LOST JEEPS
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/

I have never seen my Glow Plug Indicator Light LIT.
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26841		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  alrhall [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:08 pm ]
Post subject:  I have never seen my Glow Plug Indicator Light LIT.
I bought my CRD used. I am still waiting for the owners manual to arrive. I thought the security indicator light was the Glow Plug Indicator Light, because it stayed on for a while. Then I downloaded the manual from the Jeep site.
Now I know where it is, but it never comes on. I had two Volvo diesels so I know to wait a bit for the glow plugs. My CRD starts fine, but I have no Idea if the Glow Plugs work. I live in south Florida but I still expect them to work. Are they thermostat operated?
Any Ideas??

Thanx
Al
Author:  bugnout [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:10 pm ]
Post subject: 
I don't normally see it light unless its cold out.
Author:  BlackLibertyCRD [ Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: I have never seen my Glow Plug Indicator Light LIT.
alrhall wrote:
I bought my CRD used. I am still waiting for the owners manual to arrive. I thought the security indicator light was the Glow Plug Indicator Light, because it stayed on for a while. Then I downloaded the manual from the Jeep site.
Now I know where it is, but it never comes on. I had two Volvo diesels so I know to wait a bit for the glow plugs. My CRD starts fine, but I have no Idea if the Glow Plugs work. I live in south Florida but I still expect them to work. Are they thermostat operated?
Any Ideas??

Thanx
Al


Since you are in Florida, the glow plug indicator will be quicker than a blink of an eye. I don't even pause to start here unless it gets below 30 degrees and will start instantly.
Author:  Uffe [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 5:46 am ]
Post subject: 
Have a visit to Denmark mate - I got up to 5 seconds of glow plug indicator on a cold morning.

It would be even worse in colder climates I suspect.

Are you guys seeing only a blink of the glow plug indicator when its hot?? I haven't had the KJ for long enough to use it in warm weather.
Author:  dgeist [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 11:13 am ]
Post subject: 
I've only ever seen mine come on once: In the dead of last winter and only for a quick blink.
Author:  BlackLibertyCRD [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
dgeist wrote:
I've only ever seen mine come on once: In the dead of last winter and only for a quick blink.


I didn't know theres a winter in Atlanta.
Author:  bbo [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 2:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
Uffe wrote:
Have a visit to Denmark mate - I got up to 5 seconds of glow plug indicator on a cold morning.

It would be even worse in colder climates I suspect.

Are you guys seeing only a blink of the glow plug indicator when its hot?? I haven't had the KJ for long enough to use it in warm weather.


here in the states, we only have 05 and newer models .. the glow plugs we have are extremely hot and quick acting, they may have only been introduced in 2005.

In our manual it states they will only be on a maximum of 2 seconds.

for our Florida brethern, look in your manual to be sure where the light is ( looks like a spring) ... then before you put the key in .. look at that spot. then turn the key to the start position right before the starter engages. you should see just a blink. If you miss it and try to see it again right away .. it won't activate cause it already just did.
Author:  geordi [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 3:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
I have actually seen mine blink while I was in Savannah a couple weeks ago when we had a cold snap and it was down to 33 at night.

Oh shaddap, I know that there are colder places in the world. But for living in a sauna most of the year, 33 is cold. :P

Yea, Georgia and Florida have a winter, in Florida, it happens on the third Thursday in January, around 2:30am and lasts for about 20 minutes. For those 20 minutes, it's COLD. Then it's back to summer.

Florida has 4 seasons however, no matter what you may have heard. Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Canadians. :D

Al (Airhall) Where in S.Fl are you? I'm in West Boca, and will be here until grad school starts again in Jan.
Author:  Threeweight [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:55 pm ]
Post subject: 
Temps in the Portland area were down in the 30's overnight over the last week or so... I was seeing the glow plug light for 5 seconds or so. On a fishing trip a few weeks back, I spent a couple nights at a cabin at 4500' elevation in Eastern, OR. Nighttime temps were down in the low teens. The Jeep struggled a little bit in the mornings, and I got to see a lot of the glow plug light.

If the cabin hadn't been off the grid, I'd have plugged in the engine block heater.
Author:  Sir Sam [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 4:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
Threeweight wrote:
Temps in the Portland area were down in the 30's overnight over the last week or so... I was seeing the glow plug light for 5 seconds or so. On a fishing trip a few weeks back, I spent a couple nights at a cabin at 4500' elevation in Eastern, OR. Nighttime temps were down in the low teens. The Jeep struggled a little bit in the mornings, and I got to see a lot of the glow plug light.

If the cabin hadn't been off the grid, I'd have plugged in the engine block heater.


Ha, agreed, seems like the places where I would need to engine block heater the most are the places that are off the grid.
Author:  Uffe [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:26 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yeah I know about those fast glow plugs mate. In my manual it says the glow plugs will light up from 2-10 seconds depending on temperature. I've seen it blink as well when it hasn't been allowed to cool down completely though.

I'm looking forward to the danish summer, on a hot day it will get around 30C (that's about 92F) probably that will let the glow plugs blink as fast as a hot start. Not sure about that, haven't had a KJ in the summer yet :D

Ahh summer. It seems to be so far away in november. darn danish drizzle and low temperatures. Why couldn't it be more like the Alpes - they get snow and clear skies at least. Happily they're only 700miles away.
Author:  geordi [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 6:36 pm ]
Post subject: 
Interesting idea for a mod!

Does anyone know how much power the block heater needs? Mount a second battery somewhere secure, connect both terminals to a power inverter that makes more power than the heater needs (Shouldn't be hard, there are some BIG inverters out there) and the ground to the frame. Using a manual knife switch, (Or maybe a heavy relay triggered by the engine running) connect the positive into the car's positive system, but leave the switch open unless the engine is running.

Now the second battery can feed the heater, but only use power when it is called for... And only charge when the engine is running, but remain isolated when it's off so as to not drain the car's power.

Hmm... Is good plan, but I do not zee how it vill rid us ov Moose und Squvirrel. *evil grin*
Author:  CATCRD [ Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:27 pm ]
Post subject: 
Someone on here posted that the block heater uses about 400 watts, so theres a starting point for your project.
Author:  geordi [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:51 am ]
Post subject: 
400 watts? Is that it? I have a small refrigerator that uses more power than that!

I guess the 1500 watt (3000 surge) inverter I have is a little bit of overkill. 8)

This probably doesn't need to be done for my KJ, but for those in the backcountry or the hinterlands where there isn't a power grid nearby... This could be a good way to keep your engine toasty on those long winter nights.
Author:  dgeist [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:09 pm ]
Post subject: 
BlackLibertyCRD wrote:
dgeist wrote:
I've only ever seen mine come on once: In the dead of last winter and only for a quick blink.


I didn't know theres a winter in Atlanta.


Yep. Last year it even got cold enough to gell my b100 :) About twice a decade we get a decent amount of snow. Mostly just fun dangerous ice storms, though.
Author:  Bill.Barg [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:56 pm ]
Post subject: 
I think the problem with using a battery to power a 400W heater is the amount of energy available in the battery (amp*hours) (watts*hours), etc. So a typical battery with 1200 watt*hours will run your 400 watt heater for 3 hours before totally loosing its charge. If you wanted to make this sustainable you would only get 2 hours off the battery each cycle, I would guess. Maybe a big dep cycle battery would get you 6 hours, but a 12 hour winter night might be a tall order for any battery!
Author:  geordi [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:13 pm ]
Post subject: 
But you are forgetting that it wouldn't be running a 100% duty cycle. Yes, a deep cycle marine battery would be the best choice, one of the ones with at least a 120 minute reserve capacity. (I can't remember how they measure the reserve exactly, but 120 minutes means a LOT of power available)

The heater would only use power when it cycles on, run the temp up to a certain point, then shut off and wait until the block cools a bit to just below it's threshold. If you are starting with a warm engine, it might not even come on for 2-3 hours to begin with, and then it only needs to "top off" the heat, versus starting with a frozen-cold block after waiting through 10 hours of cold if you only put it on in the morning.

Like I said, I don't think I need to do this, but it's bound to be better than nothing for the people that do need it. Or the alternative - leave the engine idling all night to keep it from freezing. If its THAT cold out... Time to move to Tahiti.
Author:  bbo [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 2:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
geordi wrote:
But you are forgetting that it wouldn't be running a 100% duty cycle. Yes, a deep cycle marine battery would be the best choice, one of the ones with at least a 120 minute reserve capacity. (I can't remember how they measure the reserve exactly, but 120 minutes means a LOT of power available)

The heater would only use power when it cycles on, run the temp up to a certain point, then shut off and wait until the block cools a bit to just below it's threshold. If you are starting with a warm engine, it might not even come on for 2-3 hours to begin with, and then it only needs to "top off" the heat, versus starting with a frozen-cold block after waiting through 10 hours of cold if you only put it on in the morning.

Like I said, I don't think I need to do this, but it's bound to be better than nothing for the people that do need it. Or the alternative - leave the engine idling all night to keep it from freezing. If its THAT cold out... Time to move to Tahiti.


I think the problem you can't overcome is when you actually need it the most is when it's the coldest. the energy used to warm it from under a certain point will be near the same as it is to keep it warm at a certain point. and you really only need it when its really cold ... read below zero or so F ... so the cycling would be many times per night then.

Last winter we had many nights below zero and I only plugged it in an the coldest nights.

I think your scenario would work best if you knew what time you would need it and had a timer or manually turned it on an hour or half hour before needing it warm. (not sure of optimal warm up time vs. temps)
Author:  geordi [ Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:18 pm ]
Post subject: 
I thought about that too, that is exactly how I used the coolant heater on my TDI Jetta last winter in Savannah.

Oh shush it. I like warm air when I'm starting out and its cold out, and then I don't need to freeze for 5 miles while the car warms up.

But I had the car plugged into a heavy-duty outdoor timer, and had the timer set to come on about 2 hours before I needed the car, so the coolant was up to 100* by the time I got in it.

The timer used NOTHING for electric, so no reason a timer couldn't be used in the same way, just with the battery providing the power overnight.
Author:  alrhall [ Sat Dec 08, 2007 12:30 am ]
Post subject: 
I HAVE SEEN THE LIGHT!

The temp went way down two nites ago 55Deg.
:lol: The light blinked on for about 1/2 sec.
Al
Page 1 of 2 All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/