bonehead move????

[F-350MAN]

I pulled a bonehead move the other day I left my key in the on position without the engine running, thank GOD it started up, but could this do any damage to the glowplugs or anything besides the batteries? I forgot to mention that it was a 4 hr. period.............. :

[Andy]

As far as glowplugs go, dont the newer trucks like yours shut off automatically after they have been warmed up? Besides running down the batteries, I dont see much else that you could have done. Anybody else?

[overl0rd]

The glowplugs will shut off automatically anywhere from I think 30 seconds to 5 minutes after the ignition is turned on, depending on the temperature. Leaving the key on wont hurt them, at worst you'd end up with dead batteries.

[powerstrokekiller]

Yea, the owner's manual on my cummins says that if you leave it in the on position for more than two minutes without startin it up you should redo the whole cycle. The glow plugs warm up for a set period than they cool off. Pretty simple actually. It's on a timer.

[jwiger]

you should be fine. i know in a gas engine you can hurt the ignition system but.....

[overl0rd]

On gassers, the old leaving the ignition on myth will actuallly do burn the points resulting in premature failure. On modern electronic ignition motors no harm is done.

[wiwaniuk]

According to my 7.3 manual, the glow plugs stay on for 2 minutes on a cold engine. If you leave the ignition on longer without starting the engine, you have to shut off the key to reset the glow plug timer.