Glow plug advice

[imiceman44]

I have 8 mushroomed glow plugs in my 6.2 now so I want to make sure it doesn't happen again.
I was trying to get acdelco 60g but heard there's a problem with the cheap ones they are counterfeit or misboxed so I got a set from Amazon and opened them up and it says c9 instead of 60g
I returned them and got replacement and got same thing.
So I went to napa, theirs say d8
Now I called acdelco customer service and they said it should have 60g.
I am leaning towards the Kennedy quick heat but had heard lately some bad feedback.
What say the brotherhood?

 

[Big Ray]

I got delco 60g's from rockauto before my IP pump went bad. They worked well down to the 20's.

 

[bigblock454]

I had bad luck with the early Kennedy quick heats, but I think there was a known issue with the early units. John Kennedy is an easy guy to talk with and he won't blow smoke, call and talk with him about it.

 

[imiceman44]

I had bad luck with the early Kennedy quick heats, but I think there was a known issue with the early units. John Kennedy is an easy guy to talk with and he won't blow smoke, call and talk with him about it.

Yeah, the concern I have is that I will be paying double to get the quick heat and I want to make sure I don't have problems with them because with the turbo it's really hard to get to the glow plugs.

 

[tRustyK5]

I had quick heats in 2007, so they may have been the early ones you heard about? I liked them a lot. They did not mushroom. They heated very quickly and starting was much improved. They did play nice with the factory GP controller. No manual button needed.

The so-so part, and bear in mind these were probably what you guys are calling the early Quick heats. They started to fail one by one after about a year. I ordered a second set and installed the 8 new at once and kept the 5 working old ones in a drawer. About a year later I started having to swap in a GP from the drawer about once a month til I ran out of working spares.

Still, easiest retrofit GP's IMO.

I have run the AC60G's with a manual button. Didn't kill a single one even with plenty of abuse over a three year period. I also ran the Autolite 1110's for a while. Also decent although it started better the the AC's.

I never mushroomed a GP with any of these self limiting GP's.

 

[imiceman44]

I had quick heats in 2007, so they may have been the early ones you heard about? I liked them a lot. They did not mushroom. They heated very quickly and starting was much improved. They did play nice with the factory GP controller. No manual button needed.

The so-so part, and bear in mind these were probably what you guys are calling the early Quick heats. They started to fail one by one after about a year. I ordered a second set and installed the 8 new at once and kept the 5 working old ones in a drawer. About a year later I started having to swap in a GP from the drawer about once a month til I ran out of working spares.

Still, easiest retrofit GP's IMO.

I have run the AC60G's with a manual button. Didn't kill a single one even with plenty of abuse over a three year period. I also ran the Autolite 1110's for a while. Also decent although it started better the the AC's.

I never mushroomed a GP with any of these self limiting GP's.

I have some autolite 1110, I am afraid to use them after what happened with my drx00050 mushroomed.
I want to use a glow plug that will not do that. I am ok if they fail in a year and I have to change them but not if they mushroom

 

[KirsL]

I've always run the AC60Gs in mine, never had an issue. I run the stock 82 controller setup with a manual override. Even on the low comp engine they worked perfectly.

 

[imiceman44]

Can anyone confirm that the 60g should be stamped on the glow plug?
If not then maybe the ones I have are good.
I just don't want to chance it

 

[diesel4me]

All the 60G's I bought from Autozone except once,had that number stamped in them,but that was a few years ago since I've bought any new ones..

One time when I bought 8 of the AC-60G's from them,I got home and found a few "Wellman" brand ones were in the 60G boxes--I took them back,I didn't feel like "mixing" brands,I have heard that can lead to one getting most of the current and overheating,while the rest fail to get hot enough,due to variances in resistance,and you should replace all 8 as a "matched set"....not sure if its truth or fiction..

I have read some AC's are just re-boxed Bosch Duo-Therm glow plugs,it would be wise to open the boxes at the parts store before buying them,to make sure they really are AC's..however I haven't heard or read anything bad about the Bosch ones..(I wont use their spark plugs in a gas Chevy V8 though)..

I have had an Autolite 1110 fail while driving,it got chewed up and spit out the exhaust after a few miles a few years back,I was lucky ,so far nothing seems to have been wounded as far as the piston or cylinder...
I have a set of 8 hardly used ones I'm now afraid to use..

I have a few AC 9G original ones from a 6.5 a friend scrapped in my 6.2 now,after I found two dead 60G's this past summer--I know its risky using them with a manual push button,and should replace them before winter gets any worse--just hope they haven't swelled up already..

I hate changing glow plugs,even on my pickup with no A/C or turbo they suck to get at the rear most ones--the ones that seem to rot the hex off fastest and become the worst to break loose and remove ,and they seem to be the ones that swell up the worst when your taking out any oem 9G's...
Sometimes I wish they had an aftermarket grid heater you could add to the intake to make cold starts easier..

 

[Bent77]

I have some autolite 1110, I am afraid to use them after what happened with my drx00050 mushroomed.
I want to use a glow plug that will not do that. I am ok if they fail in a year and I have to change them but not if they mushroom

I always installed Autolites with no issues.

How old or how long were those in service?

 

[imiceman44]

I always installed Autolites with no issues.

How old or how long were those in service?

2 weeks.
I know I burned them by putting them on too long, I thought 10 seconds at a time was not too long, but I guess the second time should be less.
Anyway I want the glow plugs that do not swell or like the Kennedys they are smaller so they can still come out easy.
I am still working on getting the old ones off.
Those drx00050 are so hard, they got swollen just a little at the tip enough not to come out and they are still hard, will no break and will not bend.
I pulled the tip out trying to pull the first one and the whole probe is still in, too long to fall inside.
That's why I am very hesitant to just put anything back in once I am done.

 

[diesel4me]

I was tempted to drill out the holes in the heads where the tips pass thru,to make it less likely for future swelled up glow plugs to get "stuck"after I finally got the swelled up ones out...but I didn't..

 

[imiceman44]

I was tempted to drill out the holes in the heads where the tips pass thru,to make it less likely for future swelled up glow plugs to get "stuck"after I finally got the swelled up ones out...but I didn't..

Believe me I thought about it too, but I am sure the reason it is not is because you want to keep the combustion out of that area

 

[diesel4me]

I was more concerned the head might crack with larger holes and combustion heat being able to get at that area more if I did hog out the holes..it may not have much meat in that area..
I don't think the compression would matter that much,the tapered seat on the glow plug could likely withstand higher pressures than the engine can make..

6.2's should have 18 mm glow plugs!..those dinky 10mm ones just aren't enough at times,and are a lot more likely to snap off in the heads..
Never cared for the 10mm spark plugs my old Honda used either--an old Packard straight 8 a friend owned used those too,it was a joke,seeing what looked like Cox airplane engine spark plugs in a huge old flat head..he had to replace them quite often,they fouled easy and would not fire ever again if the carb flooded..

 

[tRustyK5]

2 weeks.
I know I burned them by putting them on too long, I thought 10 seconds at a time was not too long, but I guess the second time should be less.
Anyway I want the glow plugs that do not swell or like the Kennedys they are smaller so they can still come out easy.
I am still working on getting the old ones off.
Those drx00050 are so hard, they got swollen just a little at the tip enough not to come out and they are still hard, will no break and will not bend.
I pulled the tip out trying to pull the first one and the whole probe is still in, too long to fall inside.
That's why I am very hesitant to just put anything back in once I am done.

If you're OK with 12-18 months the Kennedy's are good IMO. When the first one dies, buy another set and replace them all, then keep the working "used" ones in a drawer. I found if one burnt out and it didn't get replaced the rest would fail in rapid succession. When all 8 work, it seems to stay that way for quite a while.

They probably heat twice as fast as a 60G. With the stock GP controller my Jimmy would never start using 60G's. They wouldn't get hot enough, so I had to convert to a manual controller. With my 83 pick-up I didn't want a button on the dash or to mess with the wiring so I decided to give the Kennedy's a whirl. They worked great with the stock controller.

 

[imiceman44]

If you're OK with 12-18 months the Kennedy's are good IMO. When the first one dies, buy another set and replace them all, then keep the working "used" ones in a drawer. I found if one burnt out and it didn't get replaced the rest would fail in rapid succession. When all 8 work, it seems to stay that way for quite a while.

They probably heat twice as fast as a 60G. With the stock GP controller my Jimmy would never start using 60G's. They wouldn't get hot enough, so I had to convert to a manual controller. With my 83 pick-up I didn't want a button on the dash or to mess with the wiring so I decided to give the Kennedy's a whirl. They worked great with the stock controller.

Well I don't know what is happening with my stock controller but my guess is the relay is bad.
That's why I went with the 60g and manual control

 

[campfire]

Can anyone confirm that the 60g should be stamped on the glow plug?
If not then maybe the ones I have are good.
I just don't want to chance it

I've had 3 sets, and all were stamped 60G. I've also had 2 sets of Bosch Duraterms. These are what I now use, and what I would recommend to you. They are self-limiting (like the 60G plugs) and rated for continuous duty (unlike the 60G plugs). Yes, they take a few extra seconds to heat up. But they have lasted multiple years now, and the 60G plugs did not.

Bosch also put individual serial number seals on each individual box. You can look up your serial numbers to make sure you're not getting counterfeit plugs. I initially thought that was excessive, but I do keep hearing stories about counterfeit parts.

They also have a 10mm head instead of a 3/8 head. Slightly bigger, as Robert wanted.

 

[campfire]

If you're OK with 12-18 months the Kennedy's are good IMO.

His truck (and mine) has a special turbo manifold that blocks easy access to the passenger-side glow plugs. I installed the plugs on the engine stand and personally don't ever want to change them again. So Kennedy plugs are out.

 

[imiceman44]

His truck (and mine) has a special turbo manifold that blocks easy access to the passenger-side glow plugs. I installed the plugs on the engine stand and personally don't ever want to change them again. So Kennedy plugs are out.

I guess I will check out the Bosch

 

[imiceman44]

I just ordered the Bosch set.
Should be here tomorrow.
They are even more than the Kennedys, ouch