I just acquired a Ford 4610 3 cylinder diesel. This came our of an estate sale and has sit for approximately 1 year.
I find that it is extremely hard to start in temperatures <20 degrees F? Any suggestions or ideas? It will eventually start but takes too much cranking.
Thanks
Your tractor is doing well, andoperating very good if it starts in temps as low as 20 degrees.
You need to have a heater on it - if it came from cold area of the country likely already does - and plug it in for 1 to 2 hours to start it in cold weather. That is just normal for a bigger diesel in cold weather.
Some Fords had a button on thier in-line fuel pump that you pushed, worked kinda like a choke on a gas engine to fire them up in cold weather.
Some have a little drip line of diesel fiel that was ignited in the intake manifold to heat things up.
Some had an electric heater in the intake manifold to heat the air up.
Some have glow plugs.
Some didn't have anything.
You need to look at the age/serial number of your tractor & an accurate manual for that age tractor to figure out what type you have. Typically you turn the key backwards, or to a 'pause' stop right before the 'start' spot & hold it there for 4 to 30 seconds, depending on what setup you have.
You need good fresh battery & good connections.
You need a good starter.
Thinner winter oil, synthetic helps.
But - if you can get that babe to fire up in 20 degree F temps, you already got all that working for you!
Plug it in if it has a cord - tank heater, radiator hose heater, or frost plug heater. If it doesn't have any of those, install one. I dislike oil heaters, and I don't think magnetic heaters have enough oomph.
My big Ford tracotr is real cold blooded, under 40 degrees it needs heat. My Ford 5000 is getting tired, and needs either to fire it up below 35 - or plugged in. My 7700 does well to 25-30 degrees. The little 1720 will start at 10 degrees, sometimes even zero, but the battery started going down now - and that is _not_ good for it to fire it up cold like that.
--->Paul