Diesel Place banner

83 glow plug issues

10K views 46 replies 8 participants last post by  Soaper 
#1 ·
I went out today and didnt have my block heater plugged in.
So the gotta wait for glowplugs to do there job and do a awesome cold start.

Anyway i turned the key and the light lit up then immediatly turned off. Not even 2 seconds... usualy 8 or 15 seconds.

Well i waited 20 seconds figuring the light bulb died..
Cranked it for 30 seconds and nothing.

Popped hood and my negative cable on top battery was broken off... odd that the van still cranked.

I went and got the new part for battery cable. Went to turn on van and glow plugs no light up.


I also put my voltage meter on the glow plug controller. Niether post has any current.

Is there a fuse in fuse box i can replace or a fuisble link??
Which stud is power in?
Where does the power wire orginate from???

Thanks. Sadly im working on this right now. I bought a new controller in case i fired it. But not replaceing till i have power.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
I think it is fusible links right there where the wires come out of the harness, if im not mistaken
 
#3 ·
The power goes from the battery to the starter and feed off of it are wires with fuseable links going from the passenger side towards the GP controller.

I believe the power comes to the stud closer to the center line of the engine but not 100% sure.
 
#7 ·
I love my home, it's been about 70 degrees here for days
 
#9 ·
Take a pair of booster cables and jump the large terminals on the GP controller. You'll know that you power to there at least.
 
#14 ·



Dang it it's an old style one, I take it you have a controller like this one right?

At the moment I can't pull up a decent diagram.
 
#18 ·
Ya I get ya but you have the controller that's pictured and I can't find a wiring diagram for it that I can read.

From your diagram check if the small left hand terminal is a ground, some solenoids are internally grounded. No wire, no problem cause it's internally grounded.

After that I'd try to jump from the battery to the small right hand side terminal and listen for a click, this is a low current control side of the solenoid. If this works it's a fuse, controller or wiring issue.

After that I'd take a pair of boaster cables or really heavy wire and jump from the battery positive to the left hand side of the solenoid and key cycle to check GP's. If this works it's a fuseable link problem.

If that doesn't work try and jump the 2 large terminals with boaster cables or heavy wire, there will be no click of the solenoid, just power being directly put to your GP's. Don't do this for more than 10 sec because you will burn out the GP's if this works. And if this works replace the solenoid.
 
#19 ·
BBT thanks, i plan on doing this in a minute.
I found a slice in the jacket to the starter so im replacing that right now... sometimes i wish i had a truck. but hell i love my van... IN some aspects its easier to work on than a truck.. but other times it puts a fight up.


Lemme ask this.
IS there a fuse in the dash fuse box for the glow plug controller?

Where does the Glow Plug Controller get its power from?
im pretty sure its not the fusible links near the battery cause those are constant 12x... i honestly dont know what they plug into.

Its either from the batterys somewhere i cant see or possible from the ALT

my starter is your basic power wire and trigger activate wire... so nothing there.


Thanks for all the help guys.sadly still needing these final detals.
 
#20 ·
Found this info at http://coloradok5.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2957961

1982---84 Models
The Glow Plug Control System - Consists of a thermal controller, a glow plug relay, 6 volt glow plugs and a glow plug warning lamp, Fig. 5.
The Thermal Controller - Mounted in the water passage at the rear of the engine controls glow plug ooperation using thermostatic elements within the controller which open or close the ground circuit to the glow plug relay as necessary.
The Glow Plug Relay - Located on the left inner fender panel, provides current to the glow plugs as long as the thermal controller completes the ground circuit.
The 6 Volt Glow Plugs--Used in This 12 Volt System - Are pulsed ON and OFF by the glow plug relay in response to messages received by the controller to prevent damage to the glow plugs.
The Glow Plug Warning Lamp - Mounted in the instrument cluster, and wired across the glow plugs, illuminateds whenever the glow plugs are heating.
Cold Starting
Initially, during cold starting, the glow plugs are activated continuously for 71/2---9 seconds at 0°F.
Engine Warm-up
The glow plugs then pulse on and off at a rate determined by the thermal characteristics of the controller, to provide stable engine warm-up.
As the engine warms up the controller turns off all current to the relay, de-energizing the glow plugs.
In Addition
The controller is capable of varying glow plug operation as needed to allow proper operation during cold starting when little or no heating is required.
In the Event of Controller Failure
A circuit breaker within the controller opens and current to the glow plugs is cut off in the event of controller failure--as in the case of prolonged preheat.

1982---84
Disconnect electrical connector from thermal controller.
Measure resistance between controller terminals using high impedance, digital ohmmeter set on 200 ohms scale.
Resistance should be as follows:
Pins 2 to 3 ................0.40---0.75 ohms
Pins 4 to 5 ....................24---30 ohms
Pins 1 to 5 ..................117---143 ohms
Pins 2 to 6 .............Continuity (0) ohms
If resistance values are not as specified, controller is defective.
If resistance values are within specifications, reconnect electrical connector and observe controller operation with ignition key in on position and engine stopped.
If controller cycles more than one time, controller is satisfactory.
If controller cycles only once, check for a short or open in harness as outlined in ``System Diagnosis.''
If all other components are satisfactory, but controller cycles only once in step 5, replace controller and recheck system operation.



My old round style controller went bad (massive corrosion between the wiring harness plug and the controller), so I disconnected it and setup a manual push button controller by wiring up a switch to give the signal side of the relay 12v dc. Clunk, and the high amp side of the relay engages. ACDelco 60gs as well.
 
#21 ·
This is a great diagram Zetan. B+ has to be on the one side of the solenoid. If you don't have 12 volts there, get it there, straight from the battery. If memory serves me (risky) the blue wire on the small terminal of the solenoid will activate the solenoid if grounded with the key on. All it takes is a short length of wire touch to the blue wire terminal and other end to a good ground and solenoid should engage. The manual push button with the stock 82-84 controllers only required running a wire from the blue terminal to a push button switch and the other side of the switch to ground. Works every time.
 
#25 ·
X2 on being a good diagram, be good to have it and the trouble shooting info moved into the FAQ's......good work as usual Zetan.....j&j.
 
#22 ·
ya my solenoid is completely dead, i had to jump it last night to get it working..

So since my ground cable died, my battery faulted and my glow plug relay faulted and the battery power wire to starter was messed up. so im glad i got it changed.
but damn did that hurt the wallet.

new starter in and those things are beast to install compared to a 350 starter.
ran a new 4ga wire. its all i had... the one i replaced was a 2 ga. as long as it lasts till summer im happy. i hate working in the cold.

Tested the Glow Plug Relay, on the battery side... has 12V, then tested the trigger wire and it also gets voltage when key engaged. 7-12v which seems right.
so out to go replace solenoid and hopefully all is good after that.
 
#23 ·
welllllll. alrite so heres my situation.

glow plug relay has power to the + side
the trigger wire that connects to the solenoid gets 12V when key is turned on.

but yet the relay does not engage???? when my relay engages it makes a distinctive CLICK thats loud as hell.

now im sitting in the van staring at it since dog house it removed... i can hear something clicking on the front side of the van...

if i have power to the relay and trigger power. why will it not engage? its a new relay btw
 
#24 · (Edited)
The fuel shutoff solenoid in the injection pump will click when you turn on the key.
Top pink wire.

Is the engine block ground wire in good condition? Mine is front driversides behind the clutch pedal zbar mount and goes to the main batts.

Did you ohm test the GP controller?

Can you test your GP relay in isolation with a standalone 12v battery to confirm it's working?

Make sure the wiring terminal above the battery where all the fuesable links goes is in tip top shape.
Any corrosion around those terminals and you'll lose high amp ability but still get voltage readings.
Unbolt each wiring terminal and sand the connectors shiny then put it all back.

Just as a double check, Please confirm you installed the starter brace bar on the end of the starter nose to the block.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Yes the ground is in good condition. i made sure to check that last night when i ran my new starter wire.


i dont know how to OHM test the GP relay and i dont know how to test it the GPR in standalone.

Those wires are all in good shape. i pulled them off yesterday and sanded the connections.


What is the starter brace bar?


yesterday when it was just the one battery grounded to the block. *didnt realize this till too late* and turned van on light turned on then died within a second.

well i tried cranking anyway... when i popped the hood. i could smell the prescene of a wire that possibly melted
 
#27 · (Edited)
just went back outside and hooked a jumper cable to POS then touched the other end to the + side of relay with key on. no click no nothing.

so then i touched it to the glowplug side and light came on in dash.
*did not hold on these longer than 5secs *

i also took the trigger wire off and touched 12v to where its triggerd... nothing. no clicky click!

whats the chance my relay is crap? even though its brand new.
 
#30 · (Edited)
Bad things happen without it on there, I would order one up or make your own if you have a piece of angle iron kicking around

Here is a nice pic of the 2 types of brackets
Gear reduction is on the top
Direct Drive on the bottom.

 
#33 ·
no thats on the newer style...
mine looks more like a relay.




D Camilleri
yes pink gets 12v when the ignition gets turned on.
Im gonna go back outside and test it one more time. im gonna run jumper plugs and see if itll engage... if it does imma be so pissed for overlooking that ground.

Since it looked like a relay i thought it would ground itself to the block through the mounting brackets.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top