Hey folks,

I have a 75 300D whose glow plug relay has never quite worked right. I turn the key and no glow, no dash indication. If I jump the plugs straight from the battery, it works fine. Go figure.

I looked at the little caged relay dealy under the chrome trim between the dash and the engine firewall, but can't make sense of it. Once I cleaned it really well by using a lo-pressure sandblaster and it worked for a couple of days, but then went right back to not working.

I am content to just jump the plugs, and have gone so far as to terminate a nice 12 gauge wire that screws onto the first plug (where the wire from the relay would normally go). I am tired of popping the hood to start, though, and wondered whether it would be possible to install a toggle under my dash to glow the plugs manually. I found a 50 amp toggle at the local Rural King store (biggest rating they had): will this work? Will the extra wire to run from battery to dash back to glow plugs add much resistance? I figure it will double the length of wire I have now. Really, though, the darned thing runs to the dash to the relay and then to the plugs on a stock system anyway, so I don't *think* there would be a problem.

Would I be better off trying to tie my feed into the glow plug feed from the fuse box or is it OK to come right off the battery? I was afraid I might cook the 50amp toggle is I come right off the battery.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated...

Thanks!

Chris
cscmc1@eiu.edu