cold weather starting

[bmartin]

OK men, I do have a decompression lever but I guess I didn't know how to use it properly. I had tried it but nothing seemed to change so I gave up. I'll go back and give 'er a whorl and let you know what happens. But I promise noooo starter fluid!
Billy

 

[RICHARDG]

I was thinking intake,,,may be wrong,,did that valve adjust and head bolt retorque last winter,,,so I knew than,,now,,,well that was 10 months ago,would make a difference I think and exhaust sounds more logical but forget,,hold decomression open,,turn it over a couple times,than let decompression go back,[let go],,turn it on glow plugs for about 15 seconds while useing slight throttle,,let off glow plugs and hit start,while giving it maybe 1/4 throttle,,,when it starts,don't give it a lot of throttle till it warms up,,,if you watch the oil pressure gage,,you will see it start to decrease when motor is warm,,something like that,,,thingy

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I do have a decompression lever but I guess I didn't know how to use it properly)</font>

Spinning the starter motor with the compression released does two things:
(1) Understand that your compression ratio is about 22:1, and that it's not a very big starter in the first place. So releasing the cylinder compression BEFORE spinning up the starter saves wear and tear on both the starter and on the battery.
(2) Understand also, that this is a compression-ignition engine; in that a cylinder won't "fire" until its fuel/air mixture is "squeezed" past the point where it's hot enough to explode. That said, gravity causes engine oil to drain back to the oil pan in an cold/idle engine. Spinning the starter with the decompression lever open, permits oil to get splashed back toward the rings and upper cylinders BEFORE things start exploding up there.

Set hand throttle at about 50%. Turn the ignition key to HEAT and observe the ammeter deflection. Do a slow count to 30, watching for the ammeter needle to start moving to the right. That means the glow plugs are throwing good heat. When the ammeter drops under 20A - or upon reaching your slow count of 30 - grasp decompression lever with left hand and turn 90 degrees;, right or left, doesn't matter. Then
turn the ignition key all the way over to START. Let the starter spin for a slow 3 count. Then release the decompression lever, but keep cranking the starter for up to another slow 7 count. As soon as you release the decompression lever, you'll hear the starter motor RPMs drop. That's a sign that it's now working harder against that 22:1 compression.

If it doesn't start/run, wait 2 minutes for the starter motor to cool down to repeat the procedure. Pretty soon you'll find the "sweet spot" on the ammeter needle that tells you the glow plugs are warm enough, but it's not a wise idea to heat them for more than 30 seconds at a time.

This is a "<i>first start of the day</i>" procedure; glow plug heating is not necessary on an engine that is still warm. But I do recommend using the decompression lever each time you start it back up.

//greg//

 

[bmartin]

Thanks Greg , I'll see if I can get it right next time.
Billy

 

[SPIKER]

Martin:

all good replys so far: what kind of smoke are you getting out of exhaust when cranking? white or black or inbetween>?

I posted this before but if it is very cold warming the injector pump & lines on mine helps it alot! I use a shop light (halogen 500 watt one) and set it on the right front tire shinning at the injector pump/lines. the lines are black and they WARM pretty quickly this is the NEW fuel that first gets into the cylinders and will light off faster than most and the warmer pump also helps the newier fuel comming... others prefet the block heaters and while I admitt they are great I don't start mine more than one or two times in a month when it is really COLD so rnning the block heater seems to be a waste to me. I MAY eventually get one installed but have been using the light method down to -10 degrees when I got STUCK with the car comming into the farm last winter and it worked fine. I also have an OLD BLANKET I tossed over the hood when I was doing this that day as the wind was hollowing. I was soaking wet after slidding into the yard and having to tromp 400+ feet to the house and then farther to the barn with out any boots or carharts (first trip then I got them on!) /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

anyhow I also use a slight bit of Kerosen in the fuel for winter use to lower the octain a bit, usually about 1/2 gal K1 per 5 gallon of fuel. I also just use ON-ROAD deisel as it is more available around here and doesn't require going INSIDE to prove I have a farm... Mine (Jinma284) barely smokes when running on the on-road even under HEAVY LOAD it only darkens up a bit... I use glow plugs for 20sec or less even when COLD and rarely use them when it is warm. Mine will usually pop off in about 3~6 sec of cranking and if it don;t after the first try I wait 20~30 sec and hit the glow plugs for 10~15 sec then crank no more than 15 sec. She will fire usually the first time when it is over 30 and the 2nd try if under 30. when it was really cold it took 4 tries but I also didn't let the light set on her only long enough to run back to house and get the car harts on... (I by-passed house and went straight to barn to put on the light hopeing and praying she would start as it was off over a month that time.) could have been low fuel in the lines why it didn't start or fack the battery was a bit low cold? I was thinking of trying the decompression lever but I still have yet to use that for anything other than MAINTENANCE when adjusting the clutch plates...


other causes could be a timming issue with the injector pump on you'res if it starts hard anytime even when warm... there is some really good info on that lower down.

MarkM

 

[SevenCorners]

A farmer down the road from me uses Heating Oil in his JD. He claims it is cheaper than off-road and has some anti-jell properties. That said he has a lot of problems with his tractor. I told him he is probably getting crap/rust from the bottom of his underground tank.
Does Kerosene raise or lower the cetane rating? How is the cetane and octane rating related?