# Glow plug /relay fault on VW Type 4



## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Hi All,

I have an Autosleeper on a VW Type 4 Transporter 2.4 Diesel chassis. Had to call the AA out yesterday as the old girl refused to start (first time ever) Very nice AA man soon came to the conclusion that it was faulty glow plugs-then confirmed diagnosis with a quick blast of Easy Start and away she went. My question is this....has anyone out there had glow plugs replaced on a VW Type 4 because the AA man said that to get at them you need to remove front grill and radiator, which sounds a tad expensive to me.

Caulkhead


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

I did some on a T4 a few years back.

From memory, the whole of the front panel cantilevers forward after removing just 4 bolts from the top brackets to give reasonable access to the engine.

Three of the glow plugs were relatively easy to change. The fourth was concealed behind the injector pump I think. What I did was just change the three easy ones. Not the perfect solution I know but it cured the starting problems and avoided the need to disturb the pump (or whatever it was in the way).


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks for that 'philoaks'. A mate at work is going to have a look for me, so I will pass that on to him.

Regards Caulkhead


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## poleman (Aug 31, 2008)

I had a similar situation with my Fathers A/S Clubman and the main power lead to the back of the relay had become unclipped from the back of the fusebox.

Replacing the glowplugs is an involved job including removing #5 injector. Best to check you actually have power to the glowplugs before changing.


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

Having re-read your original post and poleman's reply, it would seem quite possible that the problem may be the relay or the feed to or from the relay.

It would be unusual for all the glow plugs to fail simultaneously and the symptoms of single ones failing would generally be poor starting over a period of time, not just a sudden failure to start.


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## caulkhead (Jul 25, 2007)

Thanks again 'philoaks'. Is there a simple way of checking that the relay is working ok. To be honest I dont even know where the relay is!!!! Thanks also 'poleman' for your reply.

Caulkhead


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## philoaks (Sep 2, 2008)

caulkhead said:


> Thanks again 'philoaks'. Is there a simple way of checking that the relay is working ok. To be honest I dont even know where the relay is!!!! Thanks also 'poleman' for your reply.
> 
> Caulkhead


The glow plugs will probably be all linked together by a metal strip and the strip in turn will be wired back to the relay. When the engine is first switched on (and the glow plug light comes on) there should be a 12v feed to the glow plugs. If there is no feed then the fault lies in the wiring/relay. If the 12v is there then it could be the individual glow plugs that are faulty.

I would guess that you could check the glow plugs by removing the metal strip and then measuring the individual resistance of each glow plug. I'm not sure what the value should be but if you get an open circuit when measuring between the tip of the glow plug and the chassis then the plug is most probably u/s.


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## poleman (Aug 31, 2008)

I think if I remember correctly the glow plug relay is the right hand bottom relay in the fuse box. The fuse box is located below the dash on drivers side near throttle pedal.

Open the cover and turn on the ignition and you should hear and feel the relay click when energised and click when it drops out.

If you pull the fuse box out of its retainer you will see a large red wire plugged into the back, this is the main supply to the glowplugs.

The best way to check for power at the glow plugs is to put a test light on the terminals of the plugs. They are all linked together by a metal strip so if one is powered they should all be.


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