Glo Plugs

[J L Dunn]

I'm sure this question has been asked many times, novice that I am, but 'bout how many miles on engine, 7.3L, July, 1999, should I expect before I need to replace the glo plugs.

Approximately how much do they cost?

And when replaced, is that all I need to do, and just how difficult is it to replace?

I went thru the cam sensor a while back, and I got my 24 year old grandson to do the dirty work. I no longer bend over a fender or work underneath anything...well, almost anything.

Can anybody offer some advice?

Thanks,

JLD

 

[DaveBen]

What year is your truck??

Dave

 

[patrickc]

It really depends on how many times you "cold" start your truck rather than how many miles it has on it. OE replacements are usually around $20 each.($160 set) Cheaper at the international dealer than the ford dealer. If your truck has no problems starting I wouldn't worry about replacing them. My truck has just shy of 200,000 miles on the original glowplugs and they are still working fine.

 

[Bolthead]

Glow Plugs

Hey JL,
I replaced my glow plugs at 115,000 and it did make a difference starting, expecially in this cold Alaskan weather. Best of luck!!!!

 

[Scarlet_Nape]

JL,

Use this info to make sure it's the glow plugs before investing the time to replace them:

How to check Glow Plug System

To check the Glow Plug Relay (GPR)
· Be sure the engine is cold, so that the PCM will tell the GPR to turn on. If the engine is hot, you won’t have as much time to check.
· Locate the GPR – Its behind the fuel filter on top of the engine, a little bit toward the passenger side of the valley. There may be two relays there. If so, the rear one is the GPR. It will have two fairly large wires (yellow and brown) connected to one of the large posts.
· With your multitmeter set to DC volts, and 15 V range (if not autoranging), clip the positive (red) lead to the output terminal (with yellow and brown wires connected), and the negative (black) lead to a good ground point (like the battery ground terminal or someplace metal directly on the engine block.)
· Turn the key to ON (do not start)
· If your GPR is good, it should click, and you’ll see 11 volts or so on your meter, then, depending on temperature, it will click off up to 2 minutes later. You should do this a couple of times to make sure it consistently makes the connection.
· If you don’t get voltage with this test, confirm by retesting as follows.
· Remove the two small wires from the smaller two of the four GPR terminals.
· With jumper wires, apply voltage from the battery across the two small terminals. If your voltmeter now reads voltage on the output terminal, your GPR is OK, and your problem is in the PCM circuit that tells the GPR to activate.

To check Glow Plugs.
· Remove the electrical connector on the inboard side of valve cover at the gasket. Press down on the top of the connector latch and pry gently with a screwdriver.
· There will be 9 pins on the valve cover gasket where you removed the connector. The two pins furthest forward and the two pins furthest back are for your glow plugs.
· With your multimeter set to resistance (ohms) and low range (single digits) if not autoranging, clip the negative (black) lead to a good ground point.
· Probe each of the 4 outer pins individually with the positive (red) lead, noting the resistance. Good glow plugs will have a resistance between 0.6 and 2 ohms. If you get infinite resistance on any glow plug, that one is either bad or the connector under the valve cover has come loose.


It's "borrowed" information from another site.
I purchased mine from O'Reilly's for less than $10 a piece (Motorcrafts).

 

[silverdragon]

Might want to check the glow plug relay. It’s easy to install and has a better chance of being fatly than the glow plugs. The relay is located to the left of the fuel filter (top center of engine). relay can be tested with a simple light bulb prob. just find battery power (constant) then turn key on the other wires connected to rely should become energized, if they don’t the relay is bad (bad relay no juice to the glow plugs.) I had this problem with my 99 f-350 at about 115000. Relay is about 130 dollars at ford but it’s a lot cheaper and easier than changing all the glow plugs.

 

[CSIPSD]

YOu can get a GPR at napa for about 20 bucks... Part # GPR-109

 

[I M Fast]

It works

Thanks for your posts guys. Saved me about $160 when I used this info instead of letting my local Ford dealer fix the problem. They said $80 to look at it and if it was the GPR the Total parts and labor would be $230 which included the first $80 to look at it. The part was $116 at Ford in St. Johns, Mi. I got it online at powerstrokepartsusa.com for just under $65 shipped to my door. Put it in last night and truck starts up great again. See Ya!

 

[DaveBen]

Great IMFast. And welcome to SDD.

Dave