Glow plugs or glow plug relay?
 

Hello,

I am brand new to this site but I have a question about my 2000 Ford Excursion 7.3 liter Powerstroke. About four years ago I was having issues starting it so my mechanic hooked it up to the code reader and it revealed my glow plug relay was going bad. So I had him replace it. So fast forward to a week ago and the same thing starts to happen and my son took off the relay and said the following about the attached photo he sent me: "Just for reference, that's supposed to have 4 terminals. It shorted so bad it melted the housing and the other terminal wasn't even connected."

So of course he replaced it, but my larger question is is something else causing the glow plug relay to short out like this? What should we be looking for? Should we replace the glow plugs? I just don't want to put a bandaid on a gunshot wound. :argh:

Thank you for any advice you can provide.

I have had mine do that. Replace it and go on with your day. If it starts good in the cold your glow plugs should be fine