EMD- Thanks for the input there. I'll have to look at the injector. I beleive there was only one gas line leading up to it. I'll check to see where those other lines are supposed to be connected.

rupejosh- I think you are right. I'll have to do that.

Dave- THANK YOU! That was exactly what I was looking for. I will check the glow plugs and work from there. 2 days ago I took all the connectors apart and wire brushed the contacts. In your second picture, the connector you have highlighted in yellow, that melted on me. The yellow wire overheated and melted the wire and connector. So I spliced those together. I'm going to have to cut the wire harness open to do some analysis, cuz My relay has a black wire where you have a purple one. I see the purple line, but it goes into my wire harness, and a black one comes out and hooks to the relay. I'll have to make sure that it's wired correctly. Thanks SOOOOOO much for the good write up and help. I appreciate the time you took to do it!

 

hey tim, what part of texas are you in?

 

I'm right outside of Greenville, which is 1 hour east of Dallas. You nearby?

 

Okay ... Status report!

I checked the glow plugs, and here is the interesting thing ... All of the glow plugs on the drivers side are good, and all of the ones on the passenger side are bad.

I also did a little check on the relay. I put an alligator clip on the positive battery terminal, and (with the ignition on) I made a connection to the purple wire post on the relay. I then heard a loud click.

So ... correct me if I'm wrong ... I think I need to replace the 4 glow plugs on the passenger side (with motorcraft ones), and I need to add a push button to the truck for manual glow plug use (per Dave's suggestion). I heard someone tell me that I should just look for an old deisel truck at a scrap yard and get the controller from there for cheaper ... is this a good idea, or is it just better to bypass it completely?

 

if it is only gonna be you driving the truck, do the pushbutton route, and worry about the controller later.

and do yourself a favor, change all 8 glow plugs. you will thank yourself later when the 4 you did not change die. you can keep the 4 used ones as spares, or sell them on evilbay.

 

The metal plate the relay is mounted on is not grounded.
So that black wire is the ground which also picks up the voltage regulator.
It should end up bolted to the fender after it picks up all of the electrical components close by.

Salvage yard, probably not really an option.
The one you get there is probably dead or very close to dead.
The last vehicle they used it on was made in 86, so they are 23 years old.
And again, they are known to twist off when you try to remove them.

I just went manual, and remove the controller when I had the engine out of the truck, then put a pipe plug in the hole.
I did get mine out before it twisted off, but the case did start to tear as it broke loose.

 

naw tim im in woodville, halfway from lufkin to beaumont

 

After thinking about the drivers side good and passenger side all shot, I am going to bet there is a problem with the red circled connector.

One of the large orange/white wires supplies the passenger side bank and the other supplies the drivers side bank.

If only 1/2 the glow plugs are getting power, they get twice as much as they should so they burn out fast.

 

I think you are right Dave! Today I didn't have the truck plugged in so I could test if the good glow plugs actually worked. I first cranked it over with no glow plugs (it was 50 degrees), and nothing. THen I manually connected the relay and turned it on. I waited 10 seconds, and turned the engine over ... and nothing. That leads me to beleive that those 4 good plugs are not getting any juice.

I'm going to order new plugs, and a fuel injector kit, and then fix all of that at once. I will also add a manual glow plug button to the truck.

As a side note ... the connector (circled in red) does not look like it has gotten too hot. It looks good. I'll rip into it and see what the connections actually look like. Thanks again Dave!

 

Okay ... I have an update!

I decided today that I should verify that I'm getting 12 volts on both sides of the relay when the relay is engaged. So I hooked up a little alligator clip from 12 volts to the terminal that turns the relay on. Once again I heard a loud click ... but I didn't measure a single volt on the output (the wires that go to the glow plugs.

Does this mean that the relay is shot too? Luckily I have a salvage yard that has 3 of my exact truck, so I'll probably just try there first and spend a few bucks.

Any chance that the controller may work it was just a bad relay? (Keep in mind that I never see a glow plug light inside the truck at all).

 

there is a very good chance the controller is in fact good, and you only have a bad relay.

 

And it is also possible the controller had the relay closed so much the contacts in the relay burnt up.

 

forgot about that side Dave. good point!!

 

Another update!

Today I did some great work on the truck. Today I completely cleaned all grounds and positive 12 volt connections on the truck. My alternator is good, but my batteries seem to be draining. The connections were pretty bad, and I even cleaned my grounds where the hook onto the block.

After that, I replaced the glow plug relay. Now when it's engaged, I get 12 volts at all glow plug connections (I checked with my voltmeter).

When I turned the key on ... I saw the glow plug light actually light up!!! It stayed lit for about 7 seconds, and disapeared. SO the controller is trying to do something.

So here is the question. When that glow plug light lights up, should I hear a click under the hood? Cuz I don't. I had been driving the truck around, so the engine was pretty warm. I'm going to check tomorrow morning and see if I get a click.

After that, I replaced all my leaky injector return lines. I got a kit off ebay for 25 bucks and it was worth every penny. It looks great, and I haven't seen any deisel dripping on top of the engine. I also replaced all my fan belts, since I think they were originals. I didn't dare even touch them earlier because they looked THAT bad!

This ol' truck is getting a little bit of new life in her, and I love it!

 

If the controller is working like it should, the old style system senses coolant temp to turn the glow plugs on.

With an engine at operating temp, the glow plugs should not even turn on.

The old style system has the wait to start light tied in with the oragne white wires on the relay, so when the light is on, the plugs are getting power, so the relay had to close.

Black wire with pink stripe probably under the two large orange white wires on the relay is the wait to start light lead.