New Glow Plugs on a Ford Truck - In The Glow

  |   0903 8l 02 Glow Plugs Preheat Diesel engines ignite the air/fuel mixture with heat generated by friction and compression, while gasoline engines use the heat caused by a spark from a spark plug. That's why diesel engines are referred to as compression ignition engines and not as spark ignition. Diesel engines generally have a compression ratio of 17:1 to 22:1, which aids in the heating up of the mixture (gasoline engines are around 8:1 to 10:1). High-performance diesel engines use a lowered compression ratio, often around 12:1, which isn't high enough to heat the air/fuel up and ignite. That's why high-performance engines typically use ether or another starting aid to get the engine running. From the factory, starting aids are employed to preheat the air or combustion chamber to help the engine start when the weather is cold. These are needed because the piston doesn't generate enough heat when everything is extremely cold. The Cummins 5.9L, found in '89-to-present Dodge trucks, uses an air heater, while the Ford Power Stroke (6.0L and 7.3L) and Chevrolet Duramax engines use glow plugs that are located in the cylinder head to heat the combustion chamber. Over time, glow plugs wear out and stop working. If you notice that the truck is very hard to start when cold, and/or produces white smoke when starting and idling until it is warm, you might have a glow-plug problem. We're not saying that's what it is (so no letters saying I changed my glow plugs and it still didn't start), but these are typical signs of glow plugs going bad. There are other components in the system, like on the 7.3L Power Strokes, that use a relay on top of the engine that is prone to failure. But nevertheless, glow plugs do wear out and BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems has recently released a newly designed glow plug that is better than a straight replacement. These plugs are designed to heat up faster to aid in start-up, while reducing start-up emissions. We went ahead and contacted BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems to get a set of these, as we knew of an '03 Ford 6.0L Power Stroke that was having some issues on cold start-up. Once we received the plugs, we took the truck over to our friends at Diesel Dynamics in Joshua, Texas, to walk us through the process. Product Profile
BorgWarner Turbo and Emissions Systems
www.borgwarnerglowplugs.com
Diesel Dynamics
817/558-3673

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