Surprised how much block heater helps starting diesel

[fishhead]

that is true if you are looking at post 1996 but off by a bit otherwise

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s.w-x.co/wu/us-60-below-map-v2_0.jpeg

Rogers pass FTW

Did some more reading- apparently the Minnesota all-time record of -60 is the lowest in the contiguous US for a non mountainous state- makes sense because you would have less cold air pooling and high altitude drainage

Block heater works fine. Itç—´ just been so cold - like nowhere else in continental USA. Our area holds the record for coldest temperature ever recorded in the 48. 30 below not uncommon, 40 below now getting rare, was common when I was growing up. 50 below meant schools out when I was that age, maybe 2 or 3 days a year. 60 below is the official low in our area but thats in a town, not a real cold spot. Two years ago we farmers gathered at a conference south of me about 100 miles. One topic of discussion was finding the thermometers in most of our trucks bottomed out at 40 below. Only one person was able to give the true temp - 54 below.

So that痴 the temperatures we have been dealing with. We haven稚 seen zero for 10 days now Jeff痴 block heater is working just fine. In fact it heats the block so well the glow plugs drop off too quickly because the top end gets too hot. The bottom end, however, is down near the pour point of the oil from the oil data sheet. So with heat on the oil pan he got the boost needed to run.

 

[MHarryE]

that is true if you are looking at post 1996 but off by a bit otherwise

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s.w-x.co/wu/us-60-below-map-v2_0.jpeg

Rogers pass FTW

Did some more reading- apparently the Minnesota all-time record of -60 is the lowest in the contiguous US for a non mountainous state- makes sense because you would have less cold air pooling and high altitude drainage

Your right - non-mountain and not a rare reading. Neighboring town that day had official thermometer fail but reportedly fail but backup from the past recorded -64. Right now my local WU went off line at -40°. In town it reads -38. It’s 0530 so it will get colder. Block heater has been on for 2 days - my L6060 - the glow plug indicator doesn’t come on because the coolant is too hot but the engine won’t crank fast enough to start. I mean grrrr- grrrr-grrr for about 5 firing and it’s done for. I have Mobil 5W-40 synthetic heavy duty diesel oil in it. We are over 2 weeks now that the tractor hasn’t started. My SVL in the heated garage says what cold. Doesn’t help my nephew who needed a PTO for a grain auger to unload corn last Friday. If I can ever get the tractor started it’s going in the garage in place of the RTV.

These cold nights - the wind freezes - every local station reports wind zero. As a result the cold sinks to the low points. I’m on the river. Neighbor 10 miles downriver is usually 5° colder on a morning like this. My nephew is 6 miles upriver and farmstead 48 feet above river level. He is usually several degrees warmer. No matter - everybody around us reports only cars or trucks inside start although one friend reported 15 minutes of hair dryer on throttle body of his car worked,

 

[LouNY]

Have you tried disconnecting your temperature sensor.
Does your tractor have one or two temperature sensors.
Mine will run the manifold heater for full minute but I can crank it and start after about 30 seconds,
then I will go plug it back on.

 

[PILOON]

"I have mine plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a switch inside the house. The snow plow tractor is parked outside under a porch overhang. There is also an indicator light in the house plugged into that outlet, so I know when the heater is on."

Great minds think alike!
I added a light indicator INSIDE my tractor as absolute confirmation. (an LED 'night lite')
Made a small AC 'buss bar' for indicator light and also have a small 'battery keeper' wired full time to assure battery is fully up to par.

Your worst dream, having to change a block heater @ -25 or so! (and fingers that suffer from Renaud Syndrome)

 

[Egon]

"I have mine plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a switch inside the house. The snow plow tractor is parked outside under a porch overhang. There is also an indicator light in the house plugged into that outlet, so I know when the heater is on."

Great minds think alike!
I added a light indicator INSIDE my tractor as absolute confirmation. (an LED 'night lite')
Made a small AC 'buss bar' for indicator light and also have a small 'battery keeper' wired full time to assure battery is fully up to par.

Your worst dream, having to change a block heater @ -25 or so! (and fingers that suffer from Renaud Syndrome)

Not if its -40 C out.

 

[crazyal]

I worked with a guy who's father was a logger in upper NY. In the dead of winter he said dad would just start a small fire under the skidder in the morning. He said those Detroit Diesels were bullet proof but when the temps drop far enough it was either set it on fire or not work that day. I have heard of people using sheets of plywood and a space heater to blow hot air under a tractor to get it going. For me, if it's that cold, then I try to stay inside.

 

[PILOON]

Was that Centigrade or Fahrenheit?

Bothe are colder than I like!
Berr, shudder shake!

 

[Egon]

Tarps and a Herman Nelson were commonly used to warm equipment.

 

[Tony H]

Does anyone have experience with these? I used one for the 90w in the tranny but now use a magnetic. Was afraid it would scorch the oil. Had no evidence of that, just paranoia I guess.

View attachment 686007

these worry me too. I don't believe they have a thermostat to shut them down like the magnet heaters do

 

[Industrial Toys]

Not sure why people would find this so remarkable. You are taking ice cold air and trying to squeeze it RED HOT enough to ignite fuel oil. RED HOT in one piston stroke, then expell it and try again. That's a tall order. Kind of blows my mind that, that technology works at all.

Despite my little Kubota D722s being the hardest cold starting diesels I have, they only require fifteen minutes of block heat. Not much thermal mass there and the heater is at the top just in front of the first cylinder. Other heaters (like my JD) are halfway down the block and take an hour at least to make a difference.