Glow plug weirdness

[MadCityMike]

'94 A3 Jetta AAZ engine:

When I try to start the car in the morning and turn the key to on to get the glow plugs going, the light comes on only for a fraction of a second.  If I turn the key off, and then back on the glow plug light comes on and stays on for a duration that seems typical (5-10 seconds)     This happens regardless of whether it's 90F or 10F outside.     Is this normal?  If not, what would be a likely culprit?

Mike

[addautomotive]

Mine does the exact same thing.

I hooked up a light that's direct wired to teh glow plugs, just to make sure they were coming on, turning off correctly. What I found was that even if the yellow indicator only came on for a split second, the glowplugs came on normally.

In my case, the plugs stay on for 60-120 seconds. Yours may be the same, if so make sure you have the correct plugs

[addautomotive]

Hey, how'd you get that diesel into the states? Isn't it contraband?!? :wink:

[vixentd]

You might be suprised that when you turn the key on that does not start the glow plug cylce. The glow plugs are turned on when you open the door.  You turn the key and depending on how fast you get in will determine how long that light stays on when the key is turned.  A clever idea to cut down on the wait time for glow plugs.