Glow plug temperature???

Old 03-18-2004, 01:55 AM
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Default Glow plug temperature???

Was wondering if I could some opinion on something.

I have often wonder what is temperature of the glow plug while the engine is running.

I understand there are cold plugs and hot plugs and their differences (as far as the wire thickness, number of coils, and so on). I believe that a cold O.S. plug and a cold McCoy plug will have different running temperatures. Maybe as much as 5-10 degress.

So I thought by taking the plug out of the engine and connecting my glow ignitor to it, then measure the temp with my temp gun, I could get a idea what temperature the plug actually runs.

Anybody think this would be accurate? Or is there a better way of measuring what temperature the glow plug actually runs?
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Old 03-18-2004, 05:49 AM
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This would not be accurate as the glow plug is not electrically powered when in the car. The temperature of the coil is determined solely by the temperature of each combustion cycle. A motor running lean exposes the plug to higher temps than a motor running rich. This is partially why lean motors seem to kill plugs.

Plug temperatures are determined by, as you noted, coil thickness and the number of coils. How long the plug holds heat, and how quickly the plug heats up will determine the timing of combustion in the engine.

Hope this helps.
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Old 03-19-2004, 01:29 AM
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Originally posted by burger
This would not be accurate as the glow plug is not electrically powered when in the car.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing,,, glow plugs not electrically powered.

I was just thinking the glow ignitor would show me the difference between different makes of plugs, even though they are rated as "cold", "hot" or something in between. And if you can measure the difference between plugs, then that could be used as a tuning option for your engine.
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Old 03-19-2004, 10:13 AM
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There is another factor that affects the temperature of the plug. The diameter of the hole will also control the heat. This makes it really difficult to identify a plugs heat rating if it doesn't have any markings on it.
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