Oil & Fuel Cold Diesel Engine Again

[johannes]

I have a Deutz 6206 with a FL912 4 cylinder air cooled diesel engine. It doesn’t have glow-plugs but what looks to me a little heating device which heats up a little bit of diesel fuel. The device is located at the top front of the engine. It is a little cylinder of about 1 and a quarter inch in diameter and 2 inches high. The device takes about 3-4 minutes to get to hot to touch It has a (fuel) line from the fuel pump and a (fuel) line to another little device. This looks to me like a little injector. It is located in the duct which inserts air into the cylinders. After the previously mentioned 3-4 minutes of pre-heating, when I then crank the engine, it turns over and blue smoke is coming out of the exhaust system but the engine doesn’t start.
I have two big batteries cranking the starter, so that shouldn’t be the problem. I changed the oil to 15/40 and the machine doesn’t have a “handy” oil pan for a oil pan heater. It is all heavy duty steel. I would like to avoid heating contraptions. I once tried to start it while forcing hot air into the air intake but to no avail. I assume that this tractor wasn’t built by the Germans for only sunny days to use. It should be able to withstand some chilly days. I hear that Deutz is popular in Scandinavia and Poland.
By the way, it was around freezing. Not even that cold.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Johannes

 

[Charolais]

Don't know how much money you're willing to spend and don't know what this unit sells for but this will heat your engine. Kim Hotstart Go down the page a little and you'll see (Small Oil Recirculating systems). This will get the job done but again the cost may be to high.

 

[elarson]

I'm with you there.....Seems to me that a German machine would have cold weather operation taken into account when designed. That injector in the air intake is a thermostart, and it may be the key. Three or four minutes seems a little long to warm that thing up. The thermostart in my Yanmar takes about 15-20 seconds to start dripping flaming diesel into the intake.

 

[Charolais]

I looked up the model on Tisco. By their site the Deutz 6206 was built from 1974-1980. It's 60 hp. So if it's got many hours on it there may be some compression loss. If the compression is down some and 60 hp it'll have to spin over pretty fast to get it going in cold weather. Now of you can get the head warm it'll start right up. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[hudr]

Is there any provision for ether injection? Most of our old JD's have a fitting on the dash for a can of starting fluid. It is designed to be used by taking the spray top off a can of ether and pressing the can up into the fitting, a tube then runs into the intake.
Yes, I know, I have reservations about ethering any engine, especially a diesel, but apparently the engineers at the time thought it was a good idea.
Just a thought.

 

[johannes]

Only about 3700 hours. Doesn't seem like a lot to me.

 

[Charolais]

You're right. That's not a lot. And there are some other causes that could be the culprit. Injectors or pump may not be up to spec now. The valves may not be seating well enough too. Doesn't take a lot of either or both to throw off the firing. I had a 574 IH that I used a tank heater on at 2,000 hrs. If I tried to start it below 25 deg. and no heat assist it would take all the battery had to get it going. A little heat in the right place does wonders to a diesel.

One thing you might try and may help some. Cetane boost. I use it on a F250 6.9L(209,000 miles) and it works great on it. I add cetane to the fuel for that truck and keep it up around 48-50. That seemed to be the sweet spot for that truck. I use Amsoil brand and there are other sources.

 

[cowboydoc]

The Deutz's are VERY hard to start in cold weather. But so are most of the older diesels. Save yourself alot of headache and just get an inline coolant heater. Plug it in and in an hour or two it will fire right up. I had a Deutz and it flat would not start if you didn't plug it in, even with ether. It's the same for some of the older JD's and others too.

 

[Charolais]

Hi cowboydoc.
The engine he has is air cooled. Most here that have them keep the tractor in a heated building. I say heated they keep it above freezing.

 

[deere755]

I don't like to use either unless I just have no other choice. I usually plug my block heater in advance of using the tractor. I know this is not an option for you so I would think a small shot of either in the air cleaner would be ok. I use it when I need to start the tractor in a pinch and don't have time to wait on the block heater to warm it up. Another thing you might try is a magnetic heater on the oil pan.