Glow plug relay spontaneously exploded. Replace with OEM or do something else? (1 Viewer)

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Mar 21, 2015
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Location
Parker, CO
I suddenly developed a MASSIVE parasitic draw on my 90 HDJ81 (JDM). It was a big enough draw to spark the battery terminal if I touched it to the post, this is with all the fuses pulled and the other battery completely unhooked. For clarity I have performed a 12v start conversion on this truck and am using a isolater on the second battery now.

A Few hours of trouble shooting led me to remove my passenger side Battery tray for access, and I found this.

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This is the Glow plug relay p/n 28610-17010. The thing weakened over time and the spring that pushes the contacts open split the whole assembly in half. With the return spring no longer acting on the contacts, the contacts were stuck closed, giving full juice to my glow plugs until my battery died.

I can find a OEM replacement, but it's $250 or so. I am thinking that just about any starter solenoid should work fine here? My only concern with going after market is that this is controlled by a timer computer, so a aftermarket solenoid might have a different coil resistance and that could possible fry the computer.

Thoughts?
 
Any high current relay will work.. my local electronics place sells a 150A relay for around $US10.. I'm sure you can find something similar.. this will be more than adequate, you'll just have to reterminate your factory loom with the right spade connections..

Automotive Relay 150A SPDT | Jaycar Electronics

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130 bones on Partsouq + shipping + duties. OEM lasted this long - why change?


Does it come up as available for you on partsouq? Because it's not available to me.

I am generally a fan of keeping things OEM where possible but you have to admit that this thing has a pretty terrible fail state.
 
I'd love to find something like this that is more waterproof.

You could consider an ATV sized winch controller.. it provides two switching circuits but you'd only be using one.. often rated up to 500A.. Unsure on the IP rating.. but certainly more than the relay I linked above..
 
The relay on my 70 stopped working shortly into my ownership and I opted to convert it to a manual glow system due to the price of an OEM replacement and desire to remove automation from the system. These are very easy to install and pretty bullet proof. Also lots of wiring diagrams available online.

Pictured is a mil spec glow plug solenoid ~$15, a mercedes fuse box ~$5, and a mercedes 80 amp fuse ~$3. Of course any fuse and fuse box can be used, I just happened to have these mercedes parts already. The benefits of this system are reliability, simplicity, glow control, cost reduction, easy fault diagnosis, and availability of spares that you can just leave in your truck in case of a failure. I like to keep my truck OEM too but, in this case, this seemed like a superior option to me. It makes redundant two relatively expensive parts that will inevitably need to be replaced. My 2 cents
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Thanks for this, I might do it.
 

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