Cold diesel hard to start

[AMP762]

Thanks for your replies everyone.

It definitely starts easier in the summer. If it has been in the 90s a few hours it will start without preheat. 75 to 90 degrees I have to preheat about 30 seconds. 40 to 75, must preheat 1 minute or longer, maybe 2 times. Below 40, use Yanmar. I park it under a drop shed. I may move it closer to an electric outlet so I can try a heat gun in the intake.

Giles
It's nice to hear from someone with a 364. They are rare around here. Glad to hear yours will start at 50 with no preheat. Though mine seems to crank over ok, even with a new battery the starter does not turn the motor over as fast as a Ford pick-up. It sounds more like an old 6 volt car when it is cranking. Does your starter sound a little slower like that too or does it turn over as fast as new cars?

If it spins that slow I'd say you have a starter problem.Check all conn from bat to starter,both pos. and neg. if good have the starter checked.

 

[KICK]

You can spend a lot of money trying to get it to start better, but in the end it will not help much. It has a low compression indirect injection engine and that is about the same way it started when it was new.

that about sums it up.

you ever try starting it on silicone or starting fluid without using the glow plugs when its cold?

 

[Giles Gurley]

My 364 cranks over just fine. You have to use a high amp battery, I think mine is like 900. I think if I had a regular car battery I would also have cranking problems. I would also check the starter brushes and bearings. Just for comparitive purpose, My engine has a lot of diesel clatter(combustion noise) when it is cold and quitens very little when hot. I have had a lot of tractors that got very quiet when hot but noisy when cold. They were worn and used oil, but they started ok. I would make sure the starter is in good shape and that the battery is big and hot enough. When I use my glow plugs my amp meter only shows slight discharge. As I suggested earlier, make sure all the plugs are working and that some of the voltage is not going to ground.

 

[tallyho8]

I have the biggest most expensive battery that Wallyworld sells and it is pretty new so I think my next steps will be to check the glow plugs then check the bushings and brushes in the starter.
Since Katrina it is still very difficult to get repairs on some things in our area and I am afraid that if I find something wrong with the starter I won't be able to find anyone to fix it or get parts for it.

I never use starting fluid in my tractors.

 

[john_bud]

I never use starting fluid in my tractors.

You are a smart person.


On the starter, I run a 2 ga wire from the ground to a bolt on the starter housing. Clean it and the block down to shinny metal, use a di-electric grease on the metal parts. Run a 2 ga or 0 ga to the starter contact and to the solenoid. You may need to just take the starter apart, clean it, shine up the contact parts with 600 grit paper, grease the bearings and re-assembly. Your labor is about free. That may perk it up a bit.

Try adding some additive to the fuel to raise the cetane. Higher cetane numbers indicate the fuel is easier to ignite. (the opposite of octane, which is ability to withstand compression and not ignite).

jb

 

[kn6md]

I had the same problem with my tractor and tried most if not all of the ideas mentioned, including a new battery. I used my home made welding wire jumper at the end of this process to give the starter a try after I had it professionally checked to confirm my tests as OK and it really cranked like never before. Hmmmmm.
I found that the ground wire was corroded beyond all recognition under the clamp which attached it to the battery lug. It was corroded way up the pristine insulation as well. If I hadn’t stumbled on using that jumper just to save a bit of time I would still be looking for the problem.
New ground cable solved the problem. VERY frustrating and invisible problem that I thought I had eliminated right out of the chute by cleaning all contacts to bare metal and doing continuity tests. I was furious that checking for a bad ground was my first effort and I still failed.

 

[Soundguy]

What year is that beast?

I've got a 75 ford 5000 that pops in any weather if the battery is good.

I guess I'll stay away from that IH model... I'd guess it has low compression...

Soundguy

Thanks for your replies everyone.

It definitely starts easier in the summer. If it has been in the 90s a few hours it will start without preheat. 75 to 90 degrees I have to preheat about 30 seconds. 40 to 75, must preheat 1 minute or longer, maybe 2 times. Below 40, use Yanmar. I park it under a drop shed. I may move it closer to an electric outlet so I can try a heat gun in the intake.

Giles
It's nice to hear from someone with a 364. They are rare around here. Glad to hear yours will start at 50 with no preheat. Though mine seems to crank over ok, even with a new battery the starter does not turn the motor over as fast as a Ford pick-up. It sounds more like an old 6 volt car when it is cranking. Does your starter sound a little slower like that too or does it turn over as fast as new cars?

 

[john_bud]

What year is that beast?

I've got a 75 ford 5000 that pops in any weather if the battery is good.


Soundguy

Neat! Bring it up here and you can give my chebby a push next time the fuel gels at -28F, with a wind chill below -40F.

You did say "any weather", right?

jb

 

[Keith_B]

Sounds like a warming/cranking type of problem to me. If it wasn't a warming issue it would start the same with the slight variations in temp. I would start with the most basic stuff first, and the most basic fixes. I would clean all the terminals and contacts (including grounds) to insure max flow of juice from the battery to the starter. I would then make sure all the glow plugs are operating. I would also put an engine warmer on that puppy. That engine warmer will make that engine behave as if it is much warmer than it is. One thing that slows an engines cranking speed when it gets cold is the viscosity of the oil, the thicker oil will make the crank stiffer to turn as your starter turns it. The engine warmer will help to warm the oil, and make it less stiff and thick in cold weather.

You could have low compression, BUT the tractor starts in warm weather. This is an indicator that a warmer engine will give you better cold weather starts.

 

[tallyho8]

I finally found time to work on it. My ground cable looked fine but since so many of you suggested that I clean it, I removed it and cleaned all surfaces well and replaced it.

The starter runs faster than it did years ago and starts easily!

So simple! Who woulda thought?