corsa 1.5 td glow plug problem

gsi turbo john · 30-09-2008, 18:15

does anyone know how long the glowplugs should stay on after the light goes out.
the light is going out after a few seconds but i know most cars keep the power to the relay for a bit longer. are the 1.5td engines like this.
ive converted my 1.4 petrol to 1.5td & while wiring in the engine loom ive got everything working fine except when i put a voltage tester on the glow plug feed from relay (pink wire) it seems live all the time the ignition is on.
ive only dare leave it on for 30 second as i dont want to overheat the plugs if there is a problem.
maybe these engines stay on for longer or maybe there is some mistake on wiring thats stopping a signal to cut the relay out.
any help would be good. otherwise it will be getting the good old switch on dash for the heater plugs.

pinkpyro · 30-09-2008, 20:41

my chick has the same car. her glow plug lights up for about 5 secs. then goes out. and thats a cold morning start.

duckruls · 30-09-2008, 20:57

I think they stay on longer than 30 seconds when the engine is cold, I have a feeling it drops to 5 volts once the glow plug light goes out.

There's a sensor (next to the temp gauge sensor) that connects to the glow plug timer for the engine temp.

I've checked in the haynes manual in the past and it does not give this info unfortunately.

I can check on mine for you if needed but it would not be till the weekend.

Dell Balallan · 30-09-2008, 21:04

I had an astra van,when i had a problem with glow plugs, i fitted new ones and looked into whether they were working, mine were staying on for nearer a minute, if you listen carefully you can hear a click from the relay as they go off.

gsi turbo john · 30-09-2008, 23:28

thanks for replies.
will try timing them at the weekend.
i think i turned the ignition off after about 20 seconds as i didnt want to burn them out, but i will try upto a minute & see how it goes.
im not using the car at the moment so will get it sorted before i do.
thanks again
john

duckruls · 06-10-2008, 16:36

Well I had some time today so I checked out how long the glow plugs stay on for, driving the car from cold they stayed on for 3 minutes and 20 seconds, once it was warm and re-started they go off straight away.

gsi turbo john · 06-10-2008, 19:19

thanks for that i will try putting it back to standard.
ive just got a switch on them at the mo would be better because i keep forgetting.
thanks again