Mercedes parallel glow plug relay on a VW?

[Zeitgeist]

Has anyone successfully adopted a late model Mercedes Glow plug relay with individual feed lines for each glow plug?  I suppose a standard VW relay could be configured to work with a four gang buss so that it then split the feed into four separate lines to each glow plug.  I ask, 'cause one thing I remember about diagnosing VW glow plug issues was that the long single buss made it difficult to determine whether an individual plug was failing or dead.  With the Mercedes parallel system you can pull the plug at the relay source and test resistances.  I imagine that the required temp sensors could be adapted.

Thoughts?

[Vincent Waldon]

Can't comment on the Mercedes relay, but I do know that many folks add 4 lines to the glow plug feed with the existing VW relay... for exactly the reason you're mentioning.

Others upgrade the feed relay with a starter solenoid while they are at it...prevents the voltage drops in the stock system that's fed thru the firewall to the relay panel and back out again.

There's a link or two in the FAQ thread with some ideas.

[maxfax]

It should be a pretty easy swap, and I;d imagine work just fine..  And as far as the temp sensors, pending from what era you get the controller, the temp sensor is integral..   Although you could incorperate the purple wire mod (keeps GPs on after starting) with a temp sensor and have a temp sensative afterglow..

As Vince mentioned, you could just to a bit of rewiring to the VW relay, or for the full manual operation he mentioned

http://vincewaldon.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=28

[Zeitgeist]

Great, thanks for the replies.  I'm contemplating a turbodiesel swap for my Vanagon, and have been reviewing my wiring options.  I have several VW fast glow relays left over from my many IDI cars, as well as a few MB versions.  It's nice to see others have been exploring wiring alternatives to address these issues.

Thanks again,

Casey

[GEE-BEE]

I used the Bosch universal kit , included fast glow plugs and wiring for the glowplug's

four wires to install...

Works perfect
97.50

GB