Small reservoir above intake

[Berdo]

Attached is a photo of the engine of my 155D. It’s running great, but I noticed this small reservoir. I have no clue to its purpose. It’s dry/empty. Should there be something in this reservoir? Does anyone know its purpose?

Thank you.

 

[ptsg]

That's used to help the engine start in cold weather. Basically, you put diesel there, then you usually turn the ignition switch turning counter clockwise to activate that heating element, then diesel from that little reservoir starts pouring on top of it and ignites as a flame, finally, you start the engine and it pulls this hot air so it starts easier.

These days, we got glow plugs or intake grid heaters. But other engines used the same style as yours back in the day.

 

[Berdo]

That's used to help the engine start in cold weather. Basically, you put diesel there, then you usually turn the ignition switch turning counter clockwise to activate that heating element, then diesel from that little reservoir starts pouring on top of it and ignites as a flame, finally, you start the engine and it pulls this hot air so it starts easier.

These days, we got glow plugs or intake grid heaters. But other engines used the same style as yours back in the day.

ptsg: Thank you very much.

 

[Razzmatazz]

My Yanmar YM1700B had one of those. Living in South Alabama, I never needed it.

 

[California]

Yanmar calls it Thermostart. I think it was originally a Perkins patent and used on Massey Ferguson, then licensed to many other brands. The heating element looks like a big spark plug, threaded into the intake manifold. Replaceable at about $15 when it eventually burns out.

An old thread describing this.

 

[Tinhack]

My Ford 3910 has that, but it's fed by a T off the injector return line to the tank. The line is the reservoir. The Thermostart part above has a valve that opens when heated by the 12v element inside. I don't think there's an actual flame. Rather the hot diesel is drawn into the intake for easier starts. The blackening of TS is simply from heating the diesel. Like heating oil in a hot fry pan.

 

[California]

 

[Tinhack]

Yeah, I saw that picture. But wasn't that after 15 seconds or something? Mine never needs more than a few seconds to start on just hot diesel. You don't need a "flame" to start the tractor. That just means your burning the fuel before it gets to the cylinders. That's hard on the Thermostart module too--It burns the heater coil out.

 

[California]

I thought proper procedure was wait 15 seconds for the 'pop' as flame starts then let go of the key. But not needed most of the time.