Starting diesel tractor in cold weather

[oosik]

My tractor will sit out in 10F to 15F weather for 30 to 45 days without being started. Its in an unheated, three sided carport stall. However, I put Power Service in my diesel & have a battery tender on the battery all the time. It has always started right up. I let it warm up for 30 to 40 minutes and then off I go.

 

[3930dave]

I misread. Looks like he said his pickup is gas not the tractor

Happens... sometimes I think I've found a great deal, then realize I just mis-read the decimal point

Rgds, D.

 

[George2615]

Looks like the ops tractor is gas not diesel.

In his first paragraph he says its an IH684 diesel. The last paragraph he's talking about a gas pickup.

Oops, looks like you figured it out before I replied here.

 

[ovrszd]

My old (1984) Ford diesel tractor won't start in cold weather without plugging in the block heater. No glow plugs. Not sure about the OP's tractor in regards to Glow Plugs??? My Ford cranked right up today after 3 hours of being plugged in.

Any diesel tractor that doesn't have Glow Plugs, and/or is parked in a cold environment, should have a block heater or very good tank heater. And it should be religiously used. So much easier on the engine.

 

[Deere Dude]

Yesterday afternoon I went to give the cows a bale of hay (a round bale). It was about 18 degrees here in Kentucky. I have a 1985 IH 684 diesel parked in a pole barn. I plugged the tank heater in, came back about an hour later and it would turn over slowly but would not start. Pretty soon, the battery would not turn it over at all. I gave the cows some square bales and then went and got the battery charger and put it on for awhile. I unplugged it before going to bed. It was still charging at a 4 amp rate, according to the meter on the charger.

So, I have two questions. How long should I plan to leave the heater plugged in before trying to start it at lower temperatures? I realize that battery capacity is seriously degraded in lower temperatures, that is why they are rated with "cold cranking amps". But, would it have been ok to leave the battery charger on overnight? Would it harm the battery?

The pickup is having difficulty starting lately (it is gas) and I plan on putting the charger on it for awhile before starting it this afternoon. Just to warm up the battery.

I would make sure the battery is checked for CCA and fully charged.

I would leave the battery charger on all night if you can. Battery tenders can stay on all the time and some regular chargers can stay on for long periods of time, they just don't charge after a certain point.

I would plug it in an hour early and see if it is warm around the heater. It might be burned out. My first diesel truck was plugged in at work whenever I could make that happen. It always started but sounded like a two cylinder truck for a few minutes. Ten years later I bought a new truck and plugged it in and there was a monster difference. The first truck never worked from new.

Try to make sure the glow plugs are working.

Hopefully it is one of those problems, but could even be the fuel.

 

[Tomtint]

I have a Cat 246 diesel.. it takes a few cranks to get it fired up when it is 0*... it's 0-5* here now with -10--15 windchills and -5 overnights. This morning it was 1* and my sander motor was frozen and would not turn over. I had to pull it into a garage and put a torpedo heater on it to thaw it out. I think it was the starter itself that froze up. .. took about 20 minutes to thaw before it would turn over.

 

[motownbrowne]

If you need to start it up daily during the winter, you could put the heater on a timer. Set it to run for 2-3 hours before you're gonna want it. Then when you're finished, plug it back in so it'll be ready for the next day.

 

[TheMan419]

Sounds like battery or heater (or both) are needed.

 

[jbrumberg]

In temperatures in the single digits I pre-heat the tractor's engine block heater and a hydraulic filter heater for ~ 3hours. I have yet to install the battery heater pad I recently purchased. It appears the battery does benefit by the 3 hour pre-heating as it is positioned close to the radiator. I use #1 Diesel fuel in Winter with fuel additives as directed. A double "load" of additives kept my diesel fuel clear to 0F/1F with this recent arctic cold front. I checked in the subzero temperatures this AM and I my remaining fuel/additive "mix" in my "5G" jerrycan hit cloud point somewhere between -7F and -10F.

According to my recent cold weather research one can use a 12V battery charger to warm the battery.

 

[Erik M]

Yup, time to check the battery and add a diesel fuel conditioner and if you can plug in a block or coolant heater with a battery blanket you will likely make things easier.

My JD 2440 has been recently overhauled and has outstanding compression and will start in the cold Ok but it starts so much easier when the 1500W coolant heater is plugged in for 30-60 minutes that I don’t do cold starts in winter to reduce engine wear. The battery has a warming blanket so it performs much better than a cold soaked deep frozen battery will.

While I could park it in a field and start it well below freezing, it just isn’t needed and I want to keep engine wear to a minimum. Most of it happens in the first 2 minutes of start, especially when cold soaked.