electric 12 volt air preheater Kioti

[sawmillman001]

New to Forum.

Have owned a DK 45 about 6 years. Recently hard cold starting. Has anyone installed a preheater in incoming air , and if so, are you happy with results? Thx.

 

[shui5612]

Never installed one but my deutz has a heated air intake grill instead of the glow plugs and I had no problems this week starting in even -30C (about -22F) without plugging in a block heater.

Depending how big your tractor is, and if you have the budget for it, consider something like a wabasto engine heater...

Works by using some diesel and brings the coolant to engine operating temperature in an hour or two.. very helpful for bigger diesels..

On a side note, if you have an outlet nearby, you could plug in a block Heater, heated battery blanket and maybe a small trickle charger and you won't have issues starting (assuming you have a "winter grade" diesel that won't gel over..

Hope this helps.

 

[sawmillman001]

Never installed one but my deutz has a heated air intake grill instead of the glow plugs and I had no problems this week starting in even -30C (about -22F) without plugging in a block heater.

Depending how big your tractor is, and if you have the budget for it, consider something like a wabasto engine heater...

Works by using some diesel and brings the coolant to engine operating temperature in an hour or two.. very helpful for bigger diesels..

On a side note, if you have an outlet nearby, you could plug in a block Heater, heated battery blanket and maybe a small trickle charger and you won't have issues starting (assuming you have a "winter grade" diesel that won't gel over..

Hope this helps.

Hi shui5612 Thanks a lot for this reply. Your info on your deutz is what I was looking for. If your tractor started in those conditions, then the heated air intake grill is doing a powerful job. My son and I both have cummins diesel trucks. They have heated air intakes as well (and no glow plugs), and are quite reliable down to -25C without engine plug in.

It seems to me that installing an air preheater would be a more reliable long term solution for my Kioti, than replacing glow plugs/buss bar or preheater modules every so often.

 

[shui5612]

Hello Sawmill man001, you're very welcome. As far as I know the air intake grid/grill is the better setup in terms of reliability and over all in the long term as opposed to the glow plugs.

Just wondering, is there a reason why you wouldn't be able to have "both" systems working? The air intake grid heats the in coming air and the glow plugs for the fuel for a guaranteed start? Assuming it drains the battery too much I'd leave the oem glow plugs in and wire them to a switch while the grid would go on the key..

The most important thing is the battery, must be good enough to crank and handle the pre-heat (whichever it is).
And to have winter grade diesel in the tank always helps

With windchill we were having temperatures down to -40. While windchill doesn't affect the tractors all that much, it just cooled them down to ambient a lot faster.
My yanmar (sc2450) had a hard time starting with the glow plugs and with a battery tender, but after two hours with a block heater started just fine in the -30c we were experiencing..

Still doesn't compare to the deutz that had absolutely no problems starting without any help. (The little light that turns off and says that you are "ready" to start took a while to turn off. Around 25-30 seconds though while usually it's only on for 5-10 in any other cold it's been exposed to. Heck the light barely even turns on when it's -15c (5f). Let us know what you end up doing and how to help others who may be looking to upgrade their kiotis

 

[npalen]

My Mahindra 3015 (30hp) has the heater grid in the intake line as well as glow plugs. It's a tractor new to me so 40 deg. f is about the coldest starting so far. The preheat light comes on for 3 or 4 seconds and then fires right up.
My Kubota B9200, for a comparison, with glow plugs only would need 10 to 20 seconds of glow plug prior to starting at that temp.

 

[sawmillman001]

Thanks again, shui5612, and npalen...much appreciated.

More info on my rig: My cold start problems started in spring weather (approx +10 to +15C). I first changed the fuel filter (and yes, using winter diesel) plus installed an electric fuel pump as my dealer had previously warned me that the OEM pump was prone to failure, and to go electric.
I mistakenly thought that i had cured the problem as the issue seemed to go away. (Turns out it was the warmer weather that had improved starting for awhile).. Starting better but not quite right.
Come fall weather and temp. drop to about +10C, it refused to start again. Plugging motor heater in for 2 hours didn't help, so I used a heat gun to heat manifold near to glow plugs, and engine started. (I never thought at the time, to use the heat gun in the incoming air hose).
I don't always have electric plug in as an option, as the tractor is stored at a bush camp using generator power.
So that's why I am looking for most reliable option for preheat.
And yes shui5612, I agree with your suggestion re air preheat first,with option to manually turn on glow plug heaters.

 

[Ken Mac]

I have a Cummins Dodge and two diesel tractors. Only the Kubota has glow plugs, but all 3 start well in cold weather, which here is 25 degrees F. I've heard people on here suggest using a hair dryer to blow warm air into intake, assuming there is 120 volts available.