View Single Post
  #25  
Old 01-11-2013, 05:56 PM
jpizano23 jpizano23 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Yakima, WA
Posts: 28
I thought about draining the torque converter but really didn't want to mess with it, I'm going to take it in for a tranmission flush and change out all of the fluid. I bought new hoses for the 3/1 valves and a guide to make sure they were done right... I had the hoses all sorts of messed up, I replaced the old hoses and connected them the right way. I took out the car and it shifted very nicely... I can feel the gear changes but not like before.
Yesterday when I went to start my car for work the glow plug light didn't light up when I turned the key... I tried it again in case it was a fluke, still no light. I had to go to work so I started the car after about 15 seconds of waiting for the plugs to warm up... it took a few times and some white smoke to get the old girl started. Once I got to work I started her up again, this time the light came on and started on the first try. After work the light wouldn't come on again and I had to force her to start.

I checked my glow plug connections and found that one of the ground wires was very loose, I tightened it up and went on to check the glow plugs and relay. Using my voltimeter I put the negative prove on the negative battery terminal, disconnected the glow plug wire that goes to the relay and checked each of the five pins for power, they al came back with 12.49, then I checked the relay. I turned the key to where the light came on and checked every one of the pins on the relay.. these too came back alright.

I changed the voltimeter to ohms and checked the glow plug resistance by proving each of the pins on the glow plugs, they all came back at 0.3 or 0.4, less than 1 is acceptable according to the write up on diesel giant: Mercedes Diesel Glow Plug Repair , so I'm guessing that the problem lies in the glow plugs themselves.


I took out the glow plug where the ground had been loose, the glow plug was fairly clean, no excess carbon build up. Upon further inspection I saw that many of the glow plugs were just a little different... it looks like the previous owner used different brands of glow plugs as one would go out. The ones I took out were NKG and Autolite, I am not a fan of either of these companies so I ordered a set of Bosch glow plugs. I should've checked the plugs at the beginning of my restoration.

I put everything back together and the car started on the first try, even the engine idled a little better but not as smooth as I'd like them to be. I think that bad ground was causing some of the hesitation. The new plugs are supposed to come in next week, I hope to be able to install them as soon as I get them.
Reply With Quote