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Glow plug light on dimly while driving.

Posted: 26 Jul 2017, 14:33
by RogerT
My glow plug light is staying on dimly whilst driving. Seems to be the only symptom. It's on brightly while heating the plugs prior to starting, and if you wait long enough then it will revert to dimly lit,( instead of going out) and the van starts on the button every time.

Anyone had this before and can hazard a guess at an spppropriate diagnostic process/remedy?

I'm no electrical genius, but do have the wiring diagram. Problem Seemed to start after changing the rad (so prob not related).

Ta.

Re: Glow plug light on dimly while driving.

Posted: 27 Jul 2017, 11:38
by colinthefox
These kind of problems are very oftten caused by bad earth connections. Some things you could check.

1. The earth connections for the dash are on the left hand side behind the glove box on a RHD van. They are often affected by corrosion which may be caused by a windscreen seal leak. Look for rusty brown streaks down past the earth crowns. The connections can be cleaned up, and or replaced, as can the crown itself.

2. The dash is connected via a 14 pin connector on the printed circuit. Corrosion can set in here too. This can be cleaned up, or if too far gone, can be hard wired, or replaced with a computer style connector.

3. There is an earth connection for the glow plug relay (I believe it's on the left hand side by the air filter box). This might need fettling.

4. Even though I've done all of the above, my little lights sometimes glow dimly when I charge my wife's old Nokia 3310 (please don't laugh!) phone from the lighter socket. When it's fully charged, I know, because the temperature light starts flashing!

Re: Glow plug light on dimly while driving.

Posted: 27 Jul 2017, 15:38
by RogerT
Thanks Colin. That sounds ok, earthing I can live with. My dash crowns are gleaming, and my instrument connector was pretty good last time I had it out, so I'm guessing it's my earth under the air filter - the most difficult to get to. It'll need to wait til I get home I guess.

Re: Glow plug light on dimly while driving.

Posted: 28 Jul 2017, 21:47
by RogerT
Hmm, just lost my oil pressure light on startup... fingers crossed.