Can you verify these glow plugs to be Wellmans?

[Humpty]

Cold weather has officially set in and I thought I’d treat myself to what many (not all) have said were the best of the best in glow plugs.. Wellmans. I bagged a set for $78 off Amazon from Melton Industries out of Columbus, NJ and they arrived today via USPS.. 8 glowplugs in a little zip lock pouch.

I was underwhelmed by the packaging, but figured I was paying for premium glow plugs, not packaging.

Before installing I metered each one.. they all metered between 1.6 and 1.9 ohms. Seemed on the low side (my Kung Flu glowplugs meter out between 2.8 and 3.5 ohms) but i gather anything between 1.5 ohms and 5 ohms is good, so I installed all 8.

I have a manual start box, it was -5f out, I hit it for 5 seconds.. waited 5.. hit it for 5 and then cranked it over. She pop pop pop’ed a bit but no start. I let it sit about 10 seconds, hit it 5.. waited 5.. hit it another 5… turned her over and pop pop no pop.

Subsequent cranks acted like the glow plugs weren’t working at all. I double checked I was getting 24v at the plugs when i hit the button (and verified it went to 0 when I let off) and all was fine on that side, but when I’d hit the button to heat the glow plugs I saw no dip on the volt meter.. which you’d expect firing 8 brand new glow plugs.

I started to wonder if maybe I had a bad engine ground.. so I ran test leads directly to an installed glow plug and hit the glow button.. 24v. All good.

I pull one of the glow plugs out and notice immediately it is wet with fuel. I bring it in the house wipe it off and meter it - 52 MEG

I pull out an adjacent glow plug.. wide open.. then another.. 500k ohms.. all of them wet coming out of the engine.. well all but one, the one behind the alternator.. that one is swollen up, I have it unthreaded i’m going to put the Kung Flu flow plugs back in and hope the cylinder pressure spits it out. (update) starting the engine didn’t spit out the glow plug, so by the grace of God and a pair of vice grips I wrestled it out.

All of these have 499 on the “head” and just above the treads read

19207-12338771
MFR-3HCM3

 

[Thunderbirds]

One sure way to find out if the are China-com stuff is if they are 10mm vs 3/8". US made are always 3/8", never 10mm. Not saying all 3/8" are the real deal, but 10mm never are. What size wrench/socket did you use?

 

[86humv]

look real type.
Check with Ohm meter...1.0 to about 3.0 are good.
If no reading or all 0000....then bad.
If they read good, then start box or TSU are bad.

 

[Humpty]

One sure way to find out if the are China-com stuff is if they are 10mm vs 3/8". US made are always 3/8", never 10mm. Not saying all 3/8" are the real deal, but 10mm never are. What size wrench/socket did you use?

I used a 10mm deep well to take out the glow plugs I'd been running (Most Honorable Chinese Ahh Glow Plugs) and used the same 10mm to install the Wellmans. I didn't notice any slop in them putting them in (or taking them back out)... 10 mill is a hair bigger than 3/8" so I'd think i'd have noticed.

I'll put my micrometer on them and see what they measure.

UPDATE: The Wellmans measure .03750 so dead on 3/8”… the Kung Flu’s measure just shy of 10mm at 9.73mm.. the Wellmans are 9.49mm, so less than a quarter of a mm difference between them why i didn’t notice any slop with the 10mm socket.

 

[Humpty]

look real type.
Check with Ohm meter...1.0 to about 3.0 are good.
If no reading or all 0000....then bad.
If they read good, then start box or TSU are bad.

All of them are either wide open or in the MEGA ohm range. Put the Kung Flu glow plugs back in and it started right up. These glow plugs are definitely bad and cooked after just a few 5 second cycles.

 

[Thunderbirds]

I used a 10mm deep well to take out the glow plugs I'd been running (Most Honorable Chinese Ahh Glow Plugs) and used the same 10mm to install the Wellmans. I didn't notice any slop in them putting them in (or taking them back out)... 10 mill is a hair bigger than 3/8" so I'd think i'd have noticed.

I'll put my micrometer on them and see what they measure.

Or just put a 3/8" on it. It will not fit the china knock offs. But I've heard of reliable china-coms as well.... Just my guess the ones you put in are not US made, so not Wellmanns either.

 

[Humpty]

Or just put a 3/8" on it. It will not fit the china knock offs. But I've heard of reliable china-coms as well.... Just my guess the ones you put in are not US made, so not Wellmanns either.

The Wellmans measure .03750 so dead on 3/8”… the Kung Flu’s measure just shy of 10mm at 9.73mm.. the Wellmans are 9.49mm, so less than a quarter of a mm difference between them why i didn’t notice any slop with the 10mm socket.

 

[Awol]

My plugs came in individual little boxes with the NSN number printed on each one. Never had any come in a bag.

 

[Humpty]

My plugs came in individual little boxes with the NSN number printed on each one. Never had any come in a bag.

Thats what i’d expected for $78 plus tax.. what i’ve seen in various posts on the subject.. even my $38 a set Who Flung Dung Amazon glow plugs come in individual little plastic bags that are in small boxes. These came in a plastic zip lock bag that was inside a bubble mailer. That was a big reason why I metered them before I even installed them.. that and I wanted to see how “real” glow plugs literally measured up to the mystery imports.

 

[FlameRed]

My plugs came in individual little boxes with the NSN number printed on each one. Never had any come in a bag.

This is the first I have heard of this.

I bought two EXPENSIVE sets, from two different well respected vendors recommended on this forum. I forget which vendor the first set came from but the second set was from HPG, and both came in little plastic bags. No boxes. No NSN numbers. They looked identical.

I got to wonder if they were Chinesium or they just took them out of the boxes to reduce the actual cost of their expensive shipping for that wonderful additional shipping profit...

 

[Humpty]

This is the first I have heard of this.

I bought two EXPENSIVE sets, from two different well respected vendors recommended on this forum. I forget which vendor the first set came from but the second set was from HPG, and both came in little plastic bags. No boxes. No NSN numbers. They looked identical.

I got to wonder if they were Chinesium or they just took them out of the boxes to reduce the actual cost of their expensive shipping for that wonderful additional shipping profit...

I have heard some refer to Wellmans as “Swellmans” before but generally they seem well regarded.

I’ve run $38 a set Amazon import glow plugs since I got the truck. I had an issue where it was roasting the #6 glow plug that was eventually solved when I discovered the #6 and #7 lines were reversed at the injection pump.. but not before I replaced that #6 glow plug several times.

A few months ago my controller box started getting wonky and didn’t want to fire the plugs at all, so I converted it to manual and all was fine till the weather started getting down in the negative temps.. the starts were getting harder.. I went through and checked all the glow plugs and i had 4 that had evidently gone bad. Of course in the back of my mind I keep hearing the voices of all the people who said the chinese glow plugs were junk.. so I figured since all the bugs had been worked out why not spend the $$ and put in a set of the “Jesus Plugs”.. that got me to where I am today.

It has the import specials back in there and starts just fine. I can’t believe that ANY glow plug, let alone EIGHT would cook after 4 cycles of 5 sec on, 5 sec rest 5 sec on, crank.

 

[Awol]

This is the first I have heard of this.

I bought two EXPENSIVE sets, from two different well respected vendors recommended on this forum. I forget which vendor the first set came from but the second set was from HPG, and both came in little plastic bags. No boxes. No NSN numbers. They looked identical.

I got to wonder if they were Chinesium or they just took them out of the boxes to reduce the actual cost of their expensive shipping for that wonderful additional shipping profit...

Hmm, that's strange.

Mine were packaged like sparkplugs. Little individual boxes for each one. I'll dig thru my receipts tomorrow and see where I got em from.

 

[Mainsail]

The AC Delco ones I got from a supposedly reputable dealer were individually boxed, and 10mm.

The 10mm ones build character because you get to do the job again in a few months or less; the turbo trucks with the 400amp alternators build exponentially more character than the NA trucks.

 

[Humpty]

The AC Delco ones I got from a supposedly reputable dealer were individually boxed, and 10mm.

The 10mm ones build character because you get to do the job again in a few months or less; the turbo trucks with the 400amp alternators build exponentially more character than the NA trucks.

I've heard the passenger side is a real peach to work on with a turbo in the way. On my NA I can sit in the passenger seat and hit all four.. which was fantastic because it was -5 degrees with a nice constant 15 mph breeze blowing through. I put an electric space heater in the cab so everything was toasty except my fingertips.

I have a 400 amp alternator in my M998 so the first three plugs from the firewall forward are cake, but that last one behind it is a climb up and hug the genny maneuver. Lucky for me THAT was the glow plug that lived up to the nickname "Swellman".

The way my limited experience with HMMWV glow plugs has gone, $38 Amazon Who Flung Dung Glow Plugs: 8 .... Wellmans: -8

I read on another board very high praise for AC Delco glow plugs, but those may have been for the CUCV trucks. Did those 6.2's use the same style tip as the HMMV or did they use that Civi style flat tab?

 

[Dieselmeister]

Are these pictures before or after you installed them? They definitely look used, looking at the threads.

 

[Humpty]

Are these pictures before or after you installed them? They definitely look used, looking at the threads.

After I removed them. They were nice and clean and appeared brand new when they arrived. They all metered between 1.6 and 2 ohms... all 8 of them were shot after no more than 4 cycles of 5 seconds on, 5 off rest 5 seconds on. The first two cycles the truck just kind of pop pop'ed.. the last two cycles the truck wouldn't even pop.. so these glow plugs likely cooked within the first cycle.

I could maybe believe one or two glow plugs cooking.. but all 8? And one swollen one to boot. I thought that was the whole purpose of buying Wellmans.. not swelling and premium grade materials and workmanship. I wanted to see if maybe I hadn't been sent some fakes or something.

 

[Gastrap]

The Wellman plugs I buy from Mac come in the same packaging and work great. If they are .375" hex they should be genuine.

I've been scammed into buying the china junk from a well known dealer. 10mm hex, packaged in old Delco boxes with fake Wellman cage codes. He did refund, but it was not easy. The Mac guy wanted a picture of that fake Wellman. All the ones I've seen in the little white boxes with official looking printing are 10mm hex and junk.

 

[Humpty]

The Wellman plugs I buy from Mac come in the same packaging and work great. If they are .375" hex they should be genuine.

I've been scammed into buying the china junk from a well known dealer. 10mm hex, packaged in old Delco boxes with fake Wellman cage codes. He did refund, but it was not easy. The Mac guy wanted a picture of that fake Wellman. All the ones I've seen in the little white boxes with official looking printing are 10mm hex and junk.

The first set of glowplugs i bought were cheapos because when I got my truck it was spitting out the #6 glowplug and until I figured it out I didn’t want to chew up expensive plugs. I was told repeatedly that the cheapos were garbage and Wellman was the be all end all of glowplugs. When I finally sorted my glowplug eating issue (lines 6 and 7 were reversed at the IP by previous owner or US Army, depending on which version you want to believe) I kept running the cheapos. After my start box went wonky and I rebuilt it I ran the same cheapos without testing them all. When the cold weather hit (-0f and below) I was having some hard starting so I checked them all and I had 4 bad. Replaced them all with what I had left of the cheapos but had in the back of my head that now I had my issues resolved I should try the big money set. That set of Wellmans were roached in 4 cycles of 5 seconds on, 5 seconds off 5 seconds on and crank. One swole up and had to be extracted with vice grips. The truck never did start with Wellmans. I put the Kung Flu’s back in and it fired right up in -5 degree weather.

The purpose of this thread was to try and determine if maybe these were some bootleg/knockoffs or do they have bad batches? i’m having a hard tome reconciling these glow plugs reputation based on my experience.

 

[Awol]

Well, I looked for the receipt or the boxes they came in, and can't find em. Sucks, cuz I have a folder with all the receipts and part numbers in it, but I guess they didn't make it into the folder. I might have stuck them somewhere else.

 

[Thunderbirds]

Cold weather has officially set in and I thought I’d treat myself to what many (not all) have said were the best of the best in glow plugs.. Wellmans. I bagged a set for $78 off Amazon from Melton Industries out of Columbus, NJ and they arrived today via USPS.. 8 glowplugs in a little zip lock pouch.

I was underwhelmed by the packaging, but figured I was paying for premium glow plugs, not packaging.

Before installing I metered each one.. they all metered between 1.6 and 1.9 ohms. Seemed on the low side (my Kung Flu glowplugs meter out between 2.8 and 3.5 ohms) but i gather anything between 1.5 ohms and 5 ohms is good, so I installed all 8.

I have a manual start box, it was -5f out, I hit it for 5 seconds.. waited 5.. hit it for 5 and then cranked it over. She pop pop pop’ed a bit but no start. I let it sit about 10 seconds, hit it 5.. waited 5.. hit it another 5… turned her over and pop pop no pop.

Subsequent cranks acted like the glow plugs weren’t working at all. I double checked I was getting 24v at the plugs when i hit the button (and verified it went to 0 when I let off) and all was fine on that side, but when I’d hit the button to heat the glow plugs I saw no dip on the volt meter.. which you’d expect firing 8 brand new glow plugs.

I started to wonder if maybe I had a bad engine ground.. so I ran test leads directly to an installed glow plug and hit the glow button.. 24v. All good.

I pull one of the glow plugs out and notice immediately it is wet with fuel. I bring it in the house wipe it off and meter it - 52 MEG

I pull out an adjacent glow plug.. wide open.. then another.. 500k ohms.. all of them wet coming out of the engine.. well all but one, the one behind the alternator.. that one is swollen up, I have it unthreaded i’m going to put the Kung Flu flow plugs back in and hope the cylinder pressure spits it out. (update) starting the engine didn’t spit out the glow plug, so by the grace of God and a pair of vice grips I wrestled it out.

All of these have 499 on the “head” and just above the treads read

19207-12338771
MFR-3HCM3

.
In my case I also bought from Melton Industries, they came in a zip lock baggie. They are 3/8" and ohmed pretty consistent. So far they have worked now for 7 months, pretty flawless, minus a 3 week period when it started hard and filled the garage with white smoke, pretty much anytime under 30 degrees F. Then I found the drivers side most forward wireplug came off the glowplug due to loseness. After I connected that connector, it started again within one second or less without any smoke. I was blown away that one plug disconnected made THAT BIG OF A DIFFERENCE. It's hard to overstate that one of 8 disconnected plug made that much smoke and hard star. It took probably 5-6 seconds of cranking before the engine would stutter and run really rough. After reconnecting that one, near flawless.... As to why your plugs are fried vs the cheapos, hard to tell...

Hope this helps.