International 554/564 Tractor

Maybe just leave 3mm slack on the nuts and progressively go from there.

Victory.

Cold morning, 20 seconds heat on 3 gloplugs instant start. Number 4 (no heat) took about 15 seconds to come on line.

Lang

Good work Lang! I think the wait for No4 to come on line is about the best you can expect, from cold.

I am glad you went with the glow plug conversion, rather than using aerostart.

Brett.

Lang, I may have a spare housing with loose gland nut. Get back to me in a couple of weeks, if you feel the need.

Jarrod.

Lang, I ran my 564 for maybe 4 years with the glow plug retainer undone, it never moved.
Is the old lady performing satisfactorily?

Yep like a beaut.

Live and learn.

Have not used the 554 over winter but grass is now growing. Went to start and gave it a big 30 second preheat on the glow plugs - nothing. Got it going for the job with the heat gun into the manifold.

Investigated on return. All three Land Cruiser glow plugs burnt out. After costing them on Ebay I found a set of 6 1HZ Toyota replacements for $38 delivered,

Further investigation on Land Cruiser forums reveal that the cars have an auto shut-off relay before start that goes for 5-6 seconds. Lots of discussion reveals that 12 seconds max for those who have a manual switch conversion. General consensus is anything over twenty seconds will kill them instantly.

I took the spare plug that came with the Wagga Tractors conversion kit (not able to get the old number 4 cylinder one out) and fitted it. Tried 10 seconds and tested -OK, Let it cool and 20 seconds - OK. Cooled again and 30 seconds - dead!

They are obviously much more efficient and faster heating than the original IH offering. I suppose the pissy little heater wire in the original needed a decent run to warm up the cylinder whereas the modern plugs have a bulb with a comparatively huge surface area. They say that 5 seconds will make them glow red - must be a decent battery draw.

Lang

Glow plug circuit in my pickup ...ooops sorry ...ute ....has a 60A fuse ...since I got some fast heat Bosch ones ,the motor starts almost instaneously..............the Inters used to be fixed by using a loop of ordinary welding wire ......supposedly..........Ive done a fix on similar old Toyota truck ones that were a loop of wire using heavy stainless steel wire ........unfortunately most of my bits and pieces were left at Willawong ,or scrapped .......now Im starting the need things like that and dont have them.

In my many years of working with diesels , we always dipped the glow plug in some engine oil before putting power
through the plug. It gives you an "Indication" that the circuit is complete, and it should burn/smoke the oil within a few seconds.
You have a lot less chance of burning the plug . I found that it was enough to indicate the plug would do it's job in the engine.
Maybe i am preaching to the converted? My thoughts for what they are worth.

So are the ones that have burnt out, can you repair them as described above using a welding rod or stainless?