Model/Make Glo Plugs for our engines

[crieders]

I want to order new glo plugs
Anyone who has done this, what make and model number to purchase? Favorite place to buy them?
Thanks

[Ron Hill]

Cliff : WHICH ENGINE ??????????????????

A thought

[dfloeter]

Having a Universal engine, I just go straight to the Kubota dealer.   The price is fair and I get good quality.

[KWKloeber]

Cliff the Kubota parts manuals are on the TechWiki. You can use the manual for D850 or D950 Kubota - they use the same plug.

http://www.c34.org/wikiwp/

Under the "Manuals" topic.
Punch the part number into www.messicks.com and you'll see the cost and availability. Be aware that an old part number may have been changed, but the messicks website will direct you to the current part number.

[crieders]

25xp

[Ron Hill]

Cliff : Thanks !!  Now do as Ken mentioned!!

A thought

[crieders]

Thanks very much

[Analgesic]

This thread prompted me to inquire whether I might need new glow plugs.  I have a 1988 C34 and when I bought the boat 20 years ago, I was told to turn the key clockwise until I heard 10 beeps, then push the start button and this worked until 2 summers ago.  Since then, it never starts at 10 beeps when cold but will start sluggishly after 15-20 beeps belching a lot of black smoke and eventually running smoothly.  I've wondered if I have a bad glow plug or two with not enough heat to kick start the engine.  It always starts easily when warm.   Any thoughts are appreciated. 

[KWKloeber]

Brian

With the plugs heated up for 20-30 secs you should feel each tip is HOT.  Hot enough that you can't keep a tight grasp. 

There's a "normal" resistance value that will tell you whether the plug has pooched, but frankly I don't remember it and the above is an easy way to get a positive test result.

New glo plugs are VERY CHEAP insurance, all things considered.

[Ron Hill]

Brian : You might want to look at the Ford Truck solenoid upgrade to your M25XP engine.  Then you only need to keep the plugs ON for 3-4 seconds.

A thought

[Analgesic]

Thank you both.  I'm ready for an easy Winter project. 

[KWKloeber]

Brian:
You might want to look at the Ford Truck solenoid upgrade to your M25XP engine.  Then you only need to keep the plugs ON for 3-4 seconds.

A thought

Ron, Ron, Ron.  Ok, you opened the door.

Full disclosure then, Brian:

Yes, owners can install an unnecessary solenoid/relay, solely to reduce the preheat "inconvenience" by, say (depending on the ambient temperature at the dock/mooring) some 20-25 seconds.  (Or they could buy a powerboat if time is that critical.)

Yes, owners can make the system more complicated and potentially error prone than it needs to be (or was designed to be,) and install an unnecessary solenoid on their boats.

Yes, owners can disregard the glow plug manufacturer's recommendation to not over-voltage their 10-volt plugs (up to 14+ volts if a shore charger happens to be on) and install an unnecessary solenoid on their boats.

Yes, owners can disregard that Kubota installs a resistor in its preheat circuit that reduces the 12v battery voltage to the proper level, and install an unnecessary solenoid on their boats.

If owners want to do that it should be with full consideration of the (one) (1) (single) pro vs the cons.  And I still say it should be a 100% continuous duty rated, 40-amp (headlight type) relay vs. a 150-amp starter solenoid.  Killing a fly with a fly swatter, not a sledgehammer.
"Starter solenoids don't fail," I've heard.  My tractor's starter solenoid just failed.  I've never had a headlight relay fail.  I've never seen a boat NOT having a relay or solenoid have a failure (except if 20-25 seconds longer is a "failure.")

[Catalina007]

Did anyone actually answer his guys question ?
NGK  Y103K    Universal number  - 299517

Get them on Amazon about $8 each they will be at your house tomorrow

[Ron Hill]

Ken : You are correct again!!!      HOWEVER :

I had the Ford truck solenoid mod. on my old M25XP engine for 20 years.  I believe that I probably put over 4000 hrs + on that engine during that time and never changed a glow plug!!  That's alot of engine starts!!

So many of us had that Mod and NEVER had a problem!!  We just didn't hold the glow Plug ON forever when we started that engine!!!  3-5 sec was enough!!   

A few thoughts

[Stu Jackson]

The following introduction is from this link: https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,10743.msg83675.html#msg83675

Not the first time KK has dismissed glow plug solenoids.

****************************
sometimes Ken just can't help himself.  That'd be most of the time.  He tends to uselessly repeat himself, too, and too often.

It's your CHOICE to install the glow plug solenoid.  The advantage is that you can start a cold engine in half the time.  Ken thinks that's unnecessary, and has explained why maybe once before, followed by his repeated dissing of the concept.

The only disadvantage I can recall is that one could possibly burn out the glow plugs if, WITH a solenoid installed, you keep them energized too long, because the voltage that gets to them is higher because the current doesn't have to run up to the cockpit panel and back down to the engine.

But that would mean that YOU, as the boat owner, just plumb forgot (!!!) that you actually installed the solenoid.  How could that be?!?

In response to one of Ken's earlier solenoid diss comments, I related my actual real life experience where it came in very handy:

We'd sailed across SF Bay from the Oakland Estuary to Sausalito, and by then our engine was cold.  Sausalito has Hurricane Gulch, with high winds over a break in the hills to the west, but also, just to the north of it, a band of light breeze.  We were right at that point, furling our jib and dropping our main.  There was a Big Boat Race going on, and there was a large group of large sailboats bearing down on us from the north and east - one of their turning marks was a since removed yellow buoy off Hurricane Gulch.

When we tried to start the engine, nothing happened.  I knew exactly what it was, because ten years earlier I had replaced the start button to starter solenoid fuse holder, and had since relocated it to a more accessible spot (see Critical Upgrades).  I hopped down below, opened the engine compartment and messed with the fuse holder, and asked Morgan to try to start the engine.  It turned over this time, but didn't start because it was cold.  By then those large racing sailboats were bearing down on us, having slid out of the dead zone and hit the breeze.  We could see the bones in their teeth, a few heading right for us.

I told Morgan to hit the glow plug button for 12-15 seconds, and then the engine started right up.  And we motored out of their way, close call.

Do I mind being able to start my engine faster?  No.
Do I need it all the time?  No.
Do I appreciate having it.  You betcha.

We all recognize the help Ken's given us over the years and applaud him for that assistance.  But sometimes his rants get tiresome.  Perhaps he should have resisted.  Sometimes those few seconds can be a real help, in the real world.

Look, it's Your Boat, your choice , to install one or not.  Always has been, always will be.   But faster starting can sometimes be necessary, and eliminating the power run up to the cockpit panel can't hurt.

PS - "Large racing sailboats" included the at least 56 (?) footer Seaward.  Large understates it.