glow plug brands

[Diesel 4 blood]

OK my 94 6.5 td is running and the glow plugs are working but they take a long time to heat up I want to replace them but I was looking for other people's opinions on brands Bosch Borg Warner NGK never been a fan of anything auto lite

[DennisG01]

I have a set of Beru's in there, but you'll find the most popular brand will be the AC Delco 60g's.

Kennedy Diesel has a good price on his "quick heats", right now.

[sctrailrider]

I got mine from Kennedy Diesel , good price and John will answer any question you have...

[Diesel 4 blood]

I am also curious what kind of MPG these engines get on average my trk is a 94 2500 auto 4x4 with about 250k on it I'm going to straight pipe it don't know if I'm going to keep it under or going with stacks since I have a kit siting in the shop then a cat air filter to help it breath I need a trk that gits decent MPG my 01 cummins only gits 16 MPG

[sctrailrider]

I get 20mpg on the road running 70-75, I don't do any city driving with it, when towing heavy I get around 12mpg.

[mrwilecoyote]

I run Duratherms. Had pretty good luck with them. They are cheap too.

[Diesel 4 blood]

How long should the glow plugs run on first start its 20-30f up here I know both my 91 and 01 cummins grid plats run about 30 sec the 6.5 only heats for maybe 10 sec if I'm lucky

[DennisG01]

It's going to depend on the ECM programming (Kennedy set extra glow time into my program). It's been a while since I've had the stock program, but about 10 seconds sounds about right for the initial glow, followed by a few shorts bursts after it starts. If you disconnect the coolant temp sensor it will trick the ECM into thinking it's super cold and give you max glow time. This doesn't solve your problem as it's not a feasible thing to do every day, but it at least can give you (and us) more information about how your system is functioning.

Now, I have a '98 (OBDII) and you have a '94 (OBDI) so it may operate a little differently - but maybe someone can verify that.

You mentioned "glow plugs are working". How have you verified that they are working?

[Diesel 4 blood]

I pulled 7 of them out cus I wasn't going to fight with #8 cylinder and hooked them to a bat and it took an honest 15 sec maybe 20 for them to start to glow they take forever to heat I bought new AC 60g's and was going to put them in cus them taking that long to heat didn't sound right to me I normally work on larger diesels without starting aids and the B series cummins and they don't have very many problems with the grid heater

[DennisG01]

I think you're right - that's too long to get hot. Sounds like they're past their useful life.

Sometimes we have to ask the easy question - once in a while, the response is "because the wait-to-start light comes on". :) Just trying to cover all bases.

[Diesel 4 blood]

K I understand thanks for the help is there any yous full tricks to get #8 plug out to me it looks like I haft to drop the down pipe to get to it

[mrwilecoyote]

I think I got it from the wheelwell but it's been awhile.

[DennisG01]

I think I got it from the wheelwell but it's been awhile.

Been a while for me, too. But that sounds right. I think the inner splash shield is all that "needs" to come off, but for some reason I think I remember taking the entire inner fender out. Hmmm... could I have done it from underneath the truck? Sorry, I'm a little fuzzy on what I did.

[DaveNY]

Was Just in there(new harness) remembering getting #8 out while on my back. broke it loose with 1/4 in drive and then put a piece of Vac hose over the spade and spun it out and back in. Then a Quick twist with the socket. Also pulled rubber splash shield and remove heat shield for the front three and do the same with them, the hose helps alot.
Good Luck
Dave
PS 41 degrees today and stopwatch said 5.8 sec first glow, and I get 16-17 MPG if I keep it under 65.

[Diesel 4 blood]

I fought for about 2 hrs on #8 I think I'm just going to drop the down pipe I can't get the ratchet on it am I just over thinking it or just didn't finesse it just right hope I spelled that right I did graduate high school in 5th grade spelling but haven't needed spelling twisting wrenches

[DennisG01]

The V-band clamp that holds the downpipe to the manifold can sometimes be a bit of a pain to get it lined back up - simply because it's hard to get your hand in there. But overall, it's not really that bad. I'd assume you have experience with this type of clamp, or at least something similar so I'm sure you won't have a problem. Depending on how the rest of your exhaust is hooked up, you may not need to loosen anything else since once the v-band is off, the downpipe can be moved around a bit and that may give you enough clearance.

A little tip for reattaching the v-band... Sometimes you can do it just fine from the top... one hand pulling it up while the other slips the v-band around. Other times, it might help to have a second set of hands push up on the downpipe from underneath to hold it in position. If you don't have a helper, you can use a jack to hold it up.

[Diesel 4 blood]

K thanks for the info I'm headed to town to day to work on his JD cat then I'm going to work on the 94 tonight

[Diesel 4 blood]

So just finished putting in the glow plugs started awesome given I had a 125k torpedo heater running for about 5 hours while I was fighting sub 0 wires so I'll see how she starts tomorrow without heat

[DennisG01]

Good luck - let's hope you got it!

[Diesel 4 blood]

OK tried to start the truck this morning crank no start I'm leaning towards the pmd it tries to start but won't take hold it will just about take hold and idle but as soon as let go of the key it will spit and sputter for about a second then die am I leaning in the right direction o before I forget it was about 10 below last night

[DennisG01]

Well, it sure does sound like a failed PMD. It's, at least, exhibiting the proper symptoms. But it seems like an awful big coincidence to have the PMD all of sudden go bad. Maybe too big of a coincidence, you know? I'm not an expert, but I always thought (and it's been my experience) that a PMD wouldn't just "go bad" - that it would show a progression towards the grave, so to speak.

When the Wait To Start light comes on, are you getting 12v at the plugs?

[Diesel 4 blood]

Ya that's why I'm a little frustrated with my multi meeter I get 12v at all eight wires and once it starts and the initial cold is out of the engine then it starts great the rest of the day

[DennisG01]

Weird.

Has it started since you made post #20?

Well, it wouldn't be a waste of money to buy another PMD. There's quite a few of us 6.5'ers (including me) that keep a spare PMD onboard. If you buy one and it doesn't solve the problem, you've got your spare.

Maybe someone else can help shed some more light on this, too.

Just a wild thought... What if the glow plug wires are "good enough" to pass through 12v, but not good enough to pass the required amperage (which I think is somewhere approaching 15 amps). Can your DVM read amps that high? I may be going at this wrong, but if it was me I'd do an amp draw test between the plug and it's wire. Or, (possibly even better since you can see the plug) remove the plug and ground it (keeping the wire attached... then have someone turn on the key and observe the plug. Just start with plugs that are easy to reach.

[Diesel 4 blood]

Ya that's the funny thing these trucks only came with a 600 or 650 amp block heater which isn't that big but anyway I plugged it in for about 2hrs and took me giving it half throttle while cranking so she would want to actually run but after it started went to the neighbors house was there for about 6hrs and it was right close to 0 the hole time I was there and went to leave and it started just like my 12 valve on the second crank sound

[DennisG01]

Even in 0* temp's, I typically only need about 2 to 3 hours of block heater time. I'm running an 18:1, which starts a little harder in cold temps, but I also have some extended glow time built into the ECM programming. I'm not sure if that equals things out, or not, but that's my experience anyways.

Other than the PMD starting to fail and cause intermittent starting issues, I'd have to venture a guess that it sounds (especially since it's just hard to start) like some type of glow issue.

Did you try, or find out any more info, about the coolant temp sensor trick (post #8)?

Yeah, once the engine is warm, it takes quite a bit of time for it to cool down all the way to the core.

[Diesel 4 blood]

Yep tried unplugging both temp senders doesn't make a difference and I tried taking a new glow plug and hooking it to each wire with plug body grounded and all eight wires got to full glow in about the same amount of time

[DennisG01]

Well, I think I'm pretty well stumped.:) I suppose your engine could just be one that doesn't like the cold (not that any 6.5 is a huge fan to start with!). If the glows are good (which it seems like they are), then it might just need that few hours of block heat.

The last thing I can think of, so far, is about the glow time. First thing in the morning, time how long the WTS light stays on the first time. Then, unplug your temp senders and repeat. It should take longer. To be honest, I'm not really sure where I'm going with this... But it seems like something that would be good to check? To insure that the cold weather glow programming is working?

[Diesel 4 blood]

The WTSL is on for about 10sec and it isn't much longer with sending units unplugged thanks for the input I'm going to get a hold of the previous owner and c if this truck was a ether baby if so then she is due for a rebuild:mad:

[DennisG01]

Thought of this on the way in to work this morning... do you think the fuel could be starting to gel inside the filter manager?

[Diesel 4 blood]

I don't think so its mixed pretty heavy with stanadine

[DennisG01]

Gotcha. Well, I think I'm totally out of ideas, now! :eek:

Sorry I couldn't help more, but good luck with it!

[phantom309]

My best internet guess is its losing fuel prime somewhere overnight,.
after its run a while and worked the air out, it holds its prime for a few hours and starts no problem,.

nick

[Diesel 4 blood]

Thank you to all for the input I'll look at the fuel system and c where it goes from there worst case I'll rummage through the 35 trucks I got laying around and rig in a ford solenoid and c if the extra glow time helps

[Diesel 4 blood]

So I mixed the fuel really heavy with 2cycle and let her idle about 2hrs a day went through about 15 gallons of fuel and she is starting to start better so I know on my 12 valve when it sits a about a year it starts hard and burns oil pretty sure the rings start to unseat and now to the point this 6.5 had ben sitting 4 years un started do the rings un seat like the gas engines

[DennisG01]

4 years? Well, shoot, that would certainly explain a lot! Probably would've been good to lead with the little tidbit of info! :)

I can't answer the rings question, but I would burn off whatever fuel you have by "driving it like you stole it" as much as possible. Then check (change if needed) the filter and fill with fresh diesel and do a little more hard driving and see how it does.

[Diesel 4 blood]

When I got the truck drained entire fuel system except IP and IN lines and traded fuel filter and changed the oil what little I have drove it doesn't seam to burn oil once it gets worm

[DmaxMaverick]

Don't worry about the fuel, unless it's contaminated or growing (algae). The sticky rings may be an issue, but should clear up and stay that way with some running. Using some MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil) or ATF in the oil for a while should clear that up quicker. Other than that, just drive it like you stole it!

[Diesel 4 blood]

Thanks for the info I will let my dad know when I drive it next time that this is necessary hopefully I don't end up with a duster (slap to the back of the head) I may be 25 but he is always lecturing me on my acceleration habits

[Ricktinfwb]

Guys I just cut right to the chase and bored a 1 1/2" hole directly outboard of the #8 glow plug in the fender liner.....helps tremendously.....also placed a plastic 'plug' into the hole afterwards....
I use a 1/4" drive deep well socket and extension to get the glow plug out.
The #6 can be 'fought' out through the mud flap over the suspension.

[Diesel 4 blood]

I ended up using a 3/8 deep socket with a 1/4 to 3/8 adapter and worked great on #8 I am thinking of fabing in a grid heater off of a cummins and seeing if she will start on that