I'm currently getting electrical faults on 3 of my glow plugs:

17056 - Cylinder 2 Glow Plug Circuit (Q11)

P0672 - 000 - Electrical Fault

Freeze Frame:

RPM: 189 /min

Torque: 184.0 Nm

Speed: 0.0 km/h

Load: 0.0 %

Voltage: 9.50 V

Bin. Bits: 00101000

Temperature: 3.6°C

Bin. Bits: 01110000

17057 - Cylinder 3 Glow Plug Circuit (Q12)

P0673 - 000 - Electrical Fault

Freeze Frame:

RPM: 189 /min

Torque: 184.0 Nm

Speed: 0.0 km/h

Load: 0.0 %

Voltage: 9.50 V

Bin. Bits: 00101000

Temperature: 3.6°C

Bin. Bits: 01110000

17058 - Cylinder 4 Glow Plug Circuit (Q13)

P0674 - 000 - Electrical Fault

Freeze Frame:

RPM: 189 /min

Torque: 184.0 Nm

Speed: 0.0 km/h

Load: 0.0 %

Voltage: 9.50 V

Bin. Bits: 00101000

Temperature: 3.6°C

Bin. Bits: 01110000

I understand from reading elsewhere on these forums that 3 together would suggest it is the harness rather than the plugs themselves.

However, my question is whether these errors could have be a result of damage caused by a cambelt failure, which my car had recently (posted earlier)? The engine head was removed and rebuilt by the garage who fitted the cambelt (free of charge), but I'm wondering if this is something they've missed, or just a coincidence.

Any advice? Thanks!

I too have recently had a scan and have fault codes for 3 glow plugs (cylinders 1, 3 & 4). Normally it starts ok but does struggle when it's particularly cold. I've done 107k miles so it's probably time for swapping all four for good measure.

Depending on the type, glow plugs are fragile so if the garage were heavy handed when removing and handling the head, they may have damaged them.

A quick check is to measure the resistance of the glow plug element with a multi-meter between the end contact and the plug housing. Should be less than 1 ohm (need to ensure good connections and subtract the meter's zero offset).

Cheers,

Andrew

Thanks. I've found this guide on a VW forum (I hope it's ok to post this!) - http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=79819 - which describes testing, etc. I can't see any reference to the exact TDi engine it is, except that it's in an American 2003 Jetta.

Mine has done nearly 123k, so they may just have worn out. It starts fine when cold, but is a bit slow to start when hot - not sure why this would be.

Glowplugs have moved to a minor thing now, though. I've discovered the engine is leaking oil, so it will be off back to the garage tomorrow after I speak to them (hopefully I'll stay calm, as I'm not impressed at the moment!). I'll mention the glowplugs to them anyway, just in case.