Hi
I have recently fitted a set of cheap glow plugs that I bought off ebay.
(£13.00 for a set). I found that plug no 3 was non operational.
Initially the start up was much improved. However now I need to preheat the glow plugs around 3 times to get a good clean start. (Or she smokes very badly)
I have checked that the 12-volt feed goes to all plugs and switches off when it should.
So do I have?
1) Dodgy cheap glow plugs
2) A problem elsewhere
Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated
Cheers
Robert
Glow Plugs
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Glow Plugs
1998 Grand Espace 2.2 TD 'S' Reg
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Poor, cheap glowplugs I'd say It really pays to buy good 'uns and you can't go far wrong with a set of BERU ones from GSF. They're not nuch dearer really. And for the hassle of fitting them it pasys to get good ones so you are not doing the job too often!
To test the system, place a voltmeter from one glowplug to earth. Switch on and observe you have at least 11V showing for all the time your glowplug lamp is on. This should carry on for a bit after the light goes out if you have post-heating. You should hear a loud click as the pre-heat realy drops out. The plugs should glow for around 20s although this seems a little dependant on the ambient temperature.
Anything less than 11V points to a high resistance somewhere causing an excessive voltage drop. Check connections from battery right through to the plugs. The glowplug controller is rarely at fault.
To test the system, place a voltmeter from one glowplug to earth. Switch on and observe you have at least 11V showing for all the time your glowplug lamp is on. This should carry on for a bit after the light goes out if you have post-heating. You should hear a loud click as the pre-heat realy drops out. The plugs should glow for around 20s although this seems a little dependant on the ambient temperature.
Anything less than 11V points to a high resistance somewhere causing an excessive voltage drop. Check connections from battery right through to the plugs. The glowplug controller is rarely at fault.
Jim
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Runner, cyclist, time triallist, duathlete, Citroen AX fan and the CCC Citroenian 'From A to Z' Columnist...
Perhaps 1) Dodgy cheap glowplugs?
My stepfather regularly buys cheap glowplugs via ebay & has said in the past that for those from certain sellers there is about a 50% failure rate
Why does he keep buying them? Because they are so cheap, or so he says, that even if only 2 out of every 4 that he buys work, they are still cheaper than buying a decent set. Well you pays your money . . .
My stepfather regularly buys cheap glowplugs via ebay & has said in the past that for those from certain sellers there is about a 50% failure rate
Why does he keep buying them? Because they are so cheap, or so he says, that even if only 2 out of every 4 that he buys work, they are still cheaper than buying a decent set. Well you pays your money . . .
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I fitted some Hal***** glow plugs a few yrs ago to my Xantia.Not worth the money putting cheap ones in.I replaced the with Beru from ECP`s,which worked a treat up untill i got rid of the car.
When we got my wifes TD Astra,after 5 days it would`nt start.I put cheap Hal****** plugs in it,the lasted 5 mths.When i took them out,i wired them up to the battery & not 1 plug glowed.I spent nearly £60 on a set of champions,which are still working fine after 8 mths.
The only upside to this is they are a 15 min job to change on the Astra,not like my old Xantia!!!
It pays to buy the best.
When we got my wifes TD Astra,after 5 days it would`nt start.I put cheap Hal****** plugs in it,the lasted 5 mths.When i took them out,i wired them up to the battery & not 1 plug glowed.I spent nearly £60 on a set of champions,which are still working fine after 8 mths.
The only upside to this is they are a 15 min job to change on the Astra,not like my old Xantia!!!
It pays to buy the best.
53`406 est SE Hdi 140,110k
My stepfather runs a Cavalier & a Corsa and the glowplugs are similarly quick & easy to change on both of these too, I think thats why he tends to be a more "experimental" with the brands he uses.np wrote:The only upside to this is they are a 15 min job to change on the Astra,not like my old Xantia!!!
Last time I changed some on a Xantia I would have gladly paid top price to get a set that I was guaranteed never to have to touch again
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Just take the injection pipes off first. It was an easy job on my 2.1td withe the pipes off. I was changing the pump and remembered to change them just before I refitted the pipes.nesssalmon wrote:My hands have only just recovered from the last change Ahh well magnets and blue tac back out again.....
Neil
Now Citrtoenless
Now Citrtoenless