[Vwdiesel] glow plugs

[James Hansen]

Is it common for all four glow plugs to fail at about the same time? If
one or more glow plugs are shot, do the remaining plugs each get more
current because they are connected in a paralel circuit? If this is the
case, does the failure of one quickly cause the failure of the rest from
over current (overheating)?
______

No.  The amount of current each glow plug sees is entirely dependant on the
voltage supplied and the internal resistance of each individual plug.
That's the beauty of the setup.  Old benz's had a real winner (wiener) setup
when you lost one, the other three went poof as well.  That was fun to work
on...
More than likely, your relay stuck on and allthe plugs stay on until each
one fails as you drive.  You know the story, install a fused wire to the bus
bar to run an indicator light to tell you when the plugs are energized.



Can cycling the glow plugs on especially cold days cause them to fry
faster?.
____

That's really just normal use, what they are built for, so yes, it will wear
them out faster as compared to letting them cycle only once, but I wouldn't
consider it to be a remarkable thing.  Sort of just normal usage...


Normally, I go to the block heater when the overnight temperature goes
below 10 F. Last night, my daughter forgot to plug hers in and the temp
went to 4 F this morning. No Start! I got it running this afternoon but
later on it would not start again when the temp had improved to around
20F. I jumped it and had plenty of cranking but not even a wimper of
firing. When I finally got it home around 8 this evening, I checked the
fuse (only a 10 A on an 85 Golf?) and it was fine. I pulled the glow
plug from #4 because it is the only easy one to get out and found it
failed the ohm meter test for continuity. I'm sure the other three are
the same way. I just had all of these  glow plugs out at the end of the
Summer and they were all good.
What would cause all the plugs to fail so quickly?
-____

Relay failure.  as above.
Change them all, install an indicator light, check out the relay.
My cars have always started reliably to -25 C that's what like -15F or so?
They still usually start after that, but you have to do it right, and get
one try only after -35C.
-James
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