glow plug help

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disco dude

Active Member
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287
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Northants
hi can any one advise me on this changed glowplugs in her today number 4 is fun to get to 3 and 2 done all removed with sooty deposits on them then no: 1 removed the air con pump and got the plug out and it was wet! with what im not sure smelt like fuel but the concistancy of oil

all help appreciated as im not sure on this, as never had this problem before im guessing oil but need an idea where from and can they be done in situe or is it the head off job?

i am guessing its happening on shut down as its wet not sopping

cheers
baz
 
I will be interested in the answer to this too, changed mine a couple of weeks ago and mine were the same 2,3,4 were dry and sooty but No 1 was wet. Coincidentally No 1 was the only one that worked when i tested them using jump leads:confused:
 
It is a shot glow plug that is just covered in unburnt fuel/oily deposit from the chamber-nothing to worry about-fit the new one-she will start better now-yes number 4 is a laugh to get to
 
I found number 4 a bit awkward but did it when pushing the pipes towards the bulkhead.

Job done, engine started went to drive off and the brakes were rock solid.

There is a tee piece in the vacuum pipe to the servo that I had broken so no servo assistance. So be careful.
 
smarty1972 said:
I will be interested in the answer to this too, changed mine a couple of weeks ago and mine were the same 2,3,4 were dry and sooty but No 1 was wet. Coincidentally No 1 was the only one that worked when i tested them using jump leads:confused:
Click to expand...
The sooty plugs are the ones that are heating and working-the oily ones are the ones which are not heating up for what ever reason-maybe bad contact or other.
 
biolandy said:
The sooty plugs are the ones that are heating and working-the oily ones are the ones which are not heating up for what ever reason-maybe bad contact or other.
Click to expand...

But the only one that worked out of the 4 taken out was the wet one when i used the jump leads onto a battery, the sooty ones didn't even get warm?
 
Was that plug actually in circuit?A non working glow plug is like a cold finger in the chamber and combustion products/unburnt fuel will condense on it-whereas a plug that starts life red hot will stay hot from the combustion process
 
Tbh i only tested the old plugs as i removed them but the only one that showed any life was the wet one from the front of the engine, although it had been stood for around an hour from last being used so don't know if this would be of any revelance. i have put a volt meter onto the tip of the newly fitted plugs and am getting a reading of 10.??v across them all.Cant't remember the exact figure.
 
You will see virtually the same voltage on the tops of the plugs as they are all joined in series-the feed comes in on no.4,and then jumps to 3 then 2 then 1-the voltage will be slightly higher on 4 as this is closest to the supply,but without an amazingly accurate meter you just are not going to see it,likewise a dead plug will still read the same whilst is is in circuit-the only real way to test them is either a DC clamp meter,or remove and test across the battery.I think you will find if you retest your sooty ones and make good contact they are working-and the oily one might be heating but is the tip glowing red hot-it is important that the tip glows red in around 5 secs
 
Thats how i tested them, i.e used a set of jump leads and put the positive to the glowplug tip and the negative to the threaded part of the plug and the sooted ones from 2,3 & 4 showed no life at all and the wet one smoked at first but then glowed red so can't really understand it, i thought that would be the dead one more than what the others were.
 
Two choices really,either a) lousy electrical contact during test,or b) they broke on removal from the engine-the only other choice is pot 1 is burning oil like crazy but you would know about that from smoking-or valve seals on pot 1 really shot but would be more smoke.
Point of note,it is worth testing new plugs before fitting-they have been known to be dead straight out of the box
 
It is strange, doesn't smoke at all even on over run etc so don't think it's anything serious. I did test the new ones using the same method with jump leads so they are all ok for now and does start easier even in this cold weather only pre heat once now instead of three and hope for the best lol. Got to get a new starter though when i can afford one as it turns over really slowly especially first thing but apart from that i'm happy:)
 
Ok cool I guess its down to being the last in the chain, will test and see if she is getting voltage then I guess that's all I can do at this time. Thanks all for your advice
 
smarty1972 said:
It is strange, doesn't smoke at all even on over run etc so don't think it's anything serious. I did test the new ones using the same method with jump leads so they are all ok for now and does start easier even in this cold weather only pre heat once now instead of three and hope for the best lol. Got to get a new starter though when i can afford one as it turns over really slowly especially first thing but apart from that i'm happy:)
Click to expand...
How old is the sump oil and what is earth lead like to the body-try jumping another earth to the engine with jump leads-what is it like now?
 
disco dude said:
Ok cool I guess its down to being the last in the chain, will test and see if she is getting voltage then I guess that's all I can do at this time. Thanks all for your advice
Click to expand...

You will always see voltage assuming relay is working,even on a dead plug-a better quick test,is to remove wire from top of plugs,and then stroke the tops with a jump lead from +ve-should see some small sparks,if plug is working-be careful,do not touch the engine at all,it will be an amazing short
 
And to think that my 2.5 1999 transit van don't have any glow plugs and yet jump in turn key and bang it starts,,But the TD5 has glow plugs i think later to day while its still freezing out of curiosity i will jump into the disco and turn the key straight away like i do in the transit van and will see if it starts .
 
Glow plugs are the easiest things in a Land Rover to test. You do NOT have to take them out to test them. All you need is a 12 volt test light with wire cord.Disconnect the wire from the pulgs ( because they are wired in series) connect one end of your test light to the power + side on the battery and touch the tip of the glow plug with the other end, if your test light
: lights that plug is OK. You have to do one plug at at time. You can do all four with a volt meter if you know the total value, and not all plugs are the same.
 
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