ponytug
Super Member
I want to thank SpringHollow for the inspiration on Deutz modification. I mostly followed his lead, but I made a few changes.
My BF3L2011 Deutz always starts in cold weather, but when it is close to freezing it cranks for five or ten seconds. Having already replaced one starter motor, I thought I would add the Deutz intake "glow plugs" to see if they make a difference.
First, while these are referred to as glow plugs, Deutz calls them helical heaters, which is a more accurate description of what they do. They sit in the intake manifold and get hot, heating the air and the manifold for easier starting.
Second, while SpringHollow used 40amp fuses, when I hooked up one of the heaters directly to the battery with a jumper cable and an ammeter, I got 46amps, when it was installed, it draws 46.2Amps. I have installed them with 50amp fuses, and I will see how it goes. Genie uses 70amp fuses on each helical heater. I have no idea what Deutz uses. I couldn't find it documented anywhere.
I looked for a glow plug relay, which would control the timing, but the Deutz glow plug relay is about $250-500 by itself, and the aftermarket glow plug relays for other diesels mostly require a manufacturer specific thermistor to read whether it is a) cold enough to warrant running the glow plugs, and b) warm enough to turn them off. Given how often I need it, decided not to spend the money on the glow plug relay. I found one company offering a kit with the Deutz relay, socket, and terminal connectors for $250, you supply the wires and helical heaters. It wasn't clear if there were instructions.
My engine is a 2011, but I think the same instructions would work for a 1011.
What I used (everything from Amazon, except the glow plugs):
You will also need a variety of crimp on connectors to wire the fuses and relay (butt connectors), and two small ring terminals for the glow plugs and a 1/4" one for the battery. I use the marine style ones with hot melt adhesive on the inside. I find it cuts down corrosion and gunk, as well as making a stronger connection. Who wants to spend time running down flaky electrical circuits? Not me.
Zip ties to hold things in place.
Adding a timed relay is another $40 or so (GAEYAELE GRT8-M) I passed.
The first "80Amp" relay that I bought from Amazon came with fine print that it could only handle 560W of power, or about 38Amps. Grrr. I bought that before I had the helical heaters and had actually measured their draw.
Moving on. Purchased a 120Amp relay.
To mount the relay: Near the top of the battery support flange, I drilled a hole, and threaded it to take a 1/4-20 bolt to hold the relay in a relatively dry and vibration free location. You can also hear the relay open and close sitting in the tractor seat. I put the 100Amp circuit breaker below the draft control solenoid on the lower battery housing support flange.
To remove the existing plugs in the intake manifold, you will need a 10mm hex (Allen). I had to use a breaker bar to get mine off. Once the plugs are out, you can replace them with fresh copper washers on the helical heaters. Torque setting is 65NM.
Because each of these heaters draw on the order of 600W apiece, I wanted to keep the positive power cables as short as possible. I also wanted to keep the wires up and away from the heat of the muffler. I ran the wires from the glow plugs up into wire loom above the intake manifold, and then over the intake manifold along the front of the engine, and out via a previously grommeted hole behind the engine oil cooler and then over to the left side of the battery box.
For power, I ran a 10ga wire from a terminal on the battery over to the 100Amp circuit breaker below the relay. I used nylon hose wrap and wrapped it to the main power cable for 10" or so and then over to the wire loom (zip ties) and over to the battery flange, where I tucked the circuit breaker under the draft control solenoid. The power then runs up to the relay. Total length, less than 24", supported every six inches or so.
I don't like having accessory wires coming off battery terminals, but the alternative is to pull the power off of the starter main lug, and then route wires around the muffler, leading to heat issues, and much, much longer wires. I considered putting the relay on the engine block and decided that the heat and vibration would lead to an early relay death.
I used a fish tape to run the 16 ga cable through the tunnel, and then took off the various plates on the dash and tunnel to thread it into the dash. I used 4 wire multi strand speaker cable with a thick jacket, figuring that I would have two more lines if I ever need them. It turned out to be good that I did this, as when I had the cover plates off, I noticed that the main Power-Trac wiring cable was slowly being cut by one of the tunnel edges, but luckily hadn't quite gone through the outer insulation. I wrapped it with nylon spiral hose wrap for about six inches on both sides. For me, that was worth the effort of the whole project.
On the dash, I elected to put the switch in between the circuit breaker and the ignition switch. You might want to go larger (19/22mm). I recommend switches that have socketed connectors, as it makes the wiring easier. I didn't, and the switch electrical tabs on the 12mm version are tiny, as in under an eighth of an inch.
I used a 15/32nds drill for the 12mm switch. The hole for the glow plug indicator lamp I drilled about half an inch above it, using a 5/16th drill. Both are fractionally oversized for 12mm and 8mm, respectively. The glow plug indicator is an LED, so it has a positive and a negative. I wired the the negative lead to a 3/8" ring terminal that I put under the nut that used to fasten the LED indicator in the dash with to avoid running too many wires in the dash. The downside is that you have to crimp the ring terminal on after the LED is in the dash, and you would have to cut it off if you ever took it out.
On the switch, I wired the switch LED to the output of the switch so I would know that power was going to the relay. You press the switch, and the outer LED ring lights up.
I wired the glow plug indicator to the output of the relay, downstream of one fuse, to know that the power was going to the helical heaters, or at least one of them.
SpringHollow and I discussed whether it was worthwhile fusing the glow plug indicator. I did add an inline fuse just because there is potentially 50-60amps on the 16ga wire, which is enough to fry it. My old pickup used to use short bits of 16ga wire as fusible links for 12ga wires. Apparently, the logic is to drop four units in wire gauge.
It took me a couple of hours over a couple of days to get it installed and reorder parts.
Was it worth it? I think so. 5-10 seconds of preheating makes a very noticeable difference in how fast the engine catches in cold weather. It now catches in the first second. On the other hand, if your weather doesn't get below 40F, I am not sure it is worth it.
All the best, Peter
My BF3L2011 Deutz always starts in cold weather, but when it is close to freezing it cranks for five or ten seconds. Having already replaced one starter motor, I thought I would add the Deutz intake "glow plugs" to see if they make a difference.
First, while these are referred to as glow plugs, Deutz calls them helical heaters, which is a more accurate description of what they do. They sit in the intake manifold and get hot, heating the air and the manifold for easier starting.
Second, while SpringHollow used 40amp fuses, when I hooked up one of the heaters directly to the battery with a jumper cable and an ammeter, I got 46amps, when it was installed, it draws 46.2Amps. I have installed them with 50amp fuses, and I will see how it goes. Genie uses 70amp fuses on each helical heater. I have no idea what Deutz uses. I couldn't find it documented anywhere.
I looked for a glow plug relay, which would control the timing, but the Deutz glow plug relay is about $250-500 by itself, and the aftermarket glow plug relays for other diesels mostly require a manufacturer specific thermistor to read whether it is a) cold enough to warrant running the glow plugs, and b) warm enough to turn them off. Given how often I need it, decided not to spend the money on the glow plug relay. I found one company offering a kit with the Deutz relay, socket, and terminal connectors for $250, you supply the wires and helical heaters. It wasn't clear if there were instructions.
My engine is a 2011, but I think the same instructions would work for a 1011.
What I used (everything from Amazon, except the glow plugs):
- 2xDeutz helical heaters, part number 1179016, or 117-9916. You do not want the glow plugs that thread into the cylinder head. If it doesn't look like a big spring on a stick, it is the wrong part. (Cross references to Genie part number 31408) SpringHollow says they are about $30 on eBay. Right now they are $55, last week they were $81, so it pays to wait. SpringHollow kindly sold me two of his, which was super nice.
- 2x22mmID copper washers for the helical heaters. I used 22x28mm washers.
- 2xM5 nuts for the helical heater electrical connection.
- 1x100amp, or greater relay. I used a 120A relay.
- 1x 100amp circuit breaker or a 150Amp maxi fuse and holder.
- 3-5 in line fuse holders, two of which should be 60-70Amps for protecting each heater coil. I used waterproof 10ga fuse holders for each of the helical heaters.
- 1x12mm waterproof momentary switch, I used a high head model (easier to use with gloves) with built in LED.
- 1x uxcell 8mm glow plug indicator light, waterproof.
- 10ga ANCOR tinned wire from the battery to the circuit breaker and then to the relay (ANCOR is 105F rated cable, tinned) You could use 6 or 8ga, which fit the circuit breakers better.
- 2x12ga ANCOR tinned wire from the battery to each glow plug/helical heater individually, each with an inline fuse.
- 16ga cable to go from the dash switch to the relay, and from the output of the relay back to the indicator, via a 1amp inline fuse also to go from a 12v source on the dash via fuse to the momentary contact switch.
- 1/2" wire loom to organize the wires under the dash, corral the inline fuses, and to protect the two sets of 12ga wires to the heaters.
You will also need a variety of crimp on connectors to wire the fuses and relay (butt connectors), and two small ring terminals for the glow plugs and a 1/4" one for the battery. I use the marine style ones with hot melt adhesive on the inside. I find it cuts down corrosion and gunk, as well as making a stronger connection. Who wants to spend time running down flaky electrical circuits? Not me.
Zip ties to hold things in place.
Adding a timed relay is another $40 or so (GAEYAELE GRT8-M) I passed.
The first "80Amp" relay that I bought from Amazon came with fine print that it could only handle 560W of power, or about 38Amps. Grrr. I bought that before I had the helical heaters and had actually measured their draw.
Moving on. Purchased a 120Amp relay.
To mount the relay: Near the top of the battery support flange, I drilled a hole, and threaded it to take a 1/4-20 bolt to hold the relay in a relatively dry and vibration free location. You can also hear the relay open and close sitting in the tractor seat. I put the 100Amp circuit breaker below the draft control solenoid on the lower battery housing support flange.
To remove the existing plugs in the intake manifold, you will need a 10mm hex (Allen). I had to use a breaker bar to get mine off. Once the plugs are out, you can replace them with fresh copper washers on the helical heaters. Torque setting is 65NM.
Because each of these heaters draw on the order of 600W apiece, I wanted to keep the positive power cables as short as possible. I also wanted to keep the wires up and away from the heat of the muffler. I ran the wires from the glow plugs up into wire loom above the intake manifold, and then over the intake manifold along the front of the engine, and out via a previously grommeted hole behind the engine oil cooler and then over to the left side of the battery box.
For power, I ran a 10ga wire from a terminal on the battery over to the 100Amp circuit breaker below the relay. I used nylon hose wrap and wrapped it to the main power cable for 10" or so and then over to the wire loom (zip ties) and over to the battery flange, where I tucked the circuit breaker under the draft control solenoid. The power then runs up to the relay. Total length, less than 24", supported every six inches or so.
I don't like having accessory wires coming off battery terminals, but the alternative is to pull the power off of the starter main lug, and then route wires around the muffler, leading to heat issues, and much, much longer wires. I considered putting the relay on the engine block and decided that the heat and vibration would lead to an early relay death.
I used a fish tape to run the 16 ga cable through the tunnel, and then took off the various plates on the dash and tunnel to thread it into the dash. I used 4 wire multi strand speaker cable with a thick jacket, figuring that I would have two more lines if I ever need them. It turned out to be good that I did this, as when I had the cover plates off, I noticed that the main Power-Trac wiring cable was slowly being cut by one of the tunnel edges, but luckily hadn't quite gone through the outer insulation. I wrapped it with nylon spiral hose wrap for about six inches on both sides. For me, that was worth the effort of the whole project.
On the dash, I elected to put the switch in between the circuit breaker and the ignition switch. You might want to go larger (19/22mm). I recommend switches that have socketed connectors, as it makes the wiring easier. I didn't, and the switch electrical tabs on the 12mm version are tiny, as in under an eighth of an inch.
I used a 15/32nds drill for the 12mm switch. The hole for the glow plug indicator lamp I drilled about half an inch above it, using a 5/16th drill. Both are fractionally oversized for 12mm and 8mm, respectively. The glow plug indicator is an LED, so it has a positive and a negative. I wired the the negative lead to a 3/8" ring terminal that I put under the nut that used to fasten the LED indicator in the dash with to avoid running too many wires in the dash. The downside is that you have to crimp the ring terminal on after the LED is in the dash, and you would have to cut it off if you ever took it out.
On the switch, I wired the switch LED to the output of the switch so I would know that power was going to the relay. You press the switch, and the outer LED ring lights up.
I wired the glow plug indicator to the output of the relay, downstream of one fuse, to know that the power was going to the helical heaters, or at least one of them.
SpringHollow and I discussed whether it was worthwhile fusing the glow plug indicator. I did add an inline fuse just because there is potentially 50-60amps on the 16ga wire, which is enough to fry it. My old pickup used to use short bits of 16ga wire as fusible links for 12ga wires. Apparently, the logic is to drop four units in wire gauge.
It took me a couple of hours over a couple of days to get it installed and reorder parts.
Was it worth it? I think so. 5-10 seconds of preheating makes a very noticeable difference in how fast the engine catches in cold weather. It now catches in the first second. On the other hand, if your weather doesn't get below 40F, I am not sure it is worth it.
All the best, Peter
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