| How long for glow plug light to be on? | |
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ricardo Not so new now
Number of posts : 48 Age : 48 Home City : Napier, NewZealand Model and year : 1996 3L Super Custom, Club Field. Lowered, tinted, trans cooler. Registration date : 2011-03-31
| Subject: How long for glow plug light to be on? Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:53 am | |
| Hi, I have a 3L 1kz-te 96 Custom and the glow plug dash light only stays on for a second when i turn the key first click. My 97 2.8 non turbo would glow for about 5 seconds! Any thoughts? I don't think it starts as quick as it should sometimes which leads me to think there could be an issue?! Cheers, Rich. | |
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CustardCrazy Not so new now
Number of posts : 83 Home City : Melbourne, Australia Model and year : 1996 8 seater Super Custom 4WD KZH106 Registration date : 2008-08-24
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:49 am | |
| Hi Rich,
Mine does the same and I haven't been able to fix it yet. My glow plugs work ok but the timer doesn't. When the engine is cold I turn the key to cycle it a few times and it starts fine. If I don't it sometimes starts roughly (sometimes very roughly) with a telltale puff of unburnt fuel smoke from the exhaust. I can start it from dead cold with no problem if I remember to turn the key 'till the telltale is out and repeat enough times. The most I use in winter is about 7 times if it is near 0 degrees Celcius.
I checked through the components including checking the glow plugs and ended up swapping the ECU. It had the same part number but with one ECU I tried the engine ran for about 20 minutes and cut out dead suddenly. It ran again for a few minutes when I tried it again later but on inspection was quite hot. There was also some slight pinging I could hear which is no good. I tried another one which also had the pinging problem so changed back to my original unit. Neither of the other ECU's changed the behaviour of the cold start symptom of lighting only ever for 1 second, exactly the same as yours so maybe there is something I missed.
Clearly the other units I tried are in some way different even though they both came out of the same model auto 1KZTE engined hiaces. If you do try a different ECU just be sure it doesn't cause pinging or overheat itself.
Does anyone know where the ballast resistor(if there is one) is located in a 96 Super Custom? As far as I know there isn't one in my model and it's done by the ECU but I'm not 100% sure.
Cheers, Dave
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ricardo Not so new now
Number of posts : 48 Age : 48 Home City : Napier, NewZealand Model and year : 1996 3L Super Custom, Club Field. Lowered, tinted, trans cooler. Registration date : 2011-03-31
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:50 am | |
| Thanks for that. Hopefully someone out there can throw some more light on the subject. I will try the on/off trick also. Just for some more info, I did the head on mine and before starting it for the first time after this, I cranked the engine over with the glow plugs out to get the oil pressure up first. I noticed when I was doing this that the glow light turned off after1 second, at the time I thought it was odd but thought this would change when installed the plugs and hooked them up. It didn't of course, thing is i can't remember how long it stayed on before I did the head work! I know it wasn't as long as 5 seconds but thought it was longer than 1. | |
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Clive Hiace Master
Number of posts : 1094 Home City : Bristol UK Model and year : 2003 Range Rover 4.4 goes like a rocket and drinks like Oliver Reed! Registration date : 2008-11-05
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:06 am | |
| Although the light goes off the plugs stay on. The engine should start without waiting as the glow plugs are the fast heat type (hence their price if you have tried to replace them!). Turn the ign on and listen for the relay clicks, after 15-30 seconds you get one that will reduce the current to the plugs to supply afterglow which is switched of by another relay click at about 3 minutes.
Toyota wanted to assure users that the glow plugs are ready/working but not have them wait until the light goes out.
Easy to test just put a multi meater on the bus bar and turn on the ign.
Or just stick the key in and start and forget about the plugs.
If you need to cycle through a few times and it is above -20 C i would suggest one or more of the plugs is duff. | |
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CustardCrazy Not so new now
Number of posts : 83 Home City : Melbourne, Australia Model and year : 1996 8 seater Super Custom 4WD KZH106 Registration date : 2008-08-24
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:19 am | |
| Hi Clive,
I went and put a meter on a plug and it behaved as you suggested. After 15 seconds the supply to the glow plugs goes off completely. My user manual says to wait until the light goes out then start the engine but this is clearly for a system where the glow plug light truly indicates when the plugs are warmed up.
It seems there may be two systems (or more) on these vehicles. All the comments I've seen refer to the type where the period of warming up is variable and indicated by the glow lamp.
I had sometimes noticed at night the lights getting slightly brighter with the click as I drove down the road which would would coincide with current to the plugs turning off.
If my system is working as it should there must be a reference in a proper manual for my vehicle saying to wait for a reasonable time (regardless of the light going out) otherwise I can't see the point in having them heat for more than 1 second.
I tried starting after waiting for the click and it worked fine. Maybe my system isn't broken after all (just my manual). I will continue trying it after waiting some time and see if it always starts properly. A sample of one instance is hardly a statistically significant result but still encouraging.
Thanks Clive, It looks like you have highlighted how this system works. If yours starts well (no big kick) without waiting for more than a second then maybe my plugs aren't so good. It just seems odd that when I remember to give them long enough ( according to normal fast glow times like Rich's 2.8 non turbo) it starts perfectly without fail.
Glad I've learnt something new again ( like the dampened mid range response in the temperature gauge). Thanks to all who post these things. Also glad Rich asked the question I'd long forgotten about since that's what these forums are for.
Cheers, Dave.
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Clive Hiace Master
Number of posts : 1094 Home City : Bristol UK Model and year : 2003 Range Rover 4.4 goes like a rocket and drinks like Oliver Reed! Registration date : 2008-11-05
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:38 am | |
| The plugs remain on to ensure the air temp is up for ignition until the engine is up to a temp to run itself.
I think there is a temp sensor somewhere that controls the afterglow. If the ambient air temp is high enough it may not engage? | |
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CustardCrazy Not so new now
Number of posts : 83 Home City : Melbourne, Australia Model and year : 1996 8 seater Super Custom 4WD KZH106 Registration date : 2008-08-24
| Subject: Re: How long for glow plug light to be on? Thu Apr 28, 2011 10:54 am | |
| Hi Ciive,
The ambient temp here is rarely less than 0 deg celsius so maybe that's why mine shut down all current after 15 seconds. It was about 20 deg when I tried it just then. On a near zero deg day I might test it again. Since the plugs remain on just to heat the air I guess mine are really sub standard. I will put up with them for a while longer as long as I can get it to start reliably and just wait a bit (without switching on and off needlessly) till they have warmed up for a few seconds
Do you know what the life expectancy of the glow plugs is? I'm pretty sure mine would be the originals at about 192,000kms. Do they have a shorter life in warmer climates from running hotter during the fixed 15 second initial heating period?
Cheers, Dave | |
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| How long for glow plug light to be on? | |
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