Glow plug troubleshooting

[pullark]

Hi All,
May I firstly offer my commiserations to our good friends in the US after the terrible events at Boston and West, TX. It seems like the explosion at West was an industrial accident but the bombing at the Marathon is an insane crime. How can you possibly understand the mentality of the person(s) who did this? All of us here in Australia are truly shocked by these events. We are thinking of the families and friends of those killed or injured.
I have an issue with glow plugs not powering up....seems utterly trivial in the light of the above...but life goes on.
After turning key to heating position for 15-20 secs I'm not detecting any heat at glow plugs. Measured voltage and results were 12.79 V at battery, 11V at switch and 10.7V at plug terminal. Is 10.7 V enough to energize the plugs? Would you expect to see this level of voltage drop at various points in the circuit?
I haven't done a continuity test yet. Just checked how to do this in the service manual.
Some background...I'm rescuing an engine that was in a boat wrecked in a recent cyclone. /hurricane. The boat did not sink but definitely had seawater through it. I'm thinking that glow plugs may have shorted when water immersed main battery switch thereby energizing glow plugs?? Engine had a little bit of water in one cylinder but nothing in crankcase. Turns over fine. Starter motor OK but alternator unserviceable.
Any thoughts on the glow plug issue?
Cheers
Kevin

 

[Stu Jackson]

Thanks for your kind comments.

Some ideas for your to consider:
http://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,1212.0.html

 

[sunwindsea]

Just a little note to add re:solenoid for warmer plugs. I had a local mechanic replace a bad solenoid on my Universal Diesel, but he used a solenoid that he had in the truck which looked like the original. After many months of difficult starting (with the assumption that the solenoid was not the problem), I discovered that the replacement did not have an internal ground like the original part. I called the company and got the original part, and now I only need 10 seconds of warming to start the motor!