Glow Plug Re-Wiring

[Ira B]

For the first time ever I went to start the Bunny Truck this morning and she wouldn't lite off.
She would crank but no fire. She usually lite off in 3 seconds or less when stone cold with the advance knob pulled so I didn't even bother to keep cranking and went looking for the issue involved. It didn't take long. The glow fuse was blown.
After eyeballing around for any obvious short in the system (stock) and finding none I looked for my spare fuse, and of course could not find the **** thing anywhere.
I normally would not bypass a fuse but I seriously had to get on the road so I connected both leads at the fuse holder to one screw, crossed my fingers and turned the key. Truckie lit right off, no magic smoke in sight, several restarts without problems.
When removing what was left of the fuse I noticed the screws were very lose and it had probably been rattling around for some time and caused it to fail. Just the same it is time to take a cold, hard look at the glow system and maybe update/improve it.

I like the Ford solonoid idea and want to add a switch to the cold start lever so it also lights the glow plugs when pulled as well as energize an indicator light that is connected directly to the plugs.
I'm thinking of canning the whole stock relay as it seems like a pretty lame piece of engineering. Why VW did this is more likely related to ease of production than reliability. Having that big fat hot wire routed all over hecks half acre gives me the creeps.

[Ira B]

Quick question for you guys.

Does anyone know the amp. rating for the glow fuse?

None of the parts places stock it but there are some Honda ones that look like they will fit. They have ratings up to 80 amps.

[Vincent Waldon]

Does anyone know the amp. rating for the glow fuse?

I believe it's 50A... which is right on the edge of the 48A they draw on a cold morning... which is why they are prone to popping over time.

AAZ engines, which basically use the same plugs, come with a 75A fuse... so I'd say 80 is just fine... in fact.. probably a bit more reliable than stock.

[DanHoug]

as Vince said, i see amp draw on a cold GP start at about 12amps and quickly taper to around 7 amps as the GP starts to glow, reason being cold conductors pass more current than hot.

LittleFuse makes a great, high amperage waterproof fuse holder with 8 gauge wire called the MaxiFuse. they sell for about $3.50 for the holder and a couple bucks for a 60amp MaxiFuse.... essentially a huge blade fuse.

right now i've got my GPs going thru a Ford solenoid and then into a bank of 4 AGC glass fuses, one for each GP. while this is great for diagnosing blown GPs, i think i'm going to ditch the fuse bank and use a single MaxiFuse due to the weather proofing. i still have separate leads to each GP so i can still take a clamp-on current reading on each lead to see which one is open.

i have the Ford solenoid activated by the normal GP circuit but also added an illuminated, momentary contact bypass so i can juice the plugs for as long as i want and have the switch illumination wired post-fuse so it is a true indicator of power to the plugs. the solenoid makes a great, satisfying 'CLACK' when pushing the high-reliability snap action switch, which itself makes a wonderful 'Snick'.

it all about the aesthetics, right? ... Snick-CLACK!

-dan

[Ira B]

The Honda ones look like a large blade type in a little plastic ox with a window in it. Pretty high quality looking item and it looks like a direct fit for the two screws that hold the original.
I'll pick one up today as running un-fused is getting to my nerves.

[Ira B]

Rooted around and found my spare fuse.
Now I can put off re-wiring the glow system even longer.

[Fatmobile]

That fuse is the only thing I can go to the dealership and ask for;
and they have it in stock. $1

I like the Ford Starter solenoid activated by the stock glow plug relay.
With so little current flowing through it when used as a trigger; it's not so bad to have it under the dash.
A manual switch works good too but I prefer it for backup.

It's kinda funny when I go to start the car and people walking by hear a solenoid click,.. but no start.
I can see them look the other way with the "poor guy, his car might not start",.. no eye contact.

I have had problems with corroded fuses,
using the blade style fuse block shown here.

One of the connectors refused to work luckily there are 2 spares.

I've been thinking of grabbing a fuse/relay box from some other car,
that comes stock with a fuse/relay box in the engine bay,
and putting it in the VW diesel engine bay.
Something that is built better and can handle the weather.

...what with all the other relays I'm moving to the engine bay:
Headlights
Radiator fan
Reverse light switch
Just had to do a heater fan on high relay for a early Rabbit with the lame fuse box, everything was too hot for under the dash.

[TexRussky]

Not sure if any of you that used the Cooper Bussman fuse panel (as seen here: http://www.napaautoparts.com/Search/Det ... 0254064401) are still around this thread or not. Napa has it rated at 30 amps. I assume, that is 30 amps per fuse place, so using this with the glow plugs shouldn't be a problem, and I shouldn't melt anything?

I looked up the part number BP/15600-06-20 for the fuse block listed by NAPA on the manufacturer,s site (cooperbussman.com, in the OEM Transportation section).
It says
Input Terminal Rating: #10-32 threaded studs (100A max).
Output Terminal Rating: 30A max per circuit.
Temperature Rating: –20°F (0°C) to 150°F (65°C).
Materials: Black thermoplastic.
Termination: .250" x .032" quick-connect terminals.
Ground terminal pad option available. Input wire size: #4-6
AWG. Output wire size: #12-16 AWG.

Four 20A would do the trick for an AAZ, IMHO.

[Diesel_Rabbit]

I am looking to rewire my glowplug system and wondering if anyone can provide list of items needed.

do you have part number on starter solenoid?
what gauge wiring do i need for each part?

[Vincent Waldon]

Here's one way to do it... with parts list:

http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=28

[jb86]

i did mine similar to the article.
whats nice about it is, the factory circuitry stays in place, it works well - temp and timing feature. by installing the starter solenoid, it takes the huge load off the circuitry.
id post a picture, but cant find a place to "manage attachments".
anyway, i did it just like the article, but i found a 4 fuse holder at napa, (bussman? brand), it has 4 blade type fuses and a ring terminal to power it.
i also added a relay to the back up switch. had to replace the switch when i bought the car, too much power goes thru it and it burns out. a $4 relay will allow it to last much longer.
jon

[Quantum-man]

i did mine similar to the article.
whats nice about it is, the factory circuitry stays in place, it works well - temp and timing feature. by installing the starter solenoid, it takes the huge load off the circuitry.
id post a picture, but cant find a place to "manage attachments".
anyway, i did it just like the article, but i found a 4 fuse holder at napa, (bussman? brand), it has 4 blade type fuses and a ring terminal to power it.
i also added a relay to the back up switch. had to replace the switch when i bought the car, too much power goes thru it and it burns out. a $4 relay will allow it to last much longer.
jon

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[the vegenator]

Okay, now that it's nearing single digit weather here in central Indiana, I'm anxious to get this rewiring project started AND finished. I already have the fuse panel, new Duraterms, wires and connectors... just gotta get the solenoid and fuses, which I could use a few bits of advice and clarification on first. I'd be grateful to learn from your experiences!


SOLENOID - Heavy-Duty Ford VS Garden Tractor Variety?

... Based on what I've read in this thread, any solenoid will work, though the heavy duty FORD solenoids are prone to freaking out. Is there any consensus which is best? how about a generic garden tractor solenoid rated at 12V-200A? For $18?
... Continuous duty vs Intermittent - I also didn't really understand whether or not I would need a continuous duty solenoid. I don't know that my 85 Diesel has an after-glow cycle, so I'm going Intermittent. Sound good?


FUSES - Ratings and Placement?

... On the fuse panel - some say 15A some say 20A. I'm going with 15. Any reason not to?

... Between ign. power and the solenoid. this wasn't in Vincent's write-up (that I could see), but has been mentioned briefly here. I'm using the original glow plug relay to trigger the solenoid. Would a 5A inline fuse be appropriate to limit the draw from under the dash? Any reason to go higher or lower?

[Fatmobile]

Are you pulling glow plug relay power from a fused location?
I don't think the Ford starter relays are prone to problems,..
I think the garden solenoids are smaller but haven't tried one yet.

[Vincent Waldon]

Depending on how cold it is the in-rush current on a cold glow plug can be at least 15 amps... so a 15A fuse may or may not last. No reason not to go 20 or even 30A to prevent nuisance faults. The fuse is there to protect the wiring, and 10ga wiring will handle at least 30 amps.

Garden tractor solenoids are fine... the link has a NAPA part number for one that will work.

Ford starter solenoids are also fine.. as long as you get one that can handle continuous duty. Some are only designed for intermittent duty and get very hot after 30 seconds or so... problematic for those cold winter mornings.