glow plug testing

hiya guys.

a neighbour who has a ford diesel was telling me the easy way to test glow plugs, i dont know if its true but seemed possible

he advised me that if i leave the ignition off, get a one or two strands of wire put one end on the positive side of the battery then to get the other end of the wire to gently touch the nut on the glow plug if it gently sparks it means the glow plug is ok.

if it doesnt spark at all it means it a duff glow plug and needs changing.

i tried this on mine and 2 of them were ok and 2 wernt.

once i can afford it will buy a set of 4 new glow plugs as i belive they are about £30.00 for a set of 4.

sorry to be so optimistic but was wondering what you guys thought, just thought it was a quick test without having to take them out, suppose the only way to prove it is when i do finally take them out and put them across the battery to see if they glow.

what do you think guys has anyone else heard this

thanks guys

gary

thanks as always

bollocks- jump leads (so if battery cell gases you dont have explosion)

remove glow plugs and clamp negative round body use positive on terminal-should glow evenly.
also if tip looks distorted compared to others=faulty

thanks my friend i knew it was better to ask here.

i think it will be better to wait until i can get a new set of glow plugs as they arnt very expensive and then test them like you say for clarity when i take them out.

may i ask who you recommend for parts plese as there are so may mail order companies out there like britpart, craddock etc etc

thanks as always

gary

Personally bripart are avoided as we asked them to come on and discuss issues with quality and customer service- never respond after multiple requests.
So that's why common name is ****part - seem only interested in cheapest of the cheap and not worried about quality control.

Paddocks craddocks,mailorder4x4 etc just ask glowplug make when buying.
NGK , denso or other well known brands.

Glowplugs are only electrical elements, if there is a spark when you put a wire from the battery to it, there is a circuit and the plug is probably O.K. If there is no spark it is open circuit and faulty. Seems a pretty good way to test them.

ianda12 said:

Glowplugs are only electrical elements, if there is a spark when you put a wire from the battery to it, there is a circuit and the plug is probably O.K. If there is no spark it is open circuit and faulty. Seems a pretty good way to test them.

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your talking Bollocks, removal and test only way or if you know resistance they are ment to read to be in spec ( eg iveco daily 2.3hpi can tell faulty glow plug)

yep you have to take them out, see them glow

One assumes that you could test by measuring the current draw on each?

ianda12 said:

Glowplugs are only electrical elements, if there is a spark when you put a wire from the battery to it, there is a circuit and the plug is probably O.K. If there is no spark it is open circuit and faulty. Seems a pretty good way to test them.

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you'd get a spark if they were shorted - but they'd not get hot

The Mad Hat Man said:

One assumes that you could test by measuring the current draw on each?

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Correct some of the fiat/iveco's measure the resistance of glow plugs and will bring on red injector light after starting to show fault.

In theory you can tell with spesified resistance, but a visual check identifies physical deterioration and on direct injection a glowplug breaking up is bad news

anyone got the specs on the 200, 300 and TD5 glo-plugs?

maybe in auto data, but my Glenfidich means I'm not moving very far

You would get a b****y great spark if they were shorted and it would already of blown the fuse to your glowplugs or burnt out your wiring

ianda12 said:

You would get a b****y great spark if they were shorted and it would already of blown the fuse to your glowplugs or burnt out your wiring

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Me I know nothing about electrical stuff, neither does Mad Had Man

You could check the resistance to earth whilst they are still in place, if all four are similar they are probably O.K. as the chances of all four developing the same fault without going open circuit is small.

ianda12 said:

You could check the resistance to earth whilst they are still in place, if all four are similar they are probably O.K. as the chances of all four developing the same fault without going open circuit is small.

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you'd need a pretty fancy ohmmeter to be able to do that with any accuracy - shirly a short will look very similar to a good plug ?

But the underlying issue is you couldn't see physical condition

reckon my fluke 1653 would do the job

just burn the fooking thing

Yes, the resistance will be very small, i would use a Mega, as they will measure that accurate. Most 'Sparks' will have one.