good through the 4 connections going into the valve covers, they should read like .1-.5 ohm if they are good and really high if bad.

 

You can also turn them on again to let the warm up to times or sometimes 3 works. I had that same problem last year in kansas when it was 10 degrees out. All most never got it to start. Truck had 200K on it then. I replaced the glow plugs myself, pretty easy took around 2 hours. No special tools needed except a deep i think 10mm socket to go over the glow plugs. The intake gaskets are reuseable just take your time with them. I think the glow plugs were only around $60 at the auto parts store. Ford wants 250-300 to do it for you. Best thing I did to make it start better. Best of luck.

 

Do not buy any plugs except motorcraft/beru -made in Germany. You can get them at AZ for about $10.00 or less. Too much cranking will over heat your starter.

 

If I was you I would replace all 8 along with the relay. This way your sure to have everything is working like its suppose to.
------------------jeremy

 

CLICK HERE to go to an excellent how to article on the glow plug system by Carpentractor. The information is specific to the 94-97 trucks but the principles are the same. 99 and up use only one connector on each side of the engine instead of two and adds a second relay on top of the engine by the glow plug relay for the intake air heater. The part number for the AutoZone / Motorcraft glow plugs has changed.

Hope this helps out - Carpentractor's article helped me a lot.

I have it saved in MS Word if you would like them in that format. Shoot me an eMail at Believer45@netzero.com with GLOW PLUG RELAY in the subject line, let me know what web site you saw this on and what eMail address you would like it sent to and I will reply with the attachments.

Dave / Believer45