bd 154 glow plug up grade

has anybody ever up-grade there loop style glow plug to the pencil style glow plug. What all is involved in doing this. Where did you purchase the kit to upgrade.

Thank You

Hi 606, this was posted by LJD on Jan 14, 2012:

The IH B414 (BD154) uses the exact same glow plugs as a Mercedes 190D car. There are complete "fast heat" glow plug upgrade kits sold now for the Mercedes that direct fit the IH B-275 and B-414. No need for any adapters. Kit comes with four 12 volt plugs that get wired in parallel instead of series - and a controller.
Complete kit with four fast heat plugs, new wires, relay, controller, etc. is $144. Here's the parts list:

The complete conversion kit includes the following

* Heavy Duty Manual Relay
* Quality push button hole mount switch
* Mercedes factory 80 amp fuse holder
* 2 - 80 amp strip fuses
* Correct size and length of wire needed
* All terminal connectors required
* 4 Upgraded Pencil type Fast Glow Plugs
* Three New Glow Plug Wires
* Complete step-by-step illustrated instructions

http://www.mercedessource.com/node/8320

You can by the kit without the controller for $80 - $120. Here is one on Ebay -but I'm sure you can find cheaper elsewhere . . .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-QUICK-FAST-GLOW-PLUG-KIT-190D-200D-220D-240D-/190579548413

And you could also just buy four plugs for $15 each and figure out the rest yourself.


If you order any Mercedes kits - make sure you verify the have the 18 mm glow plugs and not the newer smaller ones.
The correct fast-heat Bosch Duratherm plug to fit your B-414 is Bosch # 0250201044. Threads are 18 mm X 1.5 - just like your originals. Work at full 12 volts and draw 20 amps each when cold and taper to 8 amps each when hot.

You can buy just the plugs at $16 each at Amazon.com and several other places.

JimB

I did all three of mine last year. I just used the Bosch Duratherm plugs, no kit and no controller. I removed the heat-indicator from the dash and put in a 12 volt red LED indicator instead. Wiring is no big deal. Just wire all four parallel instead of series. My tractors start much faster now. Run the glow plugs for 12-14 seconds and start in my worst tractor and 8 seconds in my best.

(quoted from post at 04:44:10 05/24/12) I did all three of mine last year. I just used the Bosch Duratherm plugs, no kit and no controller. I removed the heat-indicator from the dash and put in a 12 volt red LED indicator instead. Wiring is no big deal. Just wire all four parallel instead of series. My tractors start much faster now. Run the glow plugs for 12-14 seconds and start in my worst tractor and 8 seconds in my best.

Click to expand...

Hey LJD - can you just confirm that you did not use a relay or any fuses in your setup for your bd154 tractors?

So if I took 4 of the Bosch Duratherm # 0250201044 and replaced the original plugs with them, then ran a heavy cable (approximately how heavy would you suggest?) from the positive terminal on the battery to a 12v LED (which I will mount in the dash) then continue this wire on to each of the glow plugs, one after the other and without grounding - so if I do just that, I will be on track to replacing the original (and not working!) glow plug system in my old b414 who has been started using ether for the last ten years :'( by her previous owner?

I appreciate any help in confirming this plan of action - it is very hard to translate the brief matter-of-fact explanations of people who know what they are doing into cautious wait-a-minute-like-this? explanations someone who knows nothing about these things needs.

Thanks LJD