Tdi Glow Plugs

[symmy]

can any body please tell me where the glow plug timer relays are as my glow plug light goes out as soon as i turn on the ignition?

please help

[gregers]

mine goes out almost immediately,thought that was normal operating procedure for a gal?

i have use of a vw caddy 1.9tdi van at work and that takes a bloody age to go out even in warm weather.

[Scorpiorefugee]

At this time of year, a second is about right. In fact, if everything is in good condition you woul hardly notice if they didn't come on at all. One very common problem is the coolant temperature sender. It is a 2 part device. Half is used by the temperature gauge and the other half is used by the ECU to control the engine tuning, glow plug operation and probably other things as well.

 

If this fails it usually indicates that the engine is overheated and glow plugs are not needed. The glow plug light merely flashes as the ignition is turned on. A good indicator is thet the radiator fans come on every time you turn the ignition off, irrespective of the engine temperature. A simple test is to unplug it (if you can find it) and the glow plug light will come on for about 15 secs.

 

The important thing is to ignore the fact that the temperature gauge works normally. Beware of the connections on the wires. They become brittle and can drop off when disturbed. This alone could be the cause of your problem.

 

Hope this helps.

Edited June 27, 2007 by Scorpiorefugee

[symmy]

the bit i forgot to add was that i dont seam to have any power going to the glow plugs?i dis conected the temp sender and still found there was not any power that is when i thought it must be the relay or a fuse but checked the fuses under the steering wheel and they are all fine.

[big_kev]

Is there an actual problem here ?..........not starting ?

[Scorpiorefugee]

When the temp sender is disconnected does the glow plug light come on for 15 seconds when you switch on. If not , it may be that you've disconnected the wrong bit. If it does, are you sure that there is no feed to the glow plugs during that period?

[CM2007]

I work in a commercial vehicle main dealer and so 99% are diesels. Only in the cold of winter do glow plugs really need to be used. To be honest, glow plugs really are for much colder countries. Even in a fairly cold winter (for the UK) say about -8 , the engine should still fire after a few turns as the compression temperature is usually enough to start the engine.

 

Mike