Starting a Cold Deisel ??

[Gordon Gould]

I can remember my uncle building a fire under the old d-8!! Gotta watch for oil leaks, and keep it small. Go eat breakfast, come back and try again!

Yup, I've heard those stories and I am sure it is still being done. My problem is if I get a fire going out in the woods I like to sit near it and don't feel like working anymore.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Thank you very much for taking time for the detailed info. I am just learning about this machine and it helps a lot. I stuck my answers to your questions in down below, Hope it works.

gg



Very

I should have mentioned using the starter for 10-15 seconds.

 

[MHarryE]

There is definitely a difference in diesel engines so there is no standard answer that covers all. We produced a combine model that was a hard starter at anything under 40F, so ether was standard. It was thermostatically controlled so the ether would inject when coolant was below 40F and would inject a specific spray volume only while the engine was cranking. Also I have been involved with several different diesels where we needed high idle for cold starts. We stated in the book that the operator should throttle back to low idle as soon as the engine started and began running even (all cylinders firing). Not unusual at all to have rough running on a cold start, firing and turning over for a few seconds and dying. My Kubota tractor will start in 20 - 30 degree weather without using the preheat but it runs rough at start so I use the preheat at anything below 40. My Cat mini-excavator, however, needs glow plugs at anything under 70. In that way it is the hardest starting diesel I have ever run but after heating the glow plugs for 10 seconds this morning at 27 degrees, it fired right off and ran smoothly.

 

[RaydaKub]

If the tractor has glow plugs, don't use the ether. It will ignite from the glow plugs which is not what you want. Also, use ether sparingly. I didn't know better when I was a kid and used too much. Blew the top of the muffler off. :laughing: Fortunately, that's all that happened.

 

[D7E]

Starting the D7 in -20c

 

[CharlieS]

WD40 works almost as well as either without the inherent danger of engine damage. In moderately cold temps its effective and provides a little cylinder lube at the same time.

 

[California]

WD40 works almost as well as either without the inherent danger of engine damage. In moderately cold temps its effective and provides a little cylinder lube at the same time.

I read that the WD40 formula changed a few years ago, and the present version no longer has the volatility to help starting.

 

[Gordon Gould]

Thank you all for the good input. I did not run it today. It was a warmer morning anyway. My plan is to get the ether injection system running but I need to figure out what kind of canister I need. I don't think it is one of those screw in cylinders.

Starting the D7 in -20c

Maybe I should make a sled I can pull with a snow machine or my tractor that I can put a portable generator, heater, and charger on. Just to be ready.

 

[JoeL4330]

yep, with no glow plugs or intake manifold heater, ether is your cold weather friend ...make sure your fuel is winterized (as it normally would be in your area... if you bought it in the winter) I would add an anti-gel/cetane raiser (like power service in the white bottle) to the fuel.

As for oil, I would make sure I used synthetic and you can go lower than 10W30 ...say, 5W40 in a synthetic or 0-something or other (but be sure you changed the oil in the spring.

Old time Maine-iacs allegedly drained the oil into a pot, built a fire, warmed the oil and their coffee, and poured the oil back in. If you have electricity, I would keep a batteryminder on the battery (and/or heating blanket) and a droplight under a (non-flammable) blanket over the engine will help surprisingly well ...If you have electricity and a "torpedo" heater, you can take the cold soak out of an engine, when you are ready to start. And, speaking of cold soak, starting first thing in the morning is a lot harder than past mid-day, depending on the solar gain where your machine is parked.

If no electricity, you might consider taking the battery inside with you and putting the trickle-charger on it.

As for how long you can/should crank, it's a function of the duty cycle of your starter ...certainly less than 60 seconds at a time, with time to cool down in between cranks ...but don't be too conservative: the combustion ignition of a diesel works better the longer your crank (within limits as stated above).

And, all else failing, if it's going to be well below zero (-10 and below) overnight and you are going to need your machine in the early AM, you can simply let it run ...machines in the arctic run all winter (check coolant, fuel and oil) so that they never cold-soak (and, if they do, it's time to tow it into a heated structure or wait till spring.)

 

[eray1066]

I worked in the mountains of Colorado in the 1970's. Starting the Allis Chalmers tracked bucket loader was a time consuming task. First we hooked up jumper cables to get the battery ready. After 15-20 minutes we would throw a rag over the intake and hit it with ether. If it did not catch before the battery was too tired to go on, it was repeated in 1/2 hour. Not too productive.