Glow plugs

[sleeper88]

Hi,

My series 3 has been getting harder and harder to start as its been getting colder, so my thoughts turned to the glow plugs.

My 2.25 diesel has the new style parallel glow plugs installed (they were in it when I bought it) my question is should the ballast resistor still be in series with the plugs or are they 12v?  As the output to the plugs is about 8v.

Thanks

Dave

[Andy the Landy]

Dont know about the ballast resister but my plugs have an output of 10v connected in series though, and not parallel, to a 12v negative earth. Have you checked if one of the plugs is down?

[muddyweb]

If it's got the plugs from the 2.5D engine, then I'm fairly sure you don't need the ballast resistor, and they should be running on 12V.

Saying that, my old S3 diesel used to need a good 20-30 seconds of preheat on a cold morning before it would even entertain the notion of starting.

[sleeper88]

Thanks Guys,

I'll let you know how it goes

Dave

[Sharpshooter]

My 2.5 diesel has no balast resistor. They do draw alot of current, that could be why it has trouble starting.

I have just fixed my mates 2.25 diesel because the balast resistor was on its last legs. We also found that someone had put another earth from the last plug to the block, and that was sucking all the power from the glow plugs.

Just make sure that the plugs are ok (take them out, and use a set of jump leads to power them up) They are about £20 a set i think) :lol:

[sleeper88]

Pulled out one of the plugs today

without the balast resistor plug was glowing red within 10 seconds (straight accross the battery)

with the balast resistor it took 30 seconds before the same plug glowed red
as I dont have a spare solonoid I will wait the 30 seconds
and re wire it in the summer

thanks for your help

Dave

[hobbit]

Rewire them direct through a spring loaded switch and relay, then you can activate it yourself as needed for as long as you need