hi i was wondering if wellman glow plugs were anygood or motor craft i would like to find a good glow plug that i wouldnt have to replace every few months

 

i know everybody else is going to recommend motorcraft beru plugs.

i havnt had my truck long enough to recommend anything but ive heard good this about the beru plugs and thats what i put in my truck when i changed them

 

Yeah berus are the only way to go.

 

For a 6.9 or 7.3 IDI I would use nothing but AC 12G or Autolite 1109 GP's. They are dual coil and temperature limiting. They will not meltdown. Whenever installing new glow plugs, preheat them with a battery charger until they smoke ( put an oil film on them first). That way if they absorbed any moisture it can escape without blowing out the sheath. I like to do it a couple of times before installing them. That way if they suffer infant mortality, I won't be stuck with a major problem.

 

Stock replacements are single coil 6V units that are designed to heat up quickly. They will meltdown expand in the engine causing an expensive problem.

 

i would junk a truck if i could not get MOTORCRAFT/BERU glow plugs to put in it.

i have seen way to many heads having to be pulled off to replace ac, autolite, and champion glow plugs because the tips swelled up and broke off after they burnt out within 2 months of installation.
the original MOTORCRAFT/BERU plugs worked for 16 years before i had to change them because the controller malfunctioned and left them on burning them out.

 

I will never use anything but Motorcraft/Beru glow plugs in mine.

There is a user here, FTE Parts-Guy, I think is his user name that works for one of the sponsors.

He posted good prices on the Beru plugs a while back.

 

I had wellman 080s (single coil), and they are designed to heat up in 5-10 seconds which is much faster than berus.

After I lost one glow plug from the 10 second glow time that the OEM controller is set up for, I added a a manual switch and replaced the dead GP with a spare BERU plug I had lying around. I simply got used to the 5 second start routine, however the manual switch caused confusion when some one else tried to start the truck.

What happend was probably 30 seconds of glow time, and this was the result:

So yes, I did rebuild the engine mainly because of a set of wellman glow plugs.

All the wellmans were completly destroyed. That single beru glow plug in the engine at the did not only did it NOT fail and swell up, but it still works and I still have it in my tool chest if I ever need a spare. I tested a WAP088 glow plug before I was about to put a set of those in, and it swelled up within 23 seconds with no sign og self regulation, it finally shut down when I heard a "pssst" and the tip ruptured. According to Marianna, its possible that this coulr have been from moisture in the glow plug.

Berus also come in a sealed plastic packet, while wellmans come in paper boxes and are more likely to draw in moisture like Marianna describes. I meant to pick up a couple of the AC12Gs for me to test, but I never got around to it so I can't say for my part if they are true dual coil glow plugs.

I have so subjected the following glow plugs to failure situations so far:

Bosch, WAP 088, WAP 080, and BERU.

Bosch plugs failed because the old controller was gratually giving longer and longer glow times (still less than 20 seconds though), so they failed over the course of several days, and NOT all in one glow like the WAPs. All the Bosch plugs came out without problems, I even got a refund for them.

Both types of WAPs scare the hell out of me because of how they failed.

Before I figured out my GP controller was at falt, I installed a set of BERU glow plugs, and fired it up. The glow time there was over 30 seconds, and only shut down when every last one was fried. BUT they all came out in one solid piece.

If the glow plugs perform as per factory speck, thats one thing, but what do they look like when they fail? Thats the real question because I ran those 080s for several months without incident, but when they did fail, well you know the rest. If you are going to try a different brand of glow plugs, than I would strongly advise test one yourself before installing them in your engine.

 

Is that two differnet type of plugs Motorcraft or beru or are they the same ones. I bought motorcraft plugs at orilies and the side of it says germany with the part #. I believe they did come in a sealed plastic shrink and glewed to a pice of flat cardboard. I can't remember if they said beru or not.

I believe I Had ACs in there before and Every one I checked was bad. One tipe was gone so I don't know what the engine looks like. I guess thats what you get when you try to by the cheapest ones. It runs fine though but I still don't have the controller fixed. Since Im the only driver, I think I might just put a push button on the dash and keep it simple.

 

MOTORCRAFT/BERU plugs are one type. sometimes they say BERU, sometimes they say MOTORCRAFT, and sometimes they say MOTORCRAFT/BERU.

 

The good plugs have "Made in Germany" stamped in the barrel down by the tip.

 

WOW you guys are dedicated. I think you would like the AC 12G or Autolite 1109 GPs. I've forgotten to turn them off and drove to work only to find my battery dead as a doornail. Turned off GPs charged batterys and no harm done. I'm convinced. You guys really need to try them. You'll see what I mean. You guys are thinking that all AC GPs are the same. They're not thats why they have a different type number. On time is not important with a temperature limiting plug. You don't have to cycle it to keep from melting it down., you can leave them on as long enough juice is left in the battery to crank the engine. Sorry about the ranting, but i'm as convinced as you guys are.

 

If something works, no problems in over 400 thousand miles, why change and go with an unknown?

Plus I know exactly how hard it is to remove the heads on a turbo motor.
It starts with pulling the engine.

I will stay with the tried and proven and swear by them till they are no longer available.

 

O'Reilly Auto Parts web site carries MC/Beru plugs for about 8.99 each.

 

I have 15 new spares in the tool box, thanks AutoZone for the 2.99 each price.