[Vwdiesel] Glow plug light issues

[Nate Wall]

I've still got the original GP relay at 13 years (260,000 miles) and counting.

Try removing the relay's case and cleaning up its contacts w/ fine sand paper.

Also, for about $5, you can wire a 12V. LED directly to the glow plug bus (I used
the #4 Glow plug terminal) and put the LED on the dash. Use an in-line fuse. That
way, you'll know for sure when the plugs are energized. I also painted the top of
the GP relay gold for easy ID, incase it sticks "ON". Then I'll just pull it out.

--Nate

Val Christian wrote:

> This may not be your problem...but I've had similar symptoms and found
> that the relay was cycling on while driving.  You'll go through glow plugs
> real fast, if that happens.  In the several instances I've seen, it's
> usually something like water leaking into the glow plug relay package.
>
> With A1s, there seemed to be more problems with the relays simply
> failing. Perhaps not that the relay was different, but rather
> manufacturing problems, or simply bad luck.
>
> You might be able to detect whether the glow plugs are infact coming
> on by noticing whether the inside dome light, or at night - headlights,
> dim when the glow lamp lights.  I've also had a relay cycle the glow
> plugs without lighting the lamp.  So the lamp and the energizing of the
> glow plugs are not necessarily coincident.
>
> My vote is to swap out the relay.
>
> Val
>
> >
> > Hi Guys
> > I have a problem with my glow plug light, 1987 Jetta diesel (260k miles
> > original), the light sometimes flashes, sometimes glows faintly, sometimes
> > lights up bright as if cycling the glow plugs. I have drained the water
> > separator, no difference. It usually happens after driving half and hour. I
> > have removed the glow plug relay while the light is on and it still
> > persists, what relay controls the water separator blinking? Or does anyone
> > else have any suggestions? The car starts fine despite being -20C lately, I
> > cannot complain, just annoyed by the light!
> > Thanks, Greg
> >
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