Regardless of which way you look at things, automotive technology has experienced accelerated development in recent decades. While some of these advances are immediately visible and appreciated, such as power windows and suspension systems, others, such as glow plugs, are more hidden. In fact, these elements are eventually forgotten, which can lead to various technical problems. Recently, glow plug technology has improved significantly, allowing us to enjoy much shorter starting times – especially on cold mornings. Stay tuned and learn everything you need to know about glow plugs in the following lines!

1. What are glow plugs?

To understand how your car works and why glow plugs are so important, it’s important to understand their utility. To begin with, you need to know that a glow plug is a heating element that plays an active role in the fuel and air in terms of efficient combustion of fuel in a diesel engine. Technically speaking, it is the burning of fuel that starts the engine so that the car can be driven. Each cylinder has a glow plug, especially in the combustion chamber in the case of direct injection engines.

2. How to know that there are problems with glow plugs?

In general, glow plugs have a fairly long service life, but they gradually deteriorate due to wear and tear. Thus, each driver should pay special attention to the instructions about the need to replace the set of glow plugs with a new one. Among the most common such signs can be distinguished:

● The engine indicator on the instrument panel lit up

Most often, this indicator is the first clue that something is wrong. All vehicles displaying this indicator are recommended to be taken to a workshop or specialist garage for diagnosis as soon as possible. A number of malfunctions can cause the indicator to light up, which means that in some cases it may not be the main cause.

● It is difficult to start the car

A poor engine start is the most common indicator that the glow plugs are damaged. When it’s cold outside, if the glow plugs aren’t working properly, the combustion chamber may not heat up to the right temperature, so the fuel won’t ignite and the engine won’t start. If there are no fuel or battery problems, it’s time to check the glow plugs as well.

● Improper use of the engine

The combustion process in diesel engines requires a high compression ratio along with the right amount of fuel injected at the right time. This will succeed in igniting the fuel, which will lead to combustion. Misfires can be caused by fuel quality issues, as well as compression and injection problems. In most cases, the heat in the combustion chamber is generated as a result of compression pressure and glow plug heat. According to experts, it must reach a temperature of at least 232°C to successfully generate ignition. On the other hand, if the glow plugs are faulty, the engine chamber will not be able to reach the required temperatures.

● Idle changes

If one or more of the glow plugs are burnt out, have traces of soot or are even damaged, the engine will not start as easily as the temperature drops. So it will idle and emit white smoke for a few minutes after the car starts. On the other hand, the specialist’s recommendation is to check the moment of fuel injection when all the glow plugs have burned out at the tips.

With all this information, it will be much easier for you to know when your car needs help with glow plugs. Even if certain symptoms or signs can be confused with other problems, it’s good that you managed to eliminate this possibility yourself from the beginning.

Sources of information for the article:

https://www.autopieseonline24.ro/bujie-incandescenta

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