heater plug timing

[Bigammer]

Hi chaps,

how long should the heater plugs stay on, mine only stay on for around five seconds.

[Surfer Ross]

If I recall correctly, the glowplug light on the dash is not an indication of how long the plugs are operating for. On both my current and previous 3.0TDs, the light stays on for about a second.

[stormforce]

the g/plug light is on for a split second but you need to wait for between 5 and 10 seconds or until you hear the click of the relay then its ready to start up

[Bigammer]

Thanks guys,

would have thought that the light should stay on when plugs are energized,and go off when ready to start.....

[soramad]

on mine i never see the light i just turn the key and it starts, no whirring, no hesitation, first turnover start, been like that ever since i bought it .

[KERRSURF]

on mine i never see the light i just turn the key and it starts, no whirring, no hesitation, first turnover start, been like that ever since i bought it .

In minus 8 conditions it will get a bit lurchy, trust me I know.

It's worth giving it at least 10 seconds as has been said.

[stormforce]

on mine i never see the light i just turn the key and it starts, no whirring, no hesitation, first turnover start, been like that ever since i bought it .

i used to due that quite often then all of a sudden when the weather started to change i was getting problems starting.If your glowplugs had been changed then you can probably do like you do but like alot of us the glowplugs are old and end up need replacing.
The relay is set for 10 seconds as that is how long it will take for the glowplugs to get up to temp and heat the fuel in order to fire up properly.

[Bigammer]

cheers guys,

It starts ok, well may need a new battery as needed the jump leads on this morning, I was just curious about the timing, as I could hear the relay click off when I hadn`t started it immediately...and this was longer thanth glowplug light!

[KERRSURF]

My truck got really sluggish on starting with the cold weather.
I changed both batteries to the correct amps btw! old ones were knackered.
Starts no problem now.

[Adarsha & The Beast]

Anyone know of a good diesel garage near Swansea/Carmarthen?

My truck is getting a bit frosty in the morning, I wait ... glow plug light goes out, wait for the click .... turn the engine... getting harder to start it. Two new batteries on last year, they are still ok. I'm guessing it's old glowplugs.

As I live in Ammanford near to Swansea and not far from Carmarthen, does anyone on the forum now someone reliable I can trust with my truck to get it sorted out.

I really don't trust some local garages, my Vauxhall car went into one and came out with more symptoms than it went in with. Won't be going there again!

[KERRSURF]

What size batteries did you fit?

[TonyN]

3.0 have ceramic glow plugs that heat up far quicker than 2.4's. You only need a couple of secs to start a 1KZ/TE, i did post the glow and afterglow chart up awhile back for someone, it's like 0.5-1 sec for heat, then it afterglows for a few secs at 6 volts or so after its started.