Volkswagen Repair: VW Diesel 1.9 SD Glow plug light flickering, light flicker, glow plugs


Question
Hi Rocky!!  My 1998 1.9 SDI Polo with 125 000 miles on the clock runs fine, but recently the Glow plug light started flickering intermittantly.  It does not affect the running of the engine in any way.  Should I bother with doing anything about it now?  Or wait 6 weeks till it gets serviced anyway?  

Answer
Hi there, Gideon...the glow plug light flickering sounds like an electrical contact/connection/connector problem in the glow plug circuit.  There could just be so much additional resistance in the circuit that the light come on, and when you bump it, or it bumps itself, it make better contact, and the light goes out.  The glow plugs are or a "strip."  There is a real heavy black wire that runs from the left(drivers side), to the right, and connects to all 4 glow plugs.  Sometimes they get corroded, and the resistance goes up enough to make the light flicker, or just come on.  You should be OK to drive it until your next service.  Above 45 degrees Fahrenheit the glow plugs aren't even needed to start the engine.  Good luck with resolving this,  it should be pretty straight forward.  Thanks, Gideon.