Which is better, TS or glow plugs? Or both?

[WillaminaOR]

I have a 1702D. Awhile back I overheated the engine and it wasn't ever the same so I found a replacement engine. The old engine and the tractor has thermostart (TS). The replacement engine has glow plugs. I think I could just hook the TS wire up to the glow plugs and turn the key backwards for a bit to warm them up before firing the engine. Or, I could install the TS stuff in the new manifold and hook it up. Or, maybe wire both in? Anybody know how many amps the TS system uses? Glow plugs? Is there a fuse? Does one work better than the other? Should I try both?

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[YannyMan]

Either will do the job. Cummins engines have TS's, The Powerstrokes and Duramaxes have glow plugs.. They all work.

The electrical systems on most of these tractors aren't very robust. If the TS gave you no issues before, I'd just re-install and plug in the wire.

 

[winston1]

You sure have my curiosity up. I'm thinking your 1702 came with a 3t75u-na engine. Would you mind sharing what engine you have in it now? Engine swaps don't seem to be to common on these little beasts.

Here is a wiring schematic of my 2002d. I suspect it is pretty similiar to your 1702. Not stating this as fact but as an opinion. I sure don't know the difference in the current draw on the two systems.

 

[California]

I've read that TS draws 15 amps.

 

[Car Doc]

I've read that TS draws 15 amps.

I would go along with that and say the glow plugs would be that x 3 reasonably to put it in perspective.

So he would have to add a circuit dedicated to the lets say 50 amp needs of the glow plugs. Normally they have a timer also so you dont burn them up. Id say the OE ign switch would be fine he would just need to run a 12ga from it to the glow plugs jmho. And if the sw wasn't enough a simple 50a relay could be wired in real simple.

Not that a diligent person wouldn't know that 10-20 seconds is enough just saying.

 

[WillaminaOR]

I'm not in SoCal or something but (Willamette Valley) Oregon doesn't get very cold, 20's is a really cold night here. I don't know if I ever used the TS on the original engine, or not sure it was working right. I'd just crank for awhile and it'd start up, 30 seconds tops. It's been awhile since I had the old motor and the TS but I don't remember it cutting cold start times. Maybe it wasn't working?

As an experiment, this morning I set the throttle about 2/3rds, jumped the TS wire to the glow plugs, cranked the key back for 10-15 sec, and then cranked the motor over. It was lit and running in about 2sec, amazing.

I guess the only question is if I should try to get both systems working, just for funsies? And if the glow plugs actually do take 3x the current? I tend to think the answer is no as I was just holding the two connectors together and would think they'd get hot if it had 45 amps running through them.

The old valve cover says 3T75U-NA, the new cover says 3T75UN-AC. I bought it from a guy on the forum, he's in AL or GA or somewhere there. I forget off the top of my head but would probably remember if I saw his name again. He said this motor was out of a rice harvester or something like that. It was set up to bolt stationary to something. I had to swap a lot of parts, including the whole front engine cover, flywheel, oil pan... This was about 2 years ago. Tractor has been out of commission for a bit over 1.5 years since it's not a 'used every day' tractor and when I did the motor swap apparently I only finger tightened the bolts that hold the adapter plate to the back of the motor (DOH) and they backed out and bound up the flywheel. Just got it apart again and torqued everything down tight this time.

Bryan

 

[Car Doc]

Just my opinion but glow plugs would be my preferred system if I had a choice. They are actually in the combustion chamber where they create combustion were as the TS is an air heater.

 

[winston1]

Well I just want to say I am impressed with your engine swap. It does prove these engines can be swapped to some degree. I wish it were possible to know what all those letters on the ends of the model numbers stands for.