NOW FOR THE CUCV INFORMATION CONCERNING THE BYPASSING OF THE GLOWBAR
RESISTOR MOUNTED IN THE FIREWALL IN A HEATSHIELD:
POWER SOURCE FOR THE GLOW PLUG SYSTEM
Two of the most common CUCV-owner questions are, "Why did GM take the glow
plug power off the voltage dropping resistor?" and "Why not just take 12 vdc
off the normal vehicle wiring?"
GM didn't take the wire off of the resistor. What one generally encounters
is an "in house/shop" modification. This modification enhances vehicle
starting by directly routing the 12 volts to the glowplug network. The
existing resistor that has been bypassed by this method would drop the 24
volt source to 12 volts before reaching the glow plugs but this created a
problem of the the glow plugs not heating up to proper temperature all of
the time.
Here is why the resistor is used: All M-series vehicles use a NATO slave
plug to jump/slave another vehicle. If the batteries are stone-dead in a
CUCV, 24 volts will still feed the glow plug circuit and it will start when
it is slaved in its' original, unmodified condition.
It should be noted, however, that even though this modification allows the
vehicle to start easier, there is a tradeoff. If both CUCV batteries are
weak or dead and you have to slave the NATO plug with the modified setup, 12
volts will not be delivered to the glow plug circuit. This is because the
dead batteries will cause the entire 24 volts to drop to zero at the center
connection of the two batteries (where the 12 volts is sourced) until they
are charged. This is important to keep in mind when jumping off a vehicle
with this modification as it will not start through the slave recepticle
until the batteries are charged to some degree.
The modification removes the red wire from the output of the glowbar
resistor and connects it directly to the 12-volt buss (above the glowplug
relay). The terminal fits perfectly and the wire is the right length.