Glow plug voltage drop

[raunch]

Finally got myself a diesel, and so begins the learning curve. I grew up driving them, but driving one as a teen and owning/maintaining one as an adult are completely different. The question is; How much voltage drop is normal when the glow plugs kick on? Last night right after staring up, the glow plugs came on for a second and the volts took a dive down to 8 or so. Just wondering if this is normal.

A big reason I am asking is that there have been some voltage issues since the emission techs at the test station hooked up thier 12V power supply under the hood. Don't know exaclty where, but that evening the volts while driving were down to about 10V. Last night at idle volts were at a normal 13V.
Thanks

[john8662]

You should see a substantial drop in the in-cab voltage gauge, this is normal when in "after glow" mode.

Weird on the emissions test, I think this is why I like to find the most shady state inspection places in town, no hassle.

J

[Robyn]

If you get some putz screwing around and they hook something up wrong the alternator can get damaged.

I wont let those clowns mess around under the hood at all. It stays locked down tight.
I will only let them stick there sniffer up the tail pipe/pipes and do the opacity test.

There is nothing under the hood that they have any need to mess with.
The issue is that if they screw something up, guess who gets to pay to have it fixed, YUP you do.

Oh and yes the voltage issue when the plugs cycle is perfectly normal.
I have never had one that did not do it that way.

Robyn

[raunch]

Thanks all. Going to get myself a good meter today and do some checking on the voltage under the hood.