Glow plugs are weak?.....Never heard of that one....LOL..
you never go north of Taylor you won't need glow plugs.....hahaha
2005 Sprinter starting problem
- Thread starter Dreamer
- Start date
Glow plugs are weak?.....Never heard of that one....LOL..
you never go north of Taylor you won't need glow plugs.....hahaha
Well, my word.. weak.. LOL.. the scanner said they were bad, but it starts every time.. even in the teens, so they can't be totally gone.
Dale
Glow plugs either work or they don't. They are like a light bulb, either they come on when you flip the switch, or they don't come on if they are burned out. The vehicle will start without glow plugs, it's just that the colder it is the harder it will be to start, since diesel combustion requires heat and pressure, and a cold engine won't have much heat until it's turned over a few times. You may only have some of them that have failed, not all of them.
Good news is the glow plugs are cheap ($36 list at a dealer). $13.06 each at Rock Auto (the Bosch #80036), $18.50 at Europarts.
Bad news is the glow plug control module will also need to be replaced, since a burned out glow plug will take out the module (and it's also why when one glow plug goes out, you replace all of them at once, because you don't want to replace one, and the module, and then the next week another plug goes out and takes the module with it again). But there's good news there, too, since the new glow plug control modules (third revision) are now solid state with no internal fuses to blow, so when a plug goes, you replace the glow plug and clear the module error code and you're good to go. Bittenbinder has the new module, so does Europarts and almost certainly the Mercedes dealers ($215 list, $164 at Europarts, and I think it's right at $150 from Bittenbinder). Many of the Dodge dealers only have the older modules available to them when they get them through normal channels. You're better off ordering the parts yourself, unless you have the plugs and module replaced by Bittenbinder.
If this were March, you could wait until the fall to replace the glow plugs, but you really don't want to go very long during the winter without functioning glow plugs. In fact, when it's really cold, in the teens or colder, it's a good idea to turn the key on and let the glow plugs heat the engine, and when the glow plug light goes out, turn the key off and then back on and let the glow plugs heat the engine again. The warmer the engine when starting the less stress there will be on the pistons, rings, and injector seals.
Good news is the glow plugs are cheap ($36 list at a dealer). $13.06 each at Rock Auto (the Bosch #80036), $18.50 at Europarts.
Bad news is the glow plug control module will also need to be replaced, since a burned out glow plug will take out the module (and it's also why when one glow plug goes out, you replace all of them at once, because you don't want to replace one, and the module, and then the next week another plug goes out and takes the module with it again). But there's good news there, too, since the new glow plug control modules (third revision) are now solid state with no internal fuses to blow, so when a plug goes, you replace the glow plug and clear the module error code and you're good to go. Bittenbinder has the new module, so does Europarts and almost certainly the Mercedes dealers ($215 list, $164 at Europarts, and I think it's right at $150 from Bittenbinder). Many of the Dodge dealers only have the older modules available to them when they get them through normal channels. You're better off ordering the parts yourself, unless you have the plugs and module replaced by Bittenbinder.
If this were March, you could wait until the fall to replace the glow plugs, but you really don't want to go very long during the winter without functioning glow plugs. In fact, when it's really cold, in the teens or colder, it's a good idea to turn the key on and let the glow plugs heat the engine, and when the glow plug light goes out, turn the key off and then back on and let the glow plugs heat the engine again. The warmer the engine when starting the less stress there will be on the pistons, rings, and injector seals.
Shows how much I know LOL.. I think they said 3 needed replaced.. I didn't know they went completely out.
I still get the glow plug light coming on, then it goes out... if the module were out, would any of them be working? I know if I hit the key too soon, no fire.. but like you said, if I turn it on again, light goes out.. fires right up.
Dale
I still get the glow plug light coming on, then it goes out... if the module were out, would any of them be working? I know if I hit the key too soon, no fire.. but like you said, if I turn it on again, light goes out.. fires right up.
Dale
Yeah, if it fires up like that, then at least one it still working. Each glow plug is on it's own circuit within the module, each with its own fuse inside the module (the old style module), so it's only that fuse inside the module that actually is toast. You can solder in a new fuse. Some people wired external fuses to the module to make it easier to replace them when one of the plugs fail and takes out the fuse. But with the new module, you just replaced the bad glow plugs, clear the engine error code, and you're good to go.
A year ago I had one glow plug go out (the #1 plug), and I replaced that glow plug and the module with the new module. A couple of months ago I had 2 more glow plugs go out, so I replaced those, except I replaced the wrong one for one of them. I thought #2 and #3 were bad, but it was #3 and #5, so I replaced a perfectly good #2. Whoops. So I ended up just replacing #2 and #5 a couple of days later. So #2-5 are all new, and #1 is a year old.
They say it's a good idea to replace the glow plugs every couple of years, since they do have a finite lifespan, especially since they are so cheap. But most people end up waiting until they go bad to replace them.
A year ago I had one glow plug go out (the #1 plug), and I replaced that glow plug and the module with the new module. A couple of months ago I had 2 more glow plugs go out, so I replaced those, except I replaced the wrong one for one of them. I thought #2 and #3 were bad, but it was #3 and #5, so I replaced a perfectly good #2. Whoops. So I ended up just replacing #2 and #5 a couple of days later. So #2-5 are all new, and #1 is a year old.
They say it's a good idea to replace the glow plugs every couple of years, since they do have a finite lifespan, especially since they are so cheap. But most people end up waiting until they go bad to replace them.