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normspanners
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how are they connected on this vehicle ? it should tell you that it has a glow plug down, the heater plug light would be on or flashing
what year also is engine fiat vauxhall or izuzu?
what year also is engine fiat vauxhall or izuzu?
octo0072000
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sounds like izuzu engine
It's probably also worth taking the bus bar off the glow plugs, and checking that the plugs themselves are OK. If you have an Ohmmeter, you can check their resistance values to see if they have gone open circuit
the glow plug circuit on these are a bit peculiar they glow as normal then once the vehicle has started they have what's called after glow for anything up to a minute depending on alternator output or road speed that said they can be a bit of a mare to diagnose also suffer from tight inlet valve clearances causing poor compression is the most likely or you have one or more glow plugs that have gone open circuit
also make sure you put penetrating oil in the glow plugs when engine is hot do this a few times over a week or so and be gentle trying to remove the plugs if they go tight just tighten them and loosen keep working then they can break off in the head
It's probably also worth taking the bus bar off the glow plugs, and checking that the plugs themselves are OK. If you have an Ohmmeter, you can check their resistance values to see if they have gone open circuit
the glow plug circuit on these are a bit peculiar they glow as normal then once the vehicle has started they have what's called after glow for anything up to a minute depending on alternator output or road speed that said they can be a bit of a mare to diagnose also suffer from tight inlet valve clearances causing poor compression is the most likely or you have one or more glow plugs that have gone open circuit
also make sure you put penetrating oil in the glow plugs when engine is hot do this a few times over a week or so and be gentle trying to remove the plugs if they go tight just tighten them and loosen keep working then they can break off in the head
MattF
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Is it not something like a sensor on the inlet manifold which controls that?
KemppiFrog
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Or a timer on the relay.
me wifes got a vauxhall corsa, its only starting on 3cyls in the morn, fine the rest of the day/evening.
so im assuming its a glow plug gone, now in not to good with elecs and testing them
is the a easy way to do a test to find out wich one is caput??
thanks.
I don,t think that a faulty glowplug would cause it to fire on three
I believe some four cylinder cars are only fitted with three glow plug as the fourth would be inpossible to get at.
On my rover you cannot get one of the glow plugs out without removing the injector pump so it is commomn practise to change three.
So your fault May lie elswhere?
normspanners
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You usually can tell in VERY cold weather if you have one plug down but this time of year you probably would not, thats why I asked the engine type because of 1/the after glow, but 2/ I think your problem is more likely as mentioned tight valve clearances, it wont be just one valve it will be all of them that need adjusting but it is only one that is giving you the symptom, AT THE MOMENT but it will get worse and can damage the head /valve seats.
CompoSimmonite
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First time I did that I held onto the glow plug. I didn't realise they heat up virtually instantly and ended with burn fingers
If you find one is duff then seriously consider changing all 4. I find once you have replace one then sods law says the others will also fail soon after - one by one !
If you have a multimeter you can check them in situ. Remove the connection on the top and then check if conectivity from it to earth. If none then definatley duff.
Paul h
octo0072000
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more like a timer relay i would think
my old 2.8 pajero worked on a similar system glows on for full for 12 seconds then half power for a minute that would start and run on 3 cylinders for a few mins that was caused by one duf plug you would not ever think it would do it but it did
Jim_gsxr1000
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Just put 12V across the terminsals
AndyStobbs
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Plenty of ways of doing it. Never tried it but I would bet a compass placed on the rail would swing away from north at the time of plugs being turned on.
Take rail off one plug and measure resistance between that plug and battery -ve. replace rail, measure resistance between rail and battery -ve. If first reading isn't approx 1/4 of second reading then one or more plugs is duff.
Or as said remove and test with wire, for a vehicle of this age that will work, but you should be careful doing it on very modern cars, due to different glow plug construction.
Take rail off one plug and measure resistance between that plug and battery -ve. replace rail, measure resistance between rail and battery -ve. If first reading isn't approx 1/4 of second reading then one or more plugs is duff.
Or as said remove and test with wire, for a vehicle of this age that will work, but you should be careful doing it on very modern cars, due to different glow plug construction.
madkayaker
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Get a positive lead off the battery and look for spark as you hold it close to the terminal on the plug. Be aware though that any earthed part of the vehicle will cause a spark and if touched a short circuit.
Safer to use a multimeter but the above does work
Safer to use a multimeter but the above does work
Years ago I had a similar problem and I didn't know much about diesel engines so I took it to a diesel specialist. It only took him 10 minutes to carry out the following procedure, one of the glow plugs needed replacing and that's all he charged me for.
Only do this if your 100% sure you know what you're doing or take it somewhere if you don't.
Unscrew all of the injectors or one at a time and pull them back so you can see into the cylinders, this is only possible if you have enough play on the pipework without causing damage, you must disconnect the electrical connections for each injector.
Don't disconnect the pipework as the fuel pressure supplying them can be extremely high and dangerous.
Put the ignition on and you can see the glowplugs glowing through the holes where the injectors screw in.
Only do this if your 100% sure you know what you're doing or take it somewhere if you don't.
Unscrew all of the injectors or one at a time and pull them back so you can see into the cylinders, this is only possible if you have enough play on the pipework without causing damage, you must disconnect the electrical connections for each injector.
Don't disconnect the pipework as the fuel pressure supplying them can be extremely high and dangerous.
Put the ignition on and you can see the glowplugs glowing through the holes where the injectors screw in.
zx9
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The above assumes that you can easily remove the injectors, I would leave them well alone or your next post may well be 'how do I remove a snapped injector?'
Last edited:
AndyStobbs
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Or 'why can I not find the electrical connector on my injector?'
