HELP! Major storm coming and block heater not working!

[massey184ferguson]

Tractor has no glow plugs and yes i'm an idiot for not checking the block heater. Tried it out about 1 month ago and worked fine. I could always hear it humming and today it was about -10 C and I plugged it in for two hours. It did not humm and it was hard to get turned over. It eventually went from compression. Hoping it won't let me down after tomorrows storm. I used to be able to plug it in for 15 minutes and it would fire right up. I guess I'll have to replace the element? Any tips? Is this an easy job to tackle? Thanks guys

 

[Scott85]

You could always do it the old fashion way and drain the oil and take it in the house overnight.

 

[newbury]

Put an electric frying pan under the block, keep it warm.

 

[Egon]

Throw a tarp over the tractor and put a small electric heater under it.:thumbsup:

 

[Scott85]

You could always leave it running all night.

 

[3930dave]

1) Check coolant level, if you haven't recently.

2) If you have an ohmeter, check the resistance at the BH itself. Should be relatively low, between the element terminals (there should be a 3'rd terminal for ground). I'm gonna go with really course #'s here, and say less than 100 ohms is what you are looking for, across the element terminals. Actual resistance is going to vary in proportion to the rated wattage. (I'm assuming you can disconnect the power cable, at the BH to probe).

3) If you see element resistance at the BH, then check that the same resistance appears on the 2 blades of the final plug. Sometimes it is just the end, final plug that gets a broken internal wire, near the connector.

Lacking a DMM, plug in the cord as you normally would, and slowly flex the cable near the plug, while listening for your normal BH noise to start.

Rgds, D.

 

[waycoolmarine]

they make magnetic block heaters use to put them on my backhoe 1 on oil pan 1on trans make sure you have a 20 amp circuit or on 2 seperate circuits

 

[sixdogs]

I went through n incredible cold spell about 30 years ago in the north and here's how I beat it. I brought the battery in the house and charged it. Then drained the oil out and put the new bottles of oil in warm water. Come time to start I put the very warm oil in, plopped in the charged and warm battery and it was off to the races. It started immediately.

Then I went about and started it every four hours for two days. Let it warm up for maybe 20 minutes. I don't ever want to be that cold again.

 

[dave1949]

Don't overlook the obvious, check the circuit breaker in the service panel. Test the outlet with a power tool.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

For a short term solution.......
I have heard people using a hand held heat gun in the air intake for a minute or two to preheat before turning the motor over.... And keeping it there as the engine turns and starts....

I have used this method to help start ATVs and other small engines....

Good luck....