Club 80-90 Forums

Hello all, could anyone advise on the following?

I have an issue with my glow plugs, the van is hard to start from cold, and fires up fine when warm.

Its got a brand new glow plug relay, the fuse link across the relay is fine.

When i disconnect the wire on the sensor that goes to the relay(blue and white wire) the glow plug system works as it should and the van starts up fine, the plugs work, i'm getting just over 10volts at the plugs with sensor disconnected all works as it should.

When the sensor is connected again she wont start!

So i've replaced the sensor today with a brand new one from brickwerks and the problem persists, ive done a continuity test on the blue and white wire from its spade connection to its terminal in the relay socket and it seems fine, bloody mystery!

Where to go next?

Does the aux water pump have anything to do with the glow plug system? Theres a thermoswitch on the back of the cylinder head that switches it on at 104 degrees(iirc), i also just read that the aux water pump kicks in on startup to move the coolant about.

I caught the thermo switch for the aux water pump whilst swapping out my starter motor and the terminal on the thermo switch now seems bent and a tiny bit loose, could this be the issue?

Any advice greatly appreciated

Hi Rob,have you got a test meter ?
Kr .

Are you using the cold-start lever ? (This advances the pump timing slightly to help cold starts.) I would suggest getting the base pump timing checked and corrected as needed.

Have you tried swapping the connections over on the 2 sensors on the outlet on the back of the head? One is for the temp gauge sensor & the other for the glow plug sensor, but they are the same device, so you can see by the temp gauge deflection if they are working properly.

I've had problems with replacements not working as they should, and tried three before I found a good one.

The aux pump circuit isn't connected to the glow circuit & the sensor is different to the 2 others. It shouldn't be on the back of the head, but on the side near where the wide hose connects, so check they are not mixed up.

Hello folks, yes i do have a test meter, i'll try swapping the two connections over, i've just left the glow plug sensor disconnected so i get max glow plug time. When i do this the van starts instantly as it should.

Windy do you mean you've had trouble with replacement GP relays?

Cheers,

Rob

The replacements I had problems with were the temp/glow sensors.
Tried a few from the usual parts suppliers but they didn't last very long.
In the end I picked up a couple of OE ones (possibly Febi?) & they have been trouble free.

My glow relay was fine after I soldered a few dry joints on the circuit board up so I didn't replace that.

Cheers Windy, i'm sure the sensors are good as i bought them from brickwerks, think they were febi too, its gonna be weekend when i get to have another look at it, i'll swap the connectors around and keep you posted

had a similar problem last year. cold start was a nightmare glow light on as normal etc but no start. turned out when i checked the live wire to the buzz bar (glow plug rail) fell off in my hands, re crimp jobs a good un.

Cheers royt28, i checked all the connections when the plugs first went and all seemed fine, i'll recheck everything again, the wekend turned out to be a busy one, i've still to try swapping the connections hopefully should be able to have a look tomorrow night, i'll keep you posted, thanks again folks

Hello folks, i tried swapping over the temp sender wire to the glowplug sensor and the temp guage worked fine suggesting that the sensor is also fine.

Leaves me thinking it could be a faulty glow plug relay even though i bought it brand new.

That seems like the next logical place to look.

Some infos in an older post:
https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=7821488" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cheers ZsZ, i'll recheck everything this week.

easy check for relay is to turn cab light on then turn ignition on for glow plug light. if light dims while glow light on relay should be fine.

Worth trying the battery voltage,a cold battery will have a lot less change than a warm charged one.the engine turn over speed will be slower as well when cold so poorer starting,earth straps that are dirty will affect available volts to heater plugs