manual switch for glow plugs?

[T-Bone]

Hello,

I am thinking of trying to bypass the glow plug set up in my 84 D50. Found out that the plugs are good. However when I turn the key the glow plugs are not firing. I realize that there are two solinoids, one that sends 12v and one that sends 6v. Does anyone know If I could wire a manual switch through the 6v solinoid and just bypass all the electronics? Or which teminals I would hook the voltage up to?
Thanks for any information

[wrngwae]

if you do a manual button setup your gonna have to run 12volts. there is a dripping resistor in the system that lowers the voltage to 6. i have a manual setup and have been using it for 2yrs with minimal issues. so it can be done just go with a quality wire and gauge. a push button style starter switch and try it out. i only glow up for 5 sec max before trying to start.

[T-Bone]

Alright Thanks for the info. It seems somewhere that I read that one of the solenoids delivers 12v for 1 or 2 seconds while the 6v solenoid stays on for longer. If so, I am wondering if I could just run my switch into the 12v solenoid, and only juice them for 5 seconds? Meanwhile completely eliminate the 6v solenoid.

[DavetheDude]

On my diesel, I had a push button hooked up to run the glow plugs on 12v. I would only use it for 5 sec max continuously. Then I had another switch that put 6v on them that I used until it started to idle smoothly. Just bypass the resistor and you will get 12v to the glow plugs. Going through the resistor drops it to 6v.

[T-Bone]

Alright thanks for the help

[mikewarme]

Do me a favor and don't hack up your wiring like these rednecks are telling you too. Disconnect the wire energizing the relay that gets 12v to the plug and run a loop from battery into the dash and put a push button. Than wire back to the relay and hookup. Leave the wiring alone and don't cut anything in case you decide to fix the original system. EVEN though the plugs get hot , they could have bad resistance causing the glow box to think they are hot already. Could also just be a bad temperture sensor which also tells the box how much glow to provide. So don't n$#%^r your wiring! Do a "Temp" bypass to run it for now.

Mike (818) 268 3012

[T-Bone]

Where is the temp. sensor located? How can I test it? I think that it could be the sensor because I tested the plugs and they all have resistance. The relay is good because I hooked up a manual switch to it and I can hear it click on every time I fire the switch. Before I did the temporary modification, on cold mornings the truck wouldn't fire up, now after, it fires up fine, smokes a lot though. Thanks for the help

[mikewarme]

EVEN though they have resistance doesn't mean they are having the correct resistance. The glow controller reads the resistance and uses the values to turn on relays. The water sensor is on the head at the front. 2 pin connector. I'll get you directions to test

[T-Bone]

That would be great. Do you have to pull the glow plugs or can I just test them for resistance while they are still in the head? I tested them while they were still in the head and all showed just about the same resistance, with the voltmeter set to ohms.

[wrngwae]

it should be the combined value of all four. ther aluminum bar that makes connection to them makes it one connection.