KallyLC
Active member
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- Atherstone, UK
So, bit of backstory. Had a crank/no start issue on my 1008, wasn't even attempting to fire. Little bit of diagnosis later and we realize it's not getting any voltage to the glow plugs, even though the relay was getting 12v in, was clicking on and off as it should and the WAIT light was operating.
Replaced the relay, still having problems. The troubleshooting I did with it on the vehicle seemed to indicate it was the relay that was the problem, but I tested it later with a 12v power supply and it works fine. The WAIT light stopped working entirely now.
So it's not the relay, seems like the glow plug card is toast. Wired up a manual glow plug button for testing purposes between a 12v source and the blue wire on the relay, and that does work, although the output side of the relay is only giving 10v. Never measured it while it was working fine, so I'm not sure if this is normal? Despite that, the manual switch did successfully start it, but it took two attempts and probably required longer on the glow plugs as it had a hard time getting going.
The manual button started as a test method, but as much as I'd like to keep things original, the replacement cards aren't cheap, and the manual switch seems like it removes the potential for future failure entirely, so I'm planning on installing it as a permanent fixture.
I am still a novice to diesels so without the WAIT light I'm flying a bit blind, I never thought to actually time the duration the WAIT light stayed on for whilst it was working and my guess of 10-15 seconds seems as if it was a bit optimistic. It was about 45-50F today, so I'd be interested to know what the norm for these kinds of conditions are, and how long you can safely activate the glow plugs for without risking damage. I've seen from 10-25 seconds mentioned reading through other threads but I'm not sure of the temperature ranges those were for.
Replaced the relay, still having problems. The troubleshooting I did with it on the vehicle seemed to indicate it was the relay that was the problem, but I tested it later with a 12v power supply and it works fine. The WAIT light stopped working entirely now.
So it's not the relay, seems like the glow plug card is toast. Wired up a manual glow plug button for testing purposes between a 12v source and the blue wire on the relay, and that does work, although the output side of the relay is only giving 10v. Never measured it while it was working fine, so I'm not sure if this is normal? Despite that, the manual switch did successfully start it, but it took two attempts and probably required longer on the glow plugs as it had a hard time getting going.
The manual button started as a test method, but as much as I'd like to keep things original, the replacement cards aren't cheap, and the manual switch seems like it removes the potential for future failure entirely, so I'm planning on installing it as a permanent fixture.
I am still a novice to diesels so without the WAIT light I'm flying a bit blind, I never thought to actually time the duration the WAIT light stayed on for whilst it was working and my guess of 10-15 seconds seems as if it was a bit optimistic. It was about 45-50F today, so I'd be interested to know what the norm for these kinds of conditions are, and how long you can safely activate the glow plugs for without risking damage. I've seen from 10-25 seconds mentioned reading through other threads but I'm not sure of the temperature ranges those were for.