Oil & Fuel bx24 glow plugs

radioman · Dec 28, 2017

ugh.. not a good week. first off yesterday i went to plow the snow and i had hard time to starting the BX after glowing 30 secs 3 times. so i said screw it .. crank on it till the any compressions makes enough heat to start. got her started. started to plow 5 feet and then POW! my front left tire goes flat.great .. a nice slice on the sidewalls.

so i backed it in the garage and lifted the front with plow and took tire off and attempted to inflate an it just deflates. smh. this was 430pm , starting to get dark, im in my sneakers its near 5 degrees, and just a winter jacket and gloves,hat. so i head down to tractor supply and picked up a tube and head back home in the snow storm. i waited till this morning to start working on it and put the tube on , inflated and put back and on the tractor. before i attempted to start the tractor i put my mulitmeter on 20 dc and checked the voltage at the glow plugs positive rail and ground. got minus 9 with key on and then only 2 volts in the glow position?!

at least i know the fuse is not blown, key is ok. glowed the plugs 30 seconds 3 times and still got 1- 2 volts dc. tried cranking on it and it hovered between 1 and 2 volts. ?! I said to myself -- let me ask the folks on tbn later today and then cranked on the starter till it finally started . boy i was worried about draining the battery and its over 7 years old . got the tractor running and started to plow. did one lane and it started to run rough. OH NO!!! so i looked in the tank and saw floaters and i was thinking ,, hmm i did treat the fuel with white power service back in october before i went away on a work job for 3 months till i came home for xmas. Im going away again for at least another month. so i left the tractor idling and went back to tractor supply to get 911 and all they had was one big 911 jug left and the shelves is empty of the white , gray , and small 911 bottles.

so i purchased the very last bottle and put a couple glugs in the tank. i could see the floaters just melted right away and in 10 mins while the tractor was still running it FINALLY started to run smooth. i finished plowing and put it away.

SO -- my problem i need to order the WSM and havent done so. does anyone have a pic of the glow plugs specs for the BX24 for voltages and glow plugs resistance? I assume i need to remove the plugs and use ohms at the top of glow plugs and the threaded area ? Do i need to remove the wire from glow plug rail and measure voltage directly to battery ground ? it should be 12vdc right? if i still get 2 volts , what should i check?

100 td · Dec 28, 2017

I don't have a BX24 diagram, but with most of these the power to the plugs goes from battery to fusible link to IGN switch to glow plugs. So the IGN switch takes the full current of the plugs and over time the IGN switch can cause problems. So check the tightness of the connections at the battery, and ground on tractor, the IGN switch and at the glow plugs, also unplug and replug the fusible link, check for heating/melting etc. If your battery is 7 years old, it may be time to replace it to guarantee you have no problems with it during the winter. As mentioned, IGN switch can be a point of high resistance so may need to be replaced. You can measure the voltage at the IGN switch whilst glowing to determine volt drop. Ypu can also individually check the resistance of each glow plug, they will need to be disconnected from each other to do this.

thepumpguysc · Dec 29, 2017

100td gave good advise.. You didn't mention what the battery voltage was.. not running & running.
IF you can, get someone to try to start the engine while you check the battery for "pull down" while its cranking..
Power to the GP's should be at least 8v.. Resistance should be about 1.2 - 2.0 ohms, put the dial on 200.. do them separately, disconnected from the rail.
If you have a northern tool or harbor freight close by, a battery "load tester" is a great tool for your arsenal & only 25.00..
It might hang on the wall for 6 months, but when you need it, you need it.. & it might save you 100.00 in a new battery that you DIDNT NEED.
OH, & CLEAN & TIGHTEN the cables before you do ANYTHING.. Good luck & try to stay warm..

radioman · Dec 29, 2017

thepumpguysc said:
100td gave good advise.. You didn't mention what the battery voltage was.. not running & running.
IF you can, get someone to try to start the engine while you check the battery for "pull down" while its cranking..
Power to the GP's should be at least 8v.. Resistance should be about 1.2 - 2.0 ohms, put the dial on 200.. do them separately, disconnected from the rail.
If you have a northern tool or harbor freight close by, a battery "load tester" is a great tool for your arsenal & only 25.00..
It might hang on the wall for 6 months, but when you need it, you need it.. & it might save you 100.00 in a new battery that you DIDNT NEED.
OH, & CLEAN & TIGHTEN the cables before you do ANYTHING.. Good luck & try to stay warm..

i will have to get one of those advanced battery testers. its been on my list for awhile. i believe in your statement to clean everything as i noticed the rail is a bit rusty in bare areas on glow plugs between the paint area. i didnt bother to check the battery voltage as i am able to crank it for long periods of time in 9 degree weather - but will check anyway today. my goal is to pull the wire off the glow plug rail and test voltage without being connected and see what it says and then check plugs resistance. brr its 11 degrees right now so im mentally trying to get ready for that lol.

radioman · Dec 29, 2017

ok - im back inside from working on the BX. first - need to admit a blunder.

when i at first connected the negative side of tester leads yesterday i used the "wire that i thought was a direct ground" but it was in fact the coolant sensor connector. :ashamed:

anyways here what it looks like before i started working on it.

here is what i did to check the glow plugs on the BX so the next person who needs to know how will have this info and how.

i removed the glow plug rail with 7mm socket and had the telescoping magnet ready to pick up the nuts that fell on the engine.

glow plug rail removed before cleaning.jpg

the mounting points looked reasonably clean but i cleaned it anyways with a small brass wire brush on both sides.

here what glow plugs looks like still in the motor with glow plug rail removed.

glow plug in engine with glow rail removed.jpg

next i removed all 3 glow plugs with 10mm deep socket and small bar extension with 1/4 wrench and tested the resistance and they were all good in the 1.6 to 1.8 range . used red clamp on the top of glow and the negative

next i checked the glow voltage from glow wire .. i used the negative leads and clamped on the alternator housing and red on the glow wire and got 12 v in the glow position

i put everything back together and glowed the plugs twice 30 secs watching my watch and voila it started. i think with combination of gelled fuel (thanks red bottle power service), a little rust on glow rail and cold temps in single digits made things miserable for the bx to start.

For now i will leave the battery alone and will start replacing it within a year or so as its aging and its always been good to me.

thepumpguysc · Dec 30, 2017

Congrats!!!
You could have checked the GP "operation" by applying 12v to the stud & - to the body threads & watch it glow..
Keep your fingers/hands away from the tip!!!!
They GET WHITE HOT in SECONDS so BE CAREFUL.!!!
maybe "next time"..