What does your tractor start like in cold weather?

[Katahdin]

That's a great idea, but I hope your friend has a coolant filter inline with his hoses. I've seen some nasty looking coolant sludge come out of old engine blocks.

 

[2Buckslake]

That's a great idea, but I hope your friend has a coolant filter inline with his hoses. I've seen some nasty looking coolant sludge come out of old engine blocks.

Yesterday it was 7deg. where I live In IL. I have both> a 1500w block heater & an oil pan heater. Plug them in, wait an hour, and it starts up like it's summer outside. Now, if I try and start the engine with the glow plugs only in this cold of weather, it will start up, but the engine will smoke & hunt until it warms up a bit. I'm kinda maintenance crazy in the way I take care of my NH tractor, so putting both heaters on my engine will keep it running smoothly for years to come! Cheap insurance, just like changing the oil before it really needs to be done per the mfg's instructions. Oil is a lot cheaper than paying for expensive engine repairs due to lack of maintenance.:thumbsup:

 

[TomSeller]

Here's ingenuity for ya.. a friend of ours has an old Case, I think its a 685, with hydraulic quick connects on the cooling system. I forget exactly where they are but... he starts his truck, drives to where the tractor is, a couple miles, plugs the quick connects on the truck's hoses into the tractor and warms it that way! Not sure how good the hot coolant is for the cold block, but he's had no problems yet..

Sean

I wonder if he has a 12V pump, or just lets the smaller hydraulic hose limit the flow so he keeps his truck circulating. That is a good idea at remote properties without electricity like one of mine.

 

[wmonroe]

Here is a pic of the sticker on my valve cover, I was wrong before when I said the timing was 8* btdc it is really 10.25*. I'm waiting on my new cold start video to upload and then I'll post it.

 

[Chilly807]

Here is a pic of the sticker on my valve cover, I was wrong before when I said the timing was 8* btdc it is really 10.25*. I'm waiting on my new cold start video to upload and then I'll post it.

Interesting.. yours is turbocharged, right? I remember seeing one that was 17-18 degrees, the same as mine, but that may have been a 4240.

Sean

 

[wmonroe]

Interesting.. yours is turbocharged, right? I remember seeing one that was 17-18 degrees, the same as mine, but that may have been a 4240. Sean

yes it is turbocharged but the timing is retarded because of the egr/emissions. I believe 50 hp was the cutoff for egr, the lower hp models don't have it.

 

[wmonroe]

Ok here is my cold start video from this morning. It was 5* in the barn and about -1* (Fahrenheit) outside. It stumbled and smoked but I am very happy with how it started, so anyway here is the video.

Oh and sorry about the video being sideways, i turned my phone part way into the video and didn't realize what I did till later.

http://youtu.be/72u-i9GmzmA

 

[TomSeller]

Ok here is my cold start video from this morning. It was 5* in the barn and about -1* (Fahrenheit) outside. It stumbled and smoked but I am very happy with how it started, so anyway here is the video.

Oh and sorry about the video being sideways, i turned my phone part way into the video and didn't realize what I did till later.

http://youtu.be/72u-i9GmzmA

Started up in a heartbeat. Nice. A little chugging, but not much considering 5 degF

 

[xring100]

First of all, I know the term "cold" is relative. There's cool, cold and downright chilly!!

There's been some discussion in other threads about the starting characteristics of some of the Kubota indirect injection engines, so I decided I'd start this thread so we can all see what people are talking about.

My '09 L3400 has always been what I consider to be a good starting diesel.

Here's a video of my L3400 this morning in my garage at 40* F. That's the garage temperature, it's heated enough to keep above freezing but that's about it..

5 seconds of glow plugs and turn the key. You can actually hear the click when the glow plug relay energizes before the engine cranks. I notice a little more "whine" in the starter at colder temps, and a bit harder "fuel knock" but not much other than that. I moved it outside, I'll let it sit for 3-4 hours and do another start video later at colder temperature. It ran for maybe 2 minutes this morning, so it certainly won't still be warm later today! It's -15 C here this morning, cool weather for early January by our standards. I don't like doing cold starts any more than I have to, normally I'd plug the block heater in if it was sitting outside. Not that it won't start, but it's easier on everything starting a warm engine.

So, let's see what yours is like.. let the video cameras and smoke roll!!

Sean

At 40°F My M8540 does not even consider it cold enough to fire the glow plugs and starts just fine. The glow plugs Don't engage until it goes south of 32°F 0°C What does the manual recommend no sense burning up the plugs if they don't need to be used?
I've started down to 0°F and no block heater with no issues it was a little grumpy for 5 seconds or so. Typically I use the block heater if it goes into the single digits and have started at -8°F -22°C with no issues or grumpiness.

I have no control over the plugs they do their own thing based on coolant temperature. Ive Never had to cycle the plugs more than once.

 

[rayclar]

For thirty years i started my jd skidder from the heater hoses from my gmc truck and never had any problems as long as you didn't rev the truck. It would push the prestone from the skidder. Plug them together and let the truck idle for 10 - 15 minutes (if not too cold) and away she would go with a little snort of ether. The jd was designed to be used with ether.