Well I had another GPR go bad on me last week. Same problem too - the battery side terminal broke loose. Did some research and decided to go with the Stancor DC contactor. Then I found a couple of threads on another website where some folks were griping that the Stancors were just as unreliable. I still figured that the Stancor was better, but it could still go bad with as little warning as a regular relay, and since the temps up here have really dropped lately, I decided that I needed something to ensure that the truck would always start.

So what I did was buy 2 contactors and wire them up in parallel (battery lines) and put the control power lines on a switch. I mounted everything in a Radio Shack project box and mounted the whole thing next to the washer reservoir. I totally cut out the connections under the engine cover and soldered in some trailer disconnects for the control power, and used a quarter inch bolt to connect the battery lines, and taped them up real good. The switch I used is a On-Off-On so I can switch between contactors or just turn them off for the warmer weather.

So what I have now is two contactors mounted away from the engine (I am hoping the reduce vibration will let them last longer) in a totally removable module that I can easily disconnect and work on inside where it is warmer. Is it just me or do the GPRs only fail in January/February?

 

Its the colder months when you find that your glow plug system isnt up to par. These engines dont even need glow plugs with temps above 60 degrees F.

Hope your new setup works for you.

 

I know my previous post kind wasn't exactly clear, but the temps have been in the single digits on numerous occasions, and I was able to get the truck started without too much trouble. All I was really trying to say was that the darn things never seem to fail unless it gets really inconvenient. That reminds me of another point - the Stancor units are rated for -40 C, and it doesn't get quite that low around here, but it sure seems to try.

 

Freak I agree with you that the psds seem to act up most in the cold. I also did not follow your first post, but thats ok I carry spare parts gpr, starter relay, cps, fuses, belt, and idler pully with tools to fix the mentioned.