Etecno Glow Plug Happiness

thomas04 · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 129

Replaced my original ceramic plugs during the summer. Winter is creeping forth in Edmonto AB, and the new Etecno glow plugs are not living up to expectations. If I do not plug my car in during the day, and temperature has only dipped down to maybe -8 during the day, my Jeep starts pretty rough. I know from previous winters that the Jeep is a tad delicate with cold temps, but not this delicate.

I am interested if anyone else has found satisfaction with these glow plugs during cold start without the use of the block heater?

Peace,

Thomas

WolverineFW · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 9:36 pm

Have you tried cycling the ignition on 2 or 3 times to cycle the plugs? Might help if you have not been doing this.

Sent from my Transformer TF101 using Tapatalk 2

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:24 pm

Corey at ID put in the 5V and he says they work like a charm. I won't know for sure until I get my Jeep back from the shop...and it gets cold enough...like below freezing.

MrMopar64 · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:33 pm

The 7V metallic (Etecno) driven with the same ECU cal of the 7V ceramic will definitely be colder than their max allowed and will give "not-optimum" start-ability.

The glow plugs are controlled by a calculated energy usage input into the glow plug. The ceramics require much less energy usage to heat up than any metallic plug (due to metallurgical properties), so to use a metallic on the same cal means that it's not heating up as much before the heating phase ends.

Cycling the key multiple times will not do anything for the temps. You won't get the maximum energy into the plugs unless the ECU fully goes to sleep (it's calculating also the energy leaving the plug during cool down) and it has to lose so much heat before they will turn on full-blast again.

Hexus · **Posted:** Tue Oct 30, 2012 10:49 pm

Why would you not use your block heater unless you were in a situation (parked on the side of the road hunting) where you couldn't?

When I was working in Cleveland I took a 50 foot cord to work with me every day and plugged mine in while I was inside.

Unless you're parking it in the garage you should be plugging it in every night it gets below 40.

CATCRD · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 6:18 pm

MrMopar64 wrote:

The 7V metallic (Etecno) driven with the same ECU cal of the 7V ceramic will definitely be colder than their max allowed and will give "not-optimum" start-ability.

The glow plugs are controlled by a calculated energy usage input into the glow plug. The ceramics require much less energy usage to heat up than any metallic plug (due to metallurgical properties), so to use a metallic on the same cal means that it's not heating up as much before the heating phase ends.

Cycling the key multiple times will not do anything for the temps. You won't get the maximum energy into the plugs unless the ECU fully goes to sleep (it's calculating also the energy leaving the plug during cool down) and it has to lose so much heat before they will turn on full-blast again.

Can the ECU tune be written to drive the 7V metal plugs better?

I notice that if I key on, key off, unbuckle the seatbelt, open the door, then reverse the process, the glow plug light will come on again. If not, it doesn't just by cycling the key. Not sure what's going on behind the scenes the second time though.

dkenny · **Posted:** Wed Oct 31, 2012 6:59 pm

plugged in when below 40F..garbage...
my bus DIDN'T HAVE GLOW PLUGS OR GRID HEATERS..I Never used the block heater
the only time it had trouble starting was at 10F...then I used WD-40 or ether to help it start..at that temp its too cold to work outside anyway..

you might need to crank it for a little longer but it should still run..

my truck doesn't run the grid heaters anymore..I broke the connection at the battery..I've been wondering how cold i can go before it won't start..so far 40F..time will tell..FYI it doesn't run smooth at first firing..takes about 30seconds before it running smooth..so? I just drop it into neutral and let the converter refill..then I'm ready to go.

-dkenny

thomas04 · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 129

Last year during a colder snap my block heater cord messed and did not work for a day or two until I picked up on it. During this time weather hovered around -30 celsius. Motor sounded like a bowl of nuts after a couple of cranking rotations would start it up. Poor Jeep. I recommend against this type of cold start :lol:

I do agree that pluging in the block at 40 F or less for a healthy start is a little disheartening. Especially since these plugs were promoted as a healthy equivalent for the old ceramics. As I now see I should have maybe gone with Dealers setup and reflash. Maybe they allow for a larger draw to heat the plugs up.

Any thoughts from those who have gone with the Dealers 5v setup?

Peace,

Thomas

dirtmover · **Posted:** Thu Nov 01, 2012 8:27 am

thomas04 wrote:

Last year during a colder snap my block heater cord messed and did not work for a day or two until I picked up on it. During this time weather hovered around -30 celsius. Motor sounded like a bowl of nuts after a couple of cranking rotations would start it up. Poor Jeep. I recommend against this type of cold start :lol:

Yeah, that sound is kinda crazy :twisted:

. We don't have the luxury of power outlets at work and for the couple of weeks when it gets that cold you just have to check for unsuspecting bystanders, cross your fingers and crank. I've never had it not start but it sounds pretty bad for the first 15 seconds.

I'll be facing this decision at some point so it's nice to see some real feedback on how the Etecnos behave in colder climates. I'm currently leaning towards the Chrysler solution but probably after I use the 2 new ceramics I still have on the shelf.

To be fair to Etecno they did try to test their product in different regions/climates but I also know that a number of these "testers" while eager to jump on the bandwagon and pick up their "free" plugs didn't even bother installing :roll:

. I wonder what feedback they gave Etecno, "Yeah, they're fine"

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2012 6:51 pm

-8 during the day, thats cold. I would plug in a at that temp. thats me

ChooChooman74 · **Posted:** Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:22 pm

jlgail4309 wrote:

-8 during the day, thats cold. I would plug in a at that temp. thats me

Is that Celcius or Fahrenheit?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

thomas04 · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 129

It is ideal to probably plug in the Jeep at whatever temperature one feels best. But finding plugs on new work sites is not allows possible

However, this post is to stir some conversation regarding the lack of effectiveness that I feel the new 7v metal plugs compared to the old ceramics provide. I really want to know if others on this forum have installed Mopar's 5v plugs and feel they have the same power as their old ceramics. If so, it would be good for others on this forum to know which path to choose when looking for a new plug setup. I was under the impression from other post's on this forum that these 7v would be an excellent match for the original 7v ceramics. I thus feel it is not the case.

Peace,

Thoms

thomas04 · **Joined:** Sun Feb 28, 2010 1:57 pm **Posts:** 129

-8 celsius. Not that cold...

jlgail4309 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:05 pm

I Got this off GDE web site

GreenDieselEngineering

Joined: 10/07/2009 07:25:47
Messages: 246
Location: Southeast Michigan
Offline
This mostly depends on your climate. Both the 5 volt Mopar glow plugs and 7 volt etecno glow plugs do not get as hot as the stock 7 volt ceramic glow plugs. In very cold conditions the start ability is slightly reduced. Our testing showed faster and more stable cold starts with the 5 volt metallic glow plugs vs. the 7 volt Etecno glow plugs. One item to note: Etecno provided us pre-production glow plugs for testing, so their final released parts might have improvements, but we were not part of the final testing. GDE

Saber · **Joined:** Fri Jul 07, 2006 10:48 pm **Posts:** 160

I have Mopar's 5v plugs. This week its been 28-35 at night. I have notice a longer startup and more white smoke. I pluged in tonight

Dennis MacGyver · **Posted:** Mon Nov 05, 2012 1:59 am

Saber wrote:

I have Mopar's 5v plugs. This week its been 28-35 at night. I have notice a longer start-up and more white smoke. I plugged in tonight

To save energy, I'd plug it into a timer and have it warming for just a hour or 2 before you start 'er up. No need to warm it completely over night.

Cowpie1 · **Posted:** Fri Nov 23, 2012 11:01 pm

Heated garages are real nice. :BANANA:

ChesterCRD · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:58 am

I just got back from a Thanksgiving trip to update NY. My coldest start was at 21F and it started up without any issues. I've never used the block heater. I let it sit with the key on for a few extra seconds while I buckle my seatbelt and wonder whether the washer fluid from FL is a blue block of ice, then engage the starter.

My coldest start with the ceramics was -10F. This obviously wasn't that cold, but cold enough to turn on the glow plugs.

canlib · **Posted:** Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:20 pm

I changed out my perfectly good ceramics for metal when I did the GDE Hot tune. Now that the weather is getting colder I'm noticing slower starting. SIGH....

dirtmover · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2012 10:39 pm

canlib wrote:

I changed out my perfectly good ceramics for metal when I did the GDE Hot tune. Now that the weather is getting colder I'm noticing slower starting. SIGH....

Etecno1 or Mopar?

Etecno Glow Plug Happiness

Who is online