No juice at the glowplugs...any ideas?

[Aunt Trumpet]

Hi,

Completed a hopefully successful head change recently and all has been going well until....

my wife parked up on the drive Friday night with no problems. Didn't use the Bongo all day Saturday and Sunday but went to go out Sunday evening and it wouldn't start. It spins over nicely so today I've checked the Banjo filter, primed the pump manually and cracked an injector to see if I have fuel. All appears well here but I didn't know how much I should get out of the injector whilst crancking the engine. It wasn't spurting out with much pressure but some was coming out.

I then checked the glowplug rail and when I turned the igniton light on I wasn't getting any voltage at the rail or (obviously) at any of the plugs. My first thought was the fuse but when I checked it, it was fine (no 18 under the dash.)

I'm at a bit of a loss now so any pointers would be gratefully received! ....

[francophile1947]

A quick search yields this thread http://www.igmaynard.co.uk/bongo/forum/ ... sible+link

[Aunt Trumpet]

Hi, yes thanks for that. The first search I did didn't bring that up but I found it after. I'll have to have a look at it tomorrow.

If it is that, any reason why it would blow? All 4 glowplugs were fitted when I replaced the head a couple of weeks ago.

[AlliDelta]

Possibly the glowplug relay?

[haydn callow]

more likely you have shorted the glowplug rail to the cylinder head.

[wonkanoby]

did you use the correct legnth ones as there are 2 legnths

[Aunt Trumpet]

more likely you have shorted the glowplug rail to the cylinder head.

did you use the correct legnth ones as there are 2 legnths

Possibly the glowplug relay?

Ok, thanks. Not sure how I could have shorted the rail, would it not have gone before now and not a week later?

Sure they were the correct length, can't remember comparing them though.

Where abouts is the glowplug relay?

What is confusing is that its been fine for a week since the head swap.....

[haydn callow]

Glow plug relay is behind the starter battery on the side bulkhead...under a plastic cover.

[Aunt Trumpet]

Cheers Haydn,

Is that the audible click I can hear a few seconds after the glowplug light has gone out? I dont normally crank the engine until after I hear this click. If it is, then its still clicking.

Going to do some more investigating this morning.

[haydn callow]

Yep...that's the relay clicking......

[Aunt Trumpet]

I've just measured my old glowplugs and they are 100mm tip to tip, looking in the Bongo shop it appears they were the longer ones? Not knowing this I may have ordered the shorter ones as that
is what is reccommended for the year of my Bongo (N reg 95).

Could this be causing the problem?

[haydn callow]

Easy to check if all is well at the plugs/glow rail......just have a good look and if at any point the rail/plugs seem to be "really" close to the cylinderhead then that will be the problem....have you checked the "fuseable link" yet ???? (looks like a bit of wire running from the starter battery positive terminal.......this would need fixing if it's blown......(you can use a big inline fuse as a temp measure.)

[Aunt Trumpet]

Please excuse my ignorance with auto electrics here...mechanical componants I can deal with....but I've checked the fusable link, ( the big spade connector coming from the + ve terminal on the battery and it appears ok. I disconnected it and re-made it. I How is this a fusable link though? Is it not just a spade connector thats locked together...how could it "blow"?

As far as I can see the rail is not close to the head either.

[haydn callow]

As far as I remember the fuseable link is a "bit of wire" about 3 inchs long.....It is just a heavy bit of fuse wire......take it out and check it hasn't blown.......put a multi meter across it to check it's continuity.

[Aunt Trumpet]

Ahh, don't worry I've found it...its the wire between the battery and spade connector thats the fuse...it has blown...now how to fix it!...might have to do a modification on that.

Now to find out why its blown...perhaps its the length of the glowplug as been suggested.