Relay's and Upgrades?

[Rot Box]

I decided that (for my sanity) I am going to have a well know diesel shop in town swap out my glow plugs. I have NEVER paid somone to work on anything of mine before, but I have a good feeling (even though he cringed, and swore when I mentioned 6.5 Turbo, and Glowplug in the same sentence :o ) as he has changed many plugs on 6.5L's in the past.

I was wondering if it would it be a good idea to change out my relay while it is down? I will have the current one tested, but I wonder because of it's age (95) if I should just change it anyway so that I don't have to question it later.

Basically when it comes to everything on this truck when something goes out I upgrade it to the best replacement I can get (can't wait to snap a crank...........well mabey I can $$$ :rolleyes: ). I am going to change my battery cables, and plugs, but what else should I conseder with the Glow system as far as upgrades?

Thanks for any input you guy's are great! :)

[tommac95]

You do want to get rid of old GPs before they mess up cylinders/precups.
In Utah , you do need effective GP system. I think if the mileage is below 100K the relay is probably OK. I am very impressed with the efficiency/reliability of the 6.2/6.5 preglow system as a whole, and the finely engineered , snap-action relay in particular.

A good test is [after installing new GPs AND checking/restoring(if necessary) the associated wires and connectors{maybe loose/corroded}] with a meter , check the current drawn by each GP , or by the whole lot (need larger capacity meter). If the relay's points are degraded, high resistance there will decrease the current to the GPs, netting less heat where needed.

[moondoggie]

Good Day!

All of the above is excellent information & you should consider trying these ideas.

Probably the best way to ascertain GP relay condition is to simply measure the voltage drop across the GP relay contacts while the GPs are powered. Simply clip a voltmeter lead on each of the big terminals of the relay, turn the key, & monitor the voltage. I've never done this - I've never had glow plug relay problems - but I'd guess the voltage drop across the GP relay terminals should be less than 0.5V or so.

There's a chance this is a reliable part - I don't recall reading about problems with them on the Page over the years. On the other hand, they're pretty simple to change out, so if folks had trouble they might not start a topic about it.

Blessings!

[Rot Box]

Thanks for the help! I'll post some feed back on it, and hopefully the mechanic has better luck than I did with the plugs........:rolleyes: