2.25D landy engine - glow plug conversion?

[sebastiaan]

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd ask here, hoping glenanderson would chip in ;-)

I've been running an S3 landy (well, Santana...) as our second car for some 8 month now and slowly but surely things start breaking less. I have noticed that she takes a long time to start, needing around 30 seconds of preheating to get going without a huge amount of white smoke. It's an old diesel so I guess that is to be expected. 

However....

As part of the initial parts order I had included a set of newer (parallel) glow plugs which I have not yet installed as the old ones worked and I'm a bit anxious about breaking one whilst getting them out of the head they've been in for 43 years now. Thing is, most of the internet only talks about reliability of the parallel conversion; loose one of the original plugs and you are stranded. Loose one of the parallel plugs and you will still be able to get out of Dodge, be it on 3 cylinders initially.

What I am looking for is some experience on if the parallel glow plug conversion would also lead to shorter pre-heating times or not. If it does, I'll take the plunge and install them. If not, I guess I will leave things be.

Should you be interested, there's a sort of diary here: locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=218096 and also some here: forum-alfaclub-nl.translate.goog/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=68344&start=352&_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=nl&_x_tr_pto=wapp



Thanks!
Sebastiaan

[glenanderson]

Did someone mention my name? 😃

Glow-plugs are a similarly contentious topic in Land-Rover circles as freewheeling hubs. Some people swear by one type or the other.

30 seconds is about right for the early type. It sounds to me like they’re working fine. The biggest issue with the early system is that it needs to be completely standard to work properly. You need the right ballast resistor and the right voltage/wattage warning light bulb. The warning light should glow dimly at first, then steadily increase in brightness as the plugs heat up.

Yes, if one plug fails, you lose the lot, but they’re massively reliable and can work for decades.

The same can’t be said for the “modern” ones, in my experience. They seem to fail very quickly, and I have never found a source of single replacements; you have to buy another kit of four.

Personally, I’d stick with the originals, and sell the “upgrade” on.

[sebastiaan]

Thanks Glen! Appreciated.

I've got the right wattage bulb in there, resistor in place & wired correctly. The light glows dim but seems to stay dim.

If 30 sec is about right I guess I'll keep it like it is for now. If I do want to change them out, are the notoriously hard to get out or shouldn't I worry?

edit: I was able to buy single plugs over here (NL) and went for Beru's, which should be decent quality.

[dodgerover]

Aug 24, 2023 18:18:28 GMT sebastiaan said:

Thanks Glen! Appreciated.

I've got the right wattage bulb in there, resistor in place & wired correctly. The light glows dim but seems to stay dim.

If 30 sec is about right I guess I'll keep it like it is for now. If I do want to change them out, are the notoriously hard to get out or shouldn't I worry?

edit: I was able to buy single plugs over here (NL) and went for Beru's, which should be decent quality.

It's 20 years since I had my series Landrover but 30 seconds sounds about right to me as well.
I had no problem changing mine, they all came out easily.

[glenanderson]

You should be able to get them out no problem. Another benefit of the early type is that I have never had a seized one.