How To extend glow time with Vag-com - ALH

I can play with this a bit seeing as my preglow comes on even if the ambient temps are over 100*F (yes, really ~ apparently 5500' in elevation will do that). I'll have to wait till Monday though as my wife's off this weekend and we're taking a short trip.

Anyway, my gut feeling is the same as yours... fwiw

This is exactly what I need in my Artic climate. Wingnut you da man!!

n1das said:

One question I've been asked is does the adaptation affect the temperature threshold at which you'll start to get some pre-glow time? We know the adaptation changes the pre-glow time, assuming the engine is cold enough to get any pre-glow at all, but does it also affect the temperature threshold for preglow?

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Yes it does. If you look at my examples above, you will see that at 13.5*C, the stock value shows no glow time. But the adapted value does. Therfore, the threshold of 9*C before the glow plugs are activated is increased.

Yup, I would second that. I got a short but noticeable light the first day I did the switch at about 45F, I had never had a light at that temp before.

Wingnut any idea if this affects the coolant glow plugs? I sort of think it would since we are telling the ECU to start at a lower temp, maybe this is the same place the ECU looks for the coolant glow plug settings?

I did the change yesterday. Temp was at 13*C and my setting was 0. I find that strange. Sorry if I missed it, but does that mean that my glow plugs were on for 0 seconds at that temperature? I have never had an issue starting my car and it's dang cold here in Canada. I did however change to the next recommended value (32650 maybe?) and my adaptation changed to 2 units. My light definately stays on longer, but I don't notice any difference in starting (since it always has started b4). Anyways, I just like the fact that I can mess with one more thing in my car.
Thanks Wingnut!!

Hey guys, don't thank me. Thank Fred (aka samfisher). He is the one who did the experimenting to find this info out. All I did was make a how to out of the information he found.

Wingnut said:

Hey guys, don't thank me. Thank Fred (aka samfisher). He is the one who did the experimenting to find this info out. All I did was make a how to out of the information he found.

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Fred (aka samfisher), my glow plugs and me thank you for your efforts.

Anybody tried this mod on a 1Z engine?

Anybody tried this mod on a 1Z engine?

ALH engine - works!
BEW PD engine - No go, appears that it DOES NOT WORK.
Couldn't get it to work on my 05 PD Jetta Wagen.

1Z engine - ?

Yes! works fine on the 1Z motor in my 97 Jetta.

Been needing this lately in hotlanta, area seems to have an endless fall weather, where the glow plugs run only a short time, and the starter has to work more, and the starts are not always instant.

I got 2.7 seconds at 27c using 23510.. Is currently in a heated garage, will adjust it A/R and let you know...

good one
Regards
CB&Stoker

Added to favorites. Will have to do at some point in the future.

Worked as advertised on my '98 beetle! thanks fred and wingnut!

I had previously tried to change my EGR setting and the ECU would not let me change it either. I have now done that and the Glow Plug change. Both have taken effect. The first time I tried to change the EGR, I was not logged in. As I recall the Glow Plug directions said to login as 12233. It worked for me on both EGR and Glow Plugs when I logged in. I now have a glow of 7.7 seconds at 4*C with a setting of 32700. My altitude is 2100 Ft. This has been a tremendous help for my cold starting.

BUMP due to cold weather hitting the northeast USA this weekend.

Wingnut said:

Hey guys, don't thank me. Thank Fred (aka samfisher). He is the one who did the experimenting to find this info out. All I did was make a how to out of the information he found.

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I haven't needed to try this out, but it's great to know this fix is readily available.

If there was a TDIClub Member of the Year award, I would like to nominate samfisher.

I seccond the motion!

my question is ,does this effect glow time when it's down to say 0 degree's and below,wish mine would hit on all 4 cyls right away,seems to take 3-5 seconds for all of them to fire,and smooth out.

what kind of glow plugs are being lit on the first page on dieseldorfs post? I have Bosch and only the tips get red hot, those are like purple hot and are hot all along the length of the plug. Beru I'm assuming?

If your glow plugs only get red hot, it's time to replace them. The tip should glow white.

-J

I just got my plugs and tested them with an Ohmmeter and they checked out, I'm not replacing them, they cost so much!

Speaking of which...

Are there "premium" glow plugs, as some manufacturers advertise? Are any brands better than others? Would it be ill-advised to mix & match glow plug brands?

I think Beru glow plugs are the "premium" ones, the prices between them and the Bosch glow plugs certainly reflects that. I wouldn't mix and match plugs they say to replace all 4 at once.

Ive noticed with my PD130 (euro built feb 2003) that even when my engine is hot and i switch the ignition on my GP light always comes on for a second but im sure there is no GP activation.
How i know is that when the temperature is low i hear an extra click when i switch on the ignition but dont when hot, so is it some kind of a test for the light to always briefly come on?

You got it micky!

My car doesnt have an immoblizer, so it will run with the instrument cluster unplugged. When you do that you get 2 faults in the ECU: One for an open check engine light, and one for an open glow plug light.

-J

compu_85 said:

If your glow plugs only get red hot, it's time to replace them. The tip should glow white.

-J

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Have you verified a white-hot glow firsthand by testing one?

The auto white balance feature in many digital cameras often gets fooled under poor lighting conditions and sets the w/b level according to the brightest part of the image that's close to white and interprets it as "white" when it might not actually be white. This causes the entire color spectrum in the pic to be shifted from what it actually is. IOW, it may look different in the digital pic compared to how it looks for real. I won't trust the color in the digital pic until I see the same thing for real with my own eyes.

Beru licenses the technology from Bosch. Essentially, no difference in brands. Mix and match to your heart's content. No issues.

Going in for the 90K mile service. CEL came on for first time. Cheaning connectors seemed to put it out, but I came back on again. I am not very happy with VW and their answers on Electrical questions. (or any for that matter.)

In my reading about the glow plugs, and their testing. Bentley's 2003, which I have, tells me to expect 6 amps current through the GP. I overloaded my DVM 20Amp range, and blew the 15amp fuse internal to the meter. Rather strange. So I started to look. They may have changed the glow plugs in 2003 to a Faster Heating unit; Ceramic? Try to look up data on the WWW. to find what different types are out there. I seem to get double talk.

I had 285K on my Rabbit. Had an amp guage off the battery. Gave a good indication that the GPs were lit. (and that one had failed)

Today there is the CEL. How does it Know that #3 GP is Bad?

Now that I am writing this. I have always wanted an Engine Heater. Could an engine warmer fool the computer by warming the coolant, and not let the GPs heat up when it is -10F? They could just say so. While I am wiring up the heater, a push button switch could heat the GPs

At 90K miles it might just be good to get new GPs as like include it with the TB? and a Coolant Dump and Refill?

While I'm at it. Just cleaning some of the electrical contacts on the GPs and the fuses and battery contacts, seemed to Put out the CEL for a while. This is what we used to call "Good Engineering Practice" From what I hear VW would call it trashing the warrenty? By alowing the contacts to get salt and water on them they corrode and make problems for the computer. Now that I don't have to worry about the warrenty, and the damage is already done, I might as well, do my own work. Can't make it worse than it is.

I believe that I have turned the CEL for the GPs back off again, after going over the contacts with Battery Terminal cleaner. I have a trip on in three weeks from Boston to Ohio. Wife does not like the Dash lights come
on.

I found the Rabbit Patch, no fooling! Up here in Mass. Gave me an idea.

Do you have access to a scanner? Most here will recommend VagCom and a laptop to read and clear CELs. Once you read it, you can go about fixing it. If it is the glow plug system go through "glowplugs 101 v 2.0) by wingnut - very good step by step.

It seems you have had it scanned ("How does it know #3 GP is bad?") - the answer to your question is that it compares the resistance of the four wires and stores a code for the one(s) that are out of specs. If it says #3, it's probably actually #2 (seems to count in reverse).

Good luck - shouldn't be too bad. Actually, if you're interested, you may find that you will do a better job than the dealer. Probably can't do much worse than some of us have experienced.

I'd also recomend investing in an in-expensive multi-meter. harbor freight commonly has them for as little as 3.99 when checking glwo plugs a good plug will have around 6 ohms of resistance. a bad plug will be infinite.

Has anyone tried this on a BKD engine (2005 PD 2.0 TDI)? I'm running B100 and find that cold start is very slow (4 secs cranking) with a cloud of white smoke when it kicks in. Presumable I need to alter the data until is shows me a sensible glow time at my ambient temp?