I think the wires closest to the source of power glow the most. As long as they are hot, I think they are working. This is by recollection since I converted my 77 to pencil type years ago.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

well if thats the case, seems like mine are working correctly. i verified that there is fuel by cracking the #1 injector line at the injector and cranking, and there was fuel that came out. when I am cranking now i am having the car hooked via jumper cables to my truck b/c i have been cranking so much lately, starter souns fast and like it always has. no smoke while cranking from exhaust, someone had asked earlier. that being said whatelse does she need to start, fuel & heat. ran pretty much fine, parked, then would not start the next time i went to drive ??? and here we are, going nowhere.

I have a '68 or so Ford 3000 diesel tractor, and it does not have glow plugs. Sometimes it fools me and I think something is wrong, when in fact the battery is just weak and needs some help. I can't always tell by listening to the starter. It sounds very similar, but the cylinders can tell.....

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Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

put the battery in from my 85td - no go. tried putting some wd40 down the intake - didnt even try to start in the least. fuel is getting to the injectors while cranking. resistor wires closest to the electric sorce glow red - so i take this to mean that all the glow plugs are ok because if any one had failed - none would be working and no resistor wires would be glowing. What do i check next, compression test ?

How long has it been since it ran? If it has been long enough to dry out the rings you might try squirting a bit of ATF or oil on each glow plug hole... this will wet the rings and increase compression. I had to do this to get my 220d started after it sat for several years.

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1985 MBZ 300DT
1969 MBZ 220d
1984 MBZ 300TDT
1981 VW Vanagon

i took it to the grocery store 1 & 1/2 weeks
ago.

Cycle your g;ow circuit and read the voltage drop across each plug. There is a small chance a plug has shorted internally giving you a shorter glow plug series string.
Or even simpler is to read the drop across the number one plug at the front of the engine. Should be a voltage drop of a volt or so. Some diesels just do not like to start with a couple of glow plugs missing.
The hot connecting resistance wires closer to the firewall do not mean the whole circuit is properly active. You could still have a plug with a short to ground in there.
If the glow plugs check out I wonder about bad fuel but it did not catch on wd40.

Day and night difference on my 1976 300D between old loop series style glowplugs and the new pencil Duratherm type. Ordered from Autohauz arizona. great place.
I used Echlin 80 Amp solenoid. Solenoid is powered by the original glow plug feed wire.
It starts after 4 or 5 seconds glow.
The orig glow light is now defunct but it is not needed. I just count to 4 and crank. No problems. Don't waste you time with the mythical Fast Glow kit. First of all it is not plug an play and second of all it costs $98 even if you could find one. I returned mine to Autoparts warehouse for credit. Instructions with it do not show my vintage hook up.
Good luck if in fact it was your glow plugs giving you the hard start condition.

oh no, still wont start, with the old glow plugs i measured voltage at plug closest to firewall and got 8.5 volts, the second one was like 3 volts and every one after that was in order of .28 volts, so i bought diesel giants pencil style retro fit kit, installed this afternoon, big fat goose egg. cranks and cranks no start. just to recap, fuel is getting to the injectors while cranking, i have tried to start with the battery from my running 85td, no start with wd-40 (with old glow plugs) down the intake with the airclear cover off, i sprayed for 2 seconds at most, maybe not enough wd ? it was running fine, parked, next day and every day since then no start. the only thing i did not mention previous is that 2 weeks before it quit starting i was getting extremely loud injector nailing, i though i had broken a connecting rod, but i swapped out all the injectors with those from a running parts car, after that no more nailing noise, when doing the replacements of injectors i did not replace the heat shields like is reccomended on the diesel giant page - but ran great for two weeks after injector replacement ?

bummed out
John

Something's wrong with the glowplugs if you're only getting 8 volts. Have you checked the new plugs to make sure each one is getting 12 volts?

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

nope, will do first thing in the morning

I would think that checking too see if the GPs were getting juice when you changed systems would be part of the job

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1985 Euro 240D 5 spd 140K
1979 240D 5 spd, 40K on engine rebuild
1994 Dodge/Cummins, 5 spd, 121K
1964 Allice Chalmers D15 tractor
2014 Kubota L3800 tractor
1964 VW bug

"Lifes too short to drive a boring car"

glow plugs are all getting 10.5 - 11 volts. i put the battery on slow charge last night so she was good and juiced up this morning. put some wd down the intake while my wife cranked - nothing. anthing else to try before i go buy a compression tester, which i need anyway.

WOW, that is strange.
have you adjusted your valves?
a compression test and even a blowby test may be needed.
try this, pull the injectors, and arrange the lines in the engine bay so you can see the spray pattern. then crank the motor, and verify you are getting fuel and spray out of them.

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

have not adjusted the valves. ill verify that the injectors are spraying. but shouldnt it have done something with the wd down the intake even if the injectors werent spraying ? would compression go from drivable to undrivable overnight ? if the compression was that bad wouldnt i have noticed lack of power ? I thought it was peppy compared to other non turbos ive driven especially after the new used injectors i just installed a couple weeks before it quit starting. but again shouldnt it have fired even a little with the wd ?