Glow plug wiring harness

[Popeye an old miner]

Do any of you fellas know who makes a good wiring harness for the glow plugs in case i need to get one, or maybe does International Harvester still make em. 1990 FSuper duty with a 7.3 IDI Diesel, no turbo, a strictly stock motor if that makes any difference.

Thank you

Popeye

[duramax-rob]

i found this article: https://www.oilburners.net/threads/7...harness.87032/

[duramax-rob]

Do any of you fellas know who makes a good wiring harness for the glow plugs in case i need to get one, or maybe does International Harvester still make em. 1990 FSuper duty with a 7.3 IDI Diesel, no turbo, a strictly stock motor if that makes any difference.

Thank you

Popeye

you might try: bulletproofdiesel.com phone number:888-967-6653 just a shot in the very dark! big on ford diesel aftermarket parts

[Popeye an old miner]

you might try: bulletproofdiesel.com phone number:888-967-6653 just a shot in the very dark! big on ford diesel aftermarket parts

Thank you I will callem tommorrow
Popeye

[Popeye an old miner]

i found this article: https://www.oilburners.net/threads/7...harness.87032/

That sounds to me like they are talkin about building your own harness or reworkin the connectors. I built one wiring harness for my old rig that had a 460 in it, it aint somethin i want to do again, it was no fun at all.

Im not exactly certain what the trouble is right now, i usually change the glowplugs evry 2 years, these are only in for about 9 months, I had another controller that Im not sure works or not, I put that in and it still dont work, the light comes on but goes out instantly but the controller clicks, evrything seems to check out according to the Haynes manual I been using for reference. The truck will start as long as I keep it plugged in so I think it will ok unless the temps go down to single digits.

This just started yesterday.

[BillE.Dee]

I used to work on them engines all the time at my shop. PUt a lot of turbos on them. Found that the controller was a bigger pain in the butt than a greyhound bus driver putting your luggage in the bus.

[duramax-rob]

I used to work on them engines all the time at my shop. PUt a lot of turbos on them. Found that the controller was a bigger pain in the butt than a greyhound bus driver putting your luggage in the bus.

i think he said that his engine is a 1990 pre turbo days. a non-turbo IDI (IN-DIRRECT INJECTION). maybe you could join that oil burners site and ask if anyone either has one made up already that would sell or walk you through the connectors to controller and what wires go to what controller connector and lengths. i know from years back that some were making the glow plugs shut off when the controllers messed up and stayed on too long. if you have to go the factory route, i would lay the new harness on a large cardboard and trace and mark harness to duplicate your own harness for later.

i did something similar like this above that before on my 2001 duramax when i wanted to wire in the cruise control to make it fast idle up for pto on transmission. now its done from factory.

[duramax-rob]

found another site: https://international4700parts.com/F..._1989_1991/p53


looks to be about $402. i know that a lot for an old truck but only 1/3 of a monthly truck payment. i always ask myself how many hours do i have to work to pay for old truck parts. hope link helps.

[duramax-rob]

i found on eBay this wire harness that could be it. $179 00 item# 184561941801. only 1 left. hope THIS helps

[Xsbank]

Do you really need glow plugs? My mid-90s 6CTA has none, starts before I can get the button released.

[ronsii]

Do you really need glow plugs? My mid-90s 6CTA has none, starts before I can get the button released.

Ford's always need em' well.... unless you're in a good warm climate

[12V71]

Do you really need glow plugs? My mid-90s 6CTA has none, starts before I can get the button released.

Yours is direct injection, whole different animal than the indirect injection engines like the Fords or Chevys. My old Dodge with the 12 valve B series Cummins started just like yours. My current 6.5L Chevy is a "wait to start" glow plugger. It still starts good in cold weather though.

[Xsbank]

Interesting. Where does an indirect squirt it's fuel? A manifold? I've had a VW diesel, a Ford Lehman, a couple of diesel gensets and now this Cummins. I'm poised to change the injectors in the Cummins as soon as my hand finishes its regrowth.

[bigb]

Interesting. Where does an indirect squirt it's fuel? A manifold? I've had a VW diesel, a Ford Lehman, a couple of diesel gensets and now this Cummins. I'm poised to change the injectors in the Cummins as soon as my hand finishes its regrowth.

Directly into the cylinder as opposed to into a prechamber. Your TDI was the same. Turbocharged Direct Injection

[duramax-rob]

Interesting. Where does an indirect squirt it's fuel? A manifold? I've had a VW diesel, a Ford Lehman, a couple of diesel gensets and now this Cummins. I'm poised to change the injectors in the Cummins as soon as my hand finishes its regrowth.

the idi (pre turbo) injects the diesel fuel into a small chamber built in to the head. i think the glow plug is located here. the head looks like a regular head but with an offset chamber to one side. as the fuel is injected the glow plug starts the burn of this chamber which in turn burns the main combustion (burn) chamber (over the piston). the glow plug stays glowing from the burn to do the next compression cycle.

these idi engines have about 22:1 compression where as direct injection turbo have about 16:1 compression.

i know im not exact but anyone one here is fine with tweaking my answer!

[Xsbank]

22:1 will produce plenty of heat for ignition. Presumably the glow plugs are an attempt to mitigate smoke and soot on startup. Yes, all the engines I have owned were direct injection. The Lehman and the Cummins both smoke at startup and until they are warm. The Cummins had a heating device to preheat the air intake but I pulled the plug on that very early because of the load on the alternator. Still starts with about one rotation when stone cold.

[duramax-rob]

22:1 will produce plenty of heat for ignition. this is correct but the glow plugs are mainly for cold starts. just like starting ether. i have an old allis chalmers backhoe with perkins diesel that only cold starts with ether. one of its options was an ether container in cab that was routed in the air intake just to get it started when cold. that way you could start cold from inside the cab!

my 01 duramax will start down to -20 without glow plugs I've heard. but I've only tried starting w/o glow plugs at 0 degrees. does smoke some but not a lot. doesn't smoke at all at 0 degees if i let the glow plugs cycle.

[12V71]

Most of my experience is with the larger diesels like the big Caterpillar stuff, some of those were built both as PC (prechamber) or DI (Direct injection). The PC engines in the old D9s needed either a gas starting engine to spin them fast enough to build cylinder heat before you opened the throttle or glow plugs to ignite the fuel mist with an electric starter. Problem with prechambers is that they are surrounded by coolant and pick up heat slowly. But that same D353 engine with direct injection would usually fire within 5 turns. And that brings up another difference, the DI Cats had the injection timing advanced more than the PC engines with a reverse advance unit that would set the timing back as the speed increased to prevent burning holes in pistons.
The old PC engines would actually "flood" with fuel collecting on the pistons if the glow plugs weren't working or if you cracked the throttle too soon with the starting engine running. That reminds me, the PC engines with a starting engine ran a tube through the diesel intake manifold using the starting engine exhaust to preheat the air for the diesel.

[Popeye an old miner]

the idi (pre turbo) injects the diesel fuel into a small chamber built in to the head. i think the glow plug is located here. the head looks like a regular head but with an offset chamber to one side. as the fuel is injected the glow plug starts the burn of this chamber which in turn burns the main combustion (burn) chamber (over the piston). the glow plug stays glowing from the burn to do the next compression cycle.

these idi engines have about 22:1 compression where as direct injection turbo have about 16:1 compression.

i know im not exact but anyone one here is fine with tweaking my answer!

Well that answers that question, I always wondered what they meant by indirect injection, now I know. Learn somethin new evryday. I orderd a new controller and new plugs today, I will see if that corrects it,I hope so. I f not I will see what I can find, the girlfriend lit right up at 10 degrees this morning I had her plugged in all night so I should be good like this for awhile

[duramax-rob]

Well that answers that question, I always wondered what they meant by indirect injection, now I know. Learn somethin new evryday. I orderd a new controller and new plugs today, I will see if that corrects it,I hope so. I f not I will see what I can find, the girlfriend lit right up at 10 degrees this morning I had her plugged in all night so I should be good like this for awhile

i also found out that the glow plugs are there for normal operation. if bad, they can cause slow acceleration and poor fuel economy besides hard cold starting. the glow plugs act like a spark plug in a gas engine. i didn't know that. glad your getting going.

[12V71]

i also found out that the glow plugs are there for normal operation. if bad, they can cause slow acceleration and poor fuel economy besides hard cold starting. the glow plugs act like a spark plug in a gas engine. i didn't know that. glad your getting going.

I've never heard of glow plugs continuing to glow after the power was shut off by the timer or the coolant temp sensor. My old 6.5 GM had 5 dead plugs and ran no differently after it started and warmed up. Starting it was a challenge if the block heater wasn't plugged in. New plugs were like having a new truck as far as cold starting.

[rexcormack]

I've never heard of glow plugs continuing to glow after the power was shut off by the timer or the coolant temp sensor. My old 6.5 GM had 5 dead plugs and ran no differently after it started and warmed up. Starting it was a challenge if the block heater wasn't plugged in. New plugs were like having a new truck as far as cold starting.

12V71, you are correct, glow plugs do not stay energized for more than 30 seconds to a minute depending on the temperature.
You can see this if you are parked against a wall or garage door. If you turn on the headlights after starting you can see them
get brighter when the glow plug controller turns off.

[John T]

Just look at the volt gauge.

I installed a toggle switch on my 7.3

I got tired of watching my voltage drop down to about 10 V or less for probably a minute after the truck started.

After the truck starts, I have the choice to flip the switch And cut the power through the solenoid....

Or just leave it until the glow plugs shut off on their own.

[duramax-rob]

Just look at the volt gauge.

I installed a toggle switch on my 7.3

I got tired of watching my voltage drop down to about 10 V or less for probably a minute after the truck started.

After the truck starts, I have the choice to flip the switch And cut the power through the solenoid....

Or just leave it until the glow plugs shut off on their own.

i probably stated the glow plug purpose wrong. after the glow plugs cycle and the electric is shut off after starting, the glow plugs stay glowing from the burn of the diesel in the combustion chamber. kinda like sticking a piece of steel in a fire and letting it get hot until it glows red. then repeatedly and rapidly pulling the steel in and out of the fire, it doesn't have time to cool down and will stay glowing red. thats how glow plugs stay lit or red all the time and aid in the running of the diesel.

im not sure but because of the pollution diesels put out, they dropped the compression because of the NO2. let me know if or how im wrong.

[12V71]

Just look at the volt gauge.

I installed a toggle switch on my 7.3

I got tired of watching my voltage drop down to about 10 V or less for probably a minute after the truck started.

After the truck starts, I have the choice to flip the switch And cut the power through the solenoid....

Or just leave it until the glow plugs shut off on their own.

One of the quick checks on the big Cat engines was to watch the ammeter when you turned the start/heat switch to "heat", the draw usually told you how many good plugs you had. The D348 V12's would draw 60 amps. If they didn't you were pulling valve covers and checking individual plugs with the VOM.