OK, Newbie to the IDI Diesels. Need some help from the gurus please.

Just bought my son a 85 F-250 6.9 IDI. Prior owner had already by passed the glow plug controller. The old one has coolant sitting in it, I assume it is bad.

The bypass wires run from a big pole on the relay, to the switch, the other side of the switch runs back to the small pole on the relay.

I have put 3 sets of glow plugs in it so far. First got the Autolites, Lasted a week in cold weather 0 to 30 degrees. Read some more posts on glow plugs.

Second set was AC Delco, lasted two weeks some cold weather, and some not so cold. Read some more posts.

Third set was Motocraft Beru, ZD-1's, (Read that Here) they worked for a little over three weeks.

Seems like when one glow plug blows the rest follow very soon.

Tried initializing for 10 sec, blew plugs quick. Tried initializing for 5 sec on 5 sec off, 5 sec on, then start, blew plugs not as quick.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. I'm not a newby to diesels, also have 95 F-350 7.3 PSD, and 05 F-250 6.0 PSD. Both glow plug systems are original and have no problems out of either, other than the 7.3 does not like to start below 32 deg if not plugged up.

Thanks, in advance,


Troy

 

Sorry, after thought, that happens alot at my age.

The truck has a 4 spd manual tranny with out overdrive. The clutch engages about one or two inches of the floor. I checked under neath on the tranny and did not see any adjustment. The clutch reservore is full, and I did not observe any pressure leaks.

Is there an adjustment under the dash on the pedal itself?

Thanks,
Again

Troy

 

Check the firewall for cracks and flexing around the booster when clutch pushed in...... there is a tsb for that repair. The pedal arms wear too, so check the under dash stuff. Dave S has all the bypass info........

 

check your wiring, you said that one of the bypass wires was running from the big terminal on the relay, which would be the battery lead, i would unhook that and run it to a 12v power source in the cab that is switched(only comes on when the key is on) sounds to me like you might still be getting power to the GPs even though your not engaging the swith...... just my two cents, Dustin

 

Dustin,

Is it possible that the glow plugs are getting too much amperage?

I checked the voltage and they are getting 12.4 volts on hitting the switch.

Would wiring it to the fuse box decrease the amperage to the glow plugs, or does it only activate the solenoid and it controls the amperage to the glow plugs?

Thanks for the help.

Troy

 

i dont think 12.4 would burn them out, honestly, in my opinion, i would wire the switch into the fuse box, and make sure you have exactly the right GPs, ill go look at a few posts, and give you the P/N...........

 

ok, the are Motorcraft/Berus made in germany (zd1a) make sure they say this, all other brands arent as good....even the motorcratfs made elsewhere other then in germany, make sure the next ones you buy are made in germany.........if your getting 12.4 volts to the relay, sonds like you may have just baught a bad batch of plugs.......and try to only hold that swtch on for 7-8 secs...... i wouldnt go to far past that.....

 

Does wiring the manual switch into the fuse box limit the amperage going to the glow plugs. Could that be the problem?

The latest set was motocraft beru made in germany, ZD1A and lasted the longest. I just think that they should last longer than a couple of weeks.

I understand the autolites and AC Delco are inferior.

The plug on the glow plug controler is also unplugged and hanging, but shouldn't be shorting or anything.

Thanks for all the help. I think I also need to replace the return lines they are grey and look original. checked and cracked. This may also be part of the starting problem.

 

You may want to run an ohms test on the glow plug relay.You should not have any voltage . I had one that did ground out and it kept burning up g/plugs. Changed out complete controller and haven't had any problems since.

 

You may want to run an ohms test on the glow plug relay.You should not have any voltage when it is unhooked. I had one that did ground out and it kept burning up g/plugs. Changed out complete controller and haven't had any problems since.

 

How many good glow plugs are hooked to the circuit when you are getting 12.4 volts?

What drops the voltage is the amount of amperage required when all the glow plugs are good and installed.
200 amps through wire that small drops the voltage to around 8 volts when all the plugs are good.
Make sure the switch is a momentary type, to easy to bump the switch ON and toast the glow plugs with a normal switch.

One of the main reasons I like to get power for the manual glow plug system from a key switched power source is kids.
Pushing buttons and flipping switches playing, this can cost you a set of glow plugs if the switch is wired to be hot all the time.

 

I installed constant duty glowplugs about 4 years ago. They were spendy, but they havn't burned out and work well. I purchased them from:
Diesel Auto Service 1-877-461-1066
They are located near or in Vancouver BC.
I also bypassed the faulty controller on my '85 and installed a push button.

 

To all that offered help, Thanks.

I ended up replacing the glow plug controller, now the glow plugs work as stock. They cycle on and off just as they should. The old controller was coroded through and was leaking antifreeze through the top. This was why they were bypassed.

Thanks again to all who helped.

Troy