-25c My Tractor Won't Start After Being Plugged in. Help please

[3930dave]

Cool pictures Harry - thanks for sharing. Not sure if the English translation is correct - most shops just use The Next Bigger Hammer !

I have a fair sense of what is reliable and what isn't on road-going gas vehicles, but I haven't hung around enough diesels yet to build up the same cranial database. So.... I had to ask .

Thanks for laying out the details of how you interacted with the products you were responsible for. Good to hear that Thermostarts didn't show up as early failures.

That sounds like a cool job you had at Cat.

Rgds, D.

 

[MHarryE]

Was at my nephew's dairy farm today. He has this Bobcat with a Perkins 4.236 engine. Instead of the thermostart intake manifold heating system factory starting aid is ether. It has the ether spray can mounted on the door with a tube leading to the intake manifold. I know this thread started with a Ford construction engine but I remember someone said the 3 cylinder was either Zperkins based or Perkins built. This skid steer is now 33 years old, has always been used in Northern MN for feeding livestock so it runs every day during the winter. Many of those days it's fed ether and it's still going strong. In this case there are no glow plugs or intake manifold heater to prematurely ignite the ether. Not that it extends engine life but sometimes you need to do what it takes to keep your operation running.

 

[Tx Jim]

IMHO the ether starting aid kit such as pictured above are far superior to spraying ether into the air cleaner because the kit has an orifice that limits how much ether enters the engine in a given amount of time

 

[Texasmark]

sd455dan
I own and have several Ford diesel tractors and have never seen one that one turns the ign switch to the "left for starting" as you described. On my Fords one needs to turn key clockwise(right) to energize starter I also seriously doubt at -25C that if any water is present in filter will drip out if bleed screw is opened but I could be wrong. Fuel enrichment and Thermo-start that you referred to actually increase compression with the extra fuel added.

The MF 35 with the Perkins diesel had the ccw heat function. I know I had one; '64 as I recall. My Fords, original blue, and '65 and on blue. Original blue, 1963 had two glow plugs in the intake manifold for the 4 cyl 2000, pushbutton activated.

The '65 with the greenish blue paint scheme 3 cyl 3000 had the thermostart whereby you turn the key from ON towards START and half way between the dash warning lights go out. At that time power is applied to the heating coil of the thermostart causing it to glow orange and the heat releases the diesel drip plug which allows diesel to slobber onto the orange coil causing it to ignite into a fire blob. Rolling the key a little more CW puts you in the START position whereby the slobbering continues but now the intake valves open and suck in this flaming goo and it ignites the mist in the combustion chamber. No not who was the mastermind that came up with this convoluted contraption but I do know this. It works and that my friends (I guess) is the only thing that matters.

My 2c and again worth every penny it cost you.

Mark