New Anti-Theft Device

Sorry I've been gone so long. I've been driving my gas-guzzling backup vehicle, a 96 Ford Ranger. Feeling none-too happy about fueling my travels on the "blood of Iraqi children" (as my biodiesel friends tease me), but my Escort has been out-of-service for a couple months.

Yep, I couldn't get it started. Y'all may recall me asking the YahooGroup (DieselEscortOwners) for tips on this problem, back in early September. It was a late August trip that I noticed the car having trouble starting. So I checked out the glow plugs. Noticed I had a burned-out connection between the power and the glow-plug harness. So I replaced that, and it still wouldn't start. I had already replaced the fuel filter, and checked for fuel flow by cracking the nut on top of one of the injectors. And I knew I had good power because I'd fully re-charged the battery. But just by myself, I was not able to check to be sure there was actually power going to my new glow plugs.

Today, I finally got a buddy to give me a hand. Sure enough, there is an intermittent problem somewhere in the wiring harness, between the ignition switch and the glow plug harness. We hotwired from the Jumper connection (inside the engine bay) to the block and got a spark. So then we went from the Jumper connection straight to one of the glow plugs: Yeehaw! it started!

First time my baby has run in two months!

It's dark out now, so, the next chance I get, I will be hard-wiring a new circuit for my glow-plugs, with a switch on the dash. My step-dad heard this and said, "Hey, maybe your insurance company will give you a discount with that new anti-theft device!"