Circulating Pump / Heater

[ponytug]

Non-Robbins engine history:
FWIW: I replace the starter on my Deutz with a rebuilt after market one. It was night and day. I don't know if the new one is more powerful, or the old one never really worked. Either way, the new gets the engine to fire almost immediately. O'Reilly (Kragen) was one of the few places that had them in stock.

So, yes, replacing starters can make a (significant!) difference.

All the best,

Peter

P.S. I think that the old one may have failed because of getting water in it over the years due to washing the tractor.

 

[buickanddeere]

A high CAA battery with heavy cables and swagged or soldered connectors. Bolt on battery connectors won't make as low resistance connection.
Electric battery hearing pad under the battery.
Bolt the battery (-) cable direct to a starter mounting bolt. You will be surprised at the difference.
A immersion block beater to get the engine warm to the touch.
Mobile 1 , Amsoil ,Royal Purple or Lubrication Engineers synthetic engine oil. Other synthetic maybe labelled as synthetic but it only ultra refined dead dinosaurs.
Is the hydraulic system due for a flush and fill? Amsoil makes hydraulic oil that doesn't thicken in the cold like mineral oil.
As previously stated. Often a much higher output starter is a direct bolt on.

 

[MossRoad]

These are air cooled engines, so the emmersion block heater is out, but the advice about synthetic oil in the engine is a good one. I switched my engine oil to Mobil1 after the first oil change.

Also, I've been adding a quart of Mobil1 to the hydraulic tank at each 50 hr filter change, so there's about 9 qts of Mobil1 in there by now, too.

 

[buickanddeere]

Sorry , I didn't clue into the fact this was a Robin air cooled engine and not a machine manufactured by Robin. Rare to see or hear tell of a Robin engine in this area.
Is there a pipe plug that enters the crankcase from the bottom or side? There. Are some small immersion oil heaters that will thread in there. And warm the entire engine as the heat rises in the crankcase.
Dip stick heaters are of little use due to the very small surface area and limited wattage .

 

[BobRip]

These are air cooled engines, so the emmersion block heater is out, but the advice about synthetic oil in the engine is a good one. I switched my engine oil to Mobil1 after the first oil change.

Also, I've been adding a quart of Mobil1 to the hydraulic tank at each 50 hr filter change, so there's about 9 qts of Mobil1 in there by now, too.

What weight oil are you adding? I am using the 15w50.

 

[MossRoad]

What weight oil are you adding? I am using the 15w50.

I think it's the 5w30. Can't remember and don't want to go outside! Been painting living room all day, just finished 1/2 a rib eye and 1/2 a NY strip, baked potato, salad, one beer and a piece of mince pie with a glass of milk. I'm veging out!!! :thumbsup:

 

[3238dpw]

I agree with many things here. I think the easiest is, if available, stronger starter if he doesn't have it already in his machine and a higher CCA battery. Maybe it isn't the cheapest but I think that is the first step. We love our quirky little machines so much that we make excuses for them. But if these two things work then it will make it work like any other tractor out there where if you want to use it in 30 degrees, pull the choke and turn the key. No heaters, blankts etc. After all isn't that how we want it to work. That has been the difference at least it seams to me, that other tractors crank much more strongly. Even my zero turn mower starts with more authority and they circulate oil in pumps too. I would try to work towards that first, then as a last resort some or all of these other ideas will need to be used All these things being said I have a Kohler so maybe I don't know what I am talking about and now that my battery is a few years old and I don't want to change it (being cheap and lazy) I sometimes need to go through some gyrations to get it started when it is cold. never more than a quick spray of eather or carberator cleaner and the battery charger if I run it down too much.

 

[Frank Sorbello]

Hey Scott, Can I put a stronger starter on my PT-422?

Frank

 

[ponytug]

Even if you can't put a stronger starter, you can put heavy gauge cables from the battery to the starter solenoid.

You can try jumper cables to begin with, if you don't want to buy heavier cables. Just make sure that the (+) won't fall off when the engine cranks and catches.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Marks481]

Hey Scott, Can I put a stronger starter on my PT-422?

Frank

I thought Robin had changed to an upgraded starter motor in like 2005, but after a little research, I realized that there was a service bulletin covering cold weather starting in 2003, which recommended changing to the "heavy duty" starter motor (P/N 263-70503-00).

http://www.jackssmallengines.com/pdf_documents/robin engines/Manuals/RA-SB-015.pdf

Changes made by Robin to make their small engines easier to start:

There was a previous upgrade to the starter/solenoid in 1999 (P/N 263-70502-A0 replace P/N 263-70501-00):
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/pdf_documents/robin engines/Manuals/RA-SB-001web.pdf

Upgraded ignition coil in 2003:
http://www.jackssmallengines.com/pdf_documents/robin engines/Manuals/RS344.pdf

Check your starter motor, if it is not the newest variant (P/N 263-70503-00) then you might consider it.

Bad news: expensive. $250-300, depending on where you buy it.

OEM: http://www.smallenginesuppliers.com/shop/html/pages/robin/Robin_Electric_Starter20004.html

And just to muddy the waters a bit more, Electric Motor warehouse has an even "newer" part number, that doesn't appear in any Robin literature I could find:

http://www.brandnewengines.com/263-70504-h0.aspx

Of interest, apparently Robin has a run of "bad" motors in 2002 that had a bad coil in it (which generated the first two service bulletins that I linked).

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/20893-robin-engine-failure-start-when.html

In this thread, Gravy said he didn't feel the upgraded motor made much difference:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/power-trac/203032-service-bulletin-improving-robin-engine-2.html