82 300D Turbo. After 117,000 miles, the glow plug relay gave up the ghost. It is stuck on! What would y'all consider the best option: A new Huco $110.00, a new Hella $173.00 (both from this website "Buy Parts"). A used one - various sources, for between $30.00 - $60.00 OR has anyone ever repaired one (not that I would have any idea how to do that!), or is there anyone who does repair/refurbish these?
I'm leaning towards NEW. Is there a valid reason to spend the $63.00 more for the Hella, over the Huco?
Thanks in advance for your replys/opinions/experiences. Matt

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82 300D Turbo 124,000 mi.

I have a good used one for $45 + shipping.
pm me if interested.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

I just bought a Ford starter solenoid when mine died, and hooked it up to a button in the cab. Now I can control how long the plugs glow for depending on the weather, and the solenoid only costs ~$13 new from O'Reilly. I would spend an extra couple dollars though and get a 30 amp fuse to put in-line, so you don't damage the solenoid. (mine died the other day after about 3 years with no fuse, replacing took about 3 minutes)

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1982 300D Turbodiesel, daily driver. Mods so far: Fram 8038 paper filter, 4 brake light mod, Gen II w126 (front) rotors/calipers, boost turned up to 12lbs, non-egr manifolds, water/methanol injection, 4-speed manual
1980 300SD Turbodiesel, project car, nearly ready to hit the street

1974 240D, New paint

I also did the Ford type Solenoid thing on my Volvo Diesel. I even used a used Solenoid at the J Yard for $5. And I have had Zero bad issues with the system.

Square Glow Plug Connector
#1 Red Wire with White Stripe, Run Start Input
#2 Violet (Purple) Connects to the Starter Solenoid Wire (On Turbo Models at the Terminal Block in front of the Battery) allows Glow plugs to be on during Cranking.
#3 Blue Wire with White Stripe, Goes to the Glow Plug Light. The Voltage comes from the Relay through the Light and to a Ground.
#4 Brown Wire, Goes to ground.

If you do not want to ad another Switch:
If you connected the Starter Solenoid to the Red Wire when you turn the Key to the Preglow Position it would activate the Solenoid.
If you wanted the Glow plug Light to go on at the same time I think you would connect the Blue Wire with the White Strip to the same Terminal on the Solenoid that the Red Wire goes to.

I have no Fuse in My System; if you want one ad one.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

X25. God put a perfectly good timer in your head and MB never improved upon it. Plus, if you hide the button, nobody's going to be able to start your engine and steal the car.

I did try to clean up the contacts in a relay once. Ineffective.

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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

Likewise with the Ford solenoid.

I did however, modify the old glow plug solenoid so I could use the fuse out of it and the engine glow plug harness. That way it looks completely stock and when I pull the engine I can just unplug the harness.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Got a picture or a wiring description?

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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

Sure.



Here's what's left of the relay once I eliminated everything but the connectors.



It's now a direct connection from the power in to the pins of the engine harness. Then just run a wire from your solenoid to the power input of the modified glow relay.

The one little tricky thing is to notice that there is one pin that connects through a device in the middle of a loop. Just be careful not to disrupt that or you'll need to solder a wire to connect it to the connector.

The final step is to fill the unit with urethane to prevent shorts etc. Here is that step which involves cutting down the case.



Here's the unit mounted in the car (mine is a 380SL with a diesel, so yours will look different - like the original mounting point!)





Hope this helps.

Attached Thumbnails

     

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Thanks. Nice job. I didn't follow the sentence about a pin connecting thru the middle of a loop. Can you rephrase that?

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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

Here is a closup about what I'm talking about. Pin 5 connects differently than the other four connectors. It's an electrical connector that is glass cased. You can also see how I drilled the plate and used a pop rivet to make the connection of the feed cable.





More detail...

Attached Thumbnails

   

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Thanx for the link to this ~

I'm unclear on how it works ? .

No timer , so it comes on as you're cranking ? .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

I've implemented a completely manual system using the well documented Ford solenoid solution. A momentary switch on the dash activates the solenoid which turns on the glow plugs. They stay on as long as the switch remains pushed...hence complete control of glow and afterglow. The gutted GP relay is just to keep the stock glow plug harness and connector and the 80amp fuse.

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Current Stable

• 380SL (diesel)
• Corvette C5
• Manx
• Baja Bug
• F350 Powerstroke
• Auburn Boattail Speedster replica

Got it thanx .

I'd figured as much , this 240D is SWMBO's car so I can't do that sort of thing , she'd never get the hang of it or leave the switch on permanently , some bad thing like that .

It lit right off easily on all four holes this morning @ 0-Dark:30 .

I need to patch or replace the glow plug sub harness as the # 4 wire's end came off in my hand , pix os my simple Farm Fix are attached ~ I use two thin flat washers to gusset the twisted wire so it won't come out as I'm driving and cause a major short circuit .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

THANX for that diagram ! .

As it turned out , I did just replace it and all seems well again .

Sadly , M-B Germany has discontinued the glow plug sub harness so I'll have to keep an eye out for a good one in the junk yards or maybe just solder a loop connector in .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Understood and agreed .

I just try hard to maintain this one like is was built , it's SWMBO's car so she expects it to be trouble free and it pretty much always is .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better