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A guy at a truck stop in Flagstaff showed me a trick with a zip tie and a glow plug
I was stuck on the side of I-40 last fall with a truck that wouldn't start, and it was getting cold. An older driver pulled over to help. He listened to it crank for about five seconds, then said, 'Bet it's a glow plug controller, but let's see.' He didn't have a test light, so he took a zip tie, stripped the end with his pocket knife, and poked it into the glow plug bus bar connector while I turned the key. He held the other end near the block. When it sparked, he just nodded and said, 'You got power to the bar, but the plugs are cold. Means the controller's telling lies.' It was such a simple, fast way to check without pulling anything apart. I carry a few zip ties in my box now just for that. Has anyone else run into a controller that sends voltage but no pulse width?
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wendy1314d ago
That's a solid roadside trick for a quick check. Just a heads up though, poking a stripped zip tie into a live connector is a good way to get a nasty short or burn up a wire. A safer way is to just use a cheap test light clipped to ground. You're right about the diagnosis though, power at the bar with no pulse usually points right at the controller.
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piper_kim4d ago
True, a test light is way safer for that.
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hannah4003d ago
Yeah that trick is clever for a pinch but I gotta agree with @piper_kim on the safety thing. When you said it sends voltage but no pulse width, is that something you can actually see with a test light, like a really fast flicker? Or do you need a meter to catch it?
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