Glow plug relay

[bdbutler1@sbcglobal.net]

My 01 died completely this AM. Engine running but noticed the CD player shut down. Stopped the engine and returned 30 min later and had absolutely no power, door locks would not work, no headligths - no electrical power. Installed a new batter on the drivers side and the truck started. Made it through about an hour of driving with two start cycles. The third time I came out of the Lowes center and the same problem - absolutely no electrical power. Diagnosed significant power drain by removing the battery cables with significant sparking. My wife was not going to miss the Christmas party at her mother's so I disconnected the leads to the glow plugs on both of the solenoids and got a jump to start the truck. I have checked most of the threads and found nothing about rapid battery drain. Now my Christmas day will be spent trying to track down the offending part. Anyone have similar problems with battery drain?

[adfields]

Never heard of it but if the glow plugs are stuck on that would suck the system dry fast! I would not think the gpr would fail in the on position but anything is possible. I would think it more likely you have a short that is somehow energizing the gpr. The gpr is an intermittent relay so it wont take much constant on to kill it I would not think. Happy hunting and have a good Christmas.

[alabamafrog]

Batteries have to be replaced in pairs, one bad battery will usually kill the other. I recommend using the highest CCA batteries you can find, I have 2 matching 1,000+ CCA batteries on mine. My truck always sparks pretty good when unhooking the batteries. Also there are not 2 glow plug replays, one is for the glow plugs and the other is for the Intake Air Heater which is an unnecessary item that is very restrictive, does not aid in cold starting and most people remove. Also the glow plugs are not connected with the wait to start light and they usually stay on for a minute or two longer than the light. You can usually watch your dash volt gauge and see it jump up when they turn off. The GPR is easy to check with a meter, just check for 12v or so to ground on both the big terminals, should have juice on only one until the key is turned on then have juice on both. The difference between them should be less than ½ volt with the meter leads on both terminals. I suppose it is possible that the relay may have welded itself closed but it seems like it would melt stuff and make really bad thing happen if that were the case. I believe I would check the relay as soon as possible with a meter.

[powerstroke0298]

hey there i own 4 powerstrokes and never had the batteries drain but it is vary possible the gpr is bad because i have had to replace it on all of them and you dont have to replace both batteries at once im an inerstate dealer and you can replace one at a time

[adfields]

No need to replace batteries in pairs, If that was the case I would have gone broke fast with 9 heave wreckers running 6 to 8 in each one. It is good to keep them all load testing within 100 CCA or so of each other in a set. If they don't load test at least what their rated for I yank them out as they are on the way out anyway.

When checking the gpr don't forget the trigger wire, that is the one that turns it on.

BTW-Some California emissions trucks have a gpr for right bank and a gpr for left bank.

[bud84lightman]

hey guys how do i post something on this site? i just registered? thanks

[Orville'r Repair]

Maybe you should chek the coolant- if it is too low- will always think it is cold- cause more glow plugs time then it needs.

[adfields]

Originally Posted by bud84lightman

hey guys how do i post something on this site? i just registered? thanks

Well I think just like you did.

If you are talking of starting a NEW THREAD, then go to the board (forum) you want it to be in and click on the start "new thread" button. It is at the top and bottom of the list of the forums thread.

[willflo]

Might want to check out the alternator. If it is bad, will not recharge batteries, and may short out the system.

[samiam]

i searched a few threads and figured i'd just post my question in this one. i replaced my GPR earlier this Fall 2007, and it's working like a charm. i know one day it will quit again. I'm not completely electrically-inclined, but my thought is rigging a simple led light on the GPR so that it would light up while the GPR circuit was open. i'd place that light in the cab under the dash barely in sight. any thoughts? i figured it wouldn't be too hard, and would involve a simple light fixture and a fuse. on particularly cold days i'd like to give the GPR as much time as it wants to remain active, then immediately start the truck, instead of watching my watch 90 seconds and shivering my butt off.