starting a cold diesel engine??

Mtractor

Member
I have been told a heat gun put in the intake will
make a diesel engine crank better is that right? If
so how long on say a 0 degree day ? I know i can get
a block heater but i am just wondering . I dont like
to use either but have when I needed to .
 
Yes, heating the intake manifold of a diesel will help. In fact my Case 730 diesel still has the original factory electric manifold heater. It really helps but when the temp gets very cold even that is not enough. I use the torpedo/space heater to heat the whole engine if I really need to get it running.
 

Heating the air is what glow plugs do, so the heat gun should work, as long as iy provides enough heat, you'll have to find out.

Many diesel engines have glow plugs, some really need them and some don't. Some diesel engines dont even had glow plugs, the 5.9/6.7 Cummins doesn't it has an intake grid heater but its purpose is more for cold start smoke. My M35A2 ( duece and a half ) has an actual diesel fired intake heater, it injects diesel onto a glow plug in the intake tube above the turbo.
 
The grid heater on a 5.9 Cummins I guess is just
for smoke because when its 30 below zero you won't
get er started to get smoke without it . Unless
you got the block Heater plugged in. Or a snort of
ether
 
What will also help a lot is running a thinner synthetic oil, at for winter temps. Also a good, strong battery, good cables and starter too. Diesels fire on heat generated from compression, if it can turn over faster in cold weather it will start easier.
 
(quoted from post at 00:29:21 12/21/14) I have been told a heat gun put in the intake will
make a diesel engine crank better is that right? If
so how long on say a 0 degree day ? I know i can get
a block heater but i am just wondering . I dont like
to use either but have when I needed to .

It is not likely to make any difference in cranking. The engine and oil will still remain cold. It can help in starting since because of warm air entering the cylinders will make it easier for compression to increase the temperature enough to ignite the fuel.
 
If you have electric go with a block heater . You can even put a timer on it to kick on an hour or two before you need it. Your batteries and starter will thank you.
 
I want to make sure I understand this, I have seen it posted on here before; put a heat gun in the manifold. Are you saying to disconnect the pipe or hose running from the air cleaner to the manifold and put the heat gun directly into the manifold? OR, are you saying to take the precleaner off and put the heat gun in the precleaner pipe? The first option I would be concerned about getting the connections back on tight with no air leaks, the 2nd option, you would have to get the air filter warmed up before any heat gets to the manifold. What am I missing here? You know that it's diesel and they don't like cold starts, so a good block heater is standard equipment for any diesel that is going to be used in cold weather. I think I would get some charcoal and build a fire under it for a couple of hours to warm it up before I would mess around trying to disconnect the intake system. NO electricity? Hook the block heater to a generator fer a hour or 2 and then start it up. I use a diesel to plow the driveway in winter, if they are calling for a big snow, I plug it in before I leave for work or else the night before the storm hits. Be prepared. Chris
 
The heat coil in the Olivers is the same principle Chris. I don't know about your 1850s,but mine will start 99% of the time in the winter with just that pre heater without plugging it in. I never tried heating an intake from the outside,but I'd think it would help.
The one that works best though,is the Thermostart in the 1365. That one ignites fuel in the intake. I've started that one right down to about -15. When it's real cold,I leave it burning for 5 to 10 seconds after the tractor starts.
 
The John Deere cranking engine exhausts through a heat exchanger in the diesel air intake. Those tractors from the late fifties started very well in cold climates and all of mine still will start when very cold.
 
I would install a block heater. We tested cold starting on military vehicles to -65F. The best starting was a Soviet vehicle with what looked liked twin Chrysler engines. It has a gas fire coolant heater and the oil pan was shrouded and the heater exhaust heated the oil pans.

We preheated for one hour and both engines started easily. We cold soaked for another 24hours and the coolant heater quit after about 10 minutes and we attempted another start. Both engines started easily using the same Diehard batteries. We never got the M60 Tank started at-50F. They pulled the power pack (engine & trans mission) still wouldn't start. The soldiers said they used ether in Korea, once they had a tank started they backed the rear of that tank to rear of another tank and blew that exhaust into the engine. Hal
 
Thinner, yes. But what does an oil being called
"synthetic" have to do with cold-cranking. A 10W
at 0 degrees F viscosity oil will result in the
same cranking speed, regardless if it's called
conventional or "synthetic." Many oils sold as
"full synthetic" have no synthetic oil in them
anyway.
 
There were many tractors that came OEM with intake-manifold air heaters. Case, Ford, Allis Chalmers, SAME, etc. I never had one yet that seemed to help much. If you are concerned about cold starting -why on earth don't you just install a good tank heater? Installed correctly they work great as long as you don't have some odd-ball air-cooled tractor.

It's the combustion chamber, or precombustion chamber that needs to get warmed up. Pretty hard to do from the outside blowing hot air into the engine unless you use a lot of heat and do a lot of cranking.

My neighbor has a big air-cooled Allis-Deutz. He uses a portable salamander type heater to get it to start in the cold. Just blows hot air onto the engine fins and in 15 minutes - gets warm enough to start.
 
(quoted from post at 04:46:57 12/21/14) If you have electric go with a block heater . You can even put a timer on it to kick on an hour or two before you need it. Your batteries and starter will thank you.

As will your oil pump and lubrication system!
 
Block heater, battery blanket and battery tender. No sense fooling around with ether and a hot air gun.
Real Class IV synthetic oil will still pump at temperatures where mineral oil won't.
Amsoil, Mobile 1, Lubrication engineers and Royal Purple.
 
glow plugs are set in the pre combustion chamber as to come down along side the inj and some fuel is sprayed on the hot plug and this stars the fire they do not heat the air to any great degree
 
(quoted from post at 21:29:21 12/20/14) I have been told a heat gun put in the intake will
make a diesel engine crank better is that right? If
so how long on say a 0 degree day ? I know i can get
a block heater but i am just wondering . I dont like
to use either but have when I needed to .

I started a diesel useing an industrial strength heat gun held close to and played directly on the intake manifold from end to end on a 0 degree day.Took a good 15 minutes but it lit right off on the next start attempt.
Best solution is: 1) a block heater or tank heater,2) glow plugs or 3) a thermal start system.
 
The point is,is that when you crank the engine over it is sucking in warm air and will help starting much like a glow plug warming the combustion chamber.also if you don't have electric for a block heater the heat gun is not going to help either so a propane torch works well in that situation.and no I wouldn't take the whole intake apart just take pre-cleaner off pretty easy usually.
 
also in experience with synthetic oil I don't use it unless I plan to use it in that engine for the duration of it's life.once it is run in a engine they don't like to go back to conventional always seems to make lifters or something start tapping.
 
There is onIy one good answer to starting any dieseI in subzero weather.
Iet the thing sIeep in a heated shop or garage and save yourseIf aII the agravation.
 
As others have already stated, the block (coolant/tank) heater is the best solution. I run a little Massey Perkins diesel all winter and you know it gets cold here in Sask. In all honesty it starts better in winter than it does in summer if I plug in the block heater for an hour or so. That 1500 watt heater has the block warm to touch in an hour or less.
 
My AC D19 has a heater in the intake manifold. I've never seen that it did anything but run the battery down.

I installed a block heater between the water pump and engine block. After being plugged in for a half hour, a laser thermometer will show the block and cylinder head temp at well over 100 degrees.

I hardly ever use the tractor in the winter, but it's nice to know I can if I want to.
 
If you must start that diesel engine then the best method is to heat the entire engine . It will take some doing but if the engine is warm the oil will flow quicker and the engine will last much longer. A combination of block heater and a dipstick heater will be better in very cold weather because the engine will start and the oil will circulate.
I have covered the engine compartment with a tarp and put heat under the pan and had some good results but you need to use caution that nothing catches on fire.
 
I know my intake heater works, if I push in on it after the engine starts it will stop smoking immediately. JD 4600 with block heater in a shed out of the wind, always pugged in when below 0 for at least an hour, always starts immediately!
 
Both of my diesels start SOOO much nicer when I plug the block heater in for a couple of hours beforehand. They start like it's July.
Rarely do I start one in winter without plugging it in first but when I have I kinda felt guilty to be grinding on the starter for so long and then listening to that poor, cold engine rattle and clank when it did fire off.
 
My 1030 Case has factory electric manifold heater. Also has a block heater. Anything much below 20 degrees and I leave the block heater plugged in, hit the manifold heater for a few seconds and it starts right up. Had to replace block heater this fall and the paperwork that came with it suggested that 830 and up should have two of the block heaters. Lots of cast iron to heat up.
 
(quoted from post at 10:12:22 12/21/14) My 1030 Case has factory electric manifold heater. Also has a block heater. Anything much below 20 degrees and I leave the block heater plugged in, hit the manifold heater for a few seconds and it starts right up. Had to replace block heater this fall and the paperwork that came with it suggested that 830 and up should have two of the block heaters. Lots of cast iron to heat up.
I only have one heater on my 2090 and it warms up that big 504 cubic inch engine quite well. Starts on one turn. If you need a fast warm up I guess two heaters would be good but for long term, say overnight plugged in, I'd rather have a single, lower output heater.
 
(quoted from post at 11:29:29 12/21/14) a dipstick heater.

A dipstick heater is an over rated device. at 90W-100W the thermal output is minimal. That much heat on such a small surface tends to locally over heat and coke the oil.
Even a 300W magnetic heater stuck on the bottom of the oil pan is on the low side of being effective heat.
 
Hi
Stop messing around and get a block heater on. warming the air in the intakes about as much help, as blowing either up where the sun don't shine when your tractor won't start!.
if air cooled you can put a heater in under the cooling fan shroud, we did this on air cooled belarus and some Deutz had them as well.Its kinda like a household water heater element from what I remember and the cord/ element plug in socket comes through the housing so it doesn't melt.
I am currently working on a Belarus 5490 motor for a guy. it dumped the liner seals out, was the start of the job. He commented the block heater might not of be working since last winter, well yeah the plugs burnt right off it at the heater!.
He has been using either and starting in - 20oc and lower with no heat.

The head studs are all stretched due to either as the head was slack , and when I took the rod bearings out they are scuffed and the white metal smeared . looks to me it didn't like being filled with either and started that cold. the main bearings are exactly the same, so pretty well in framing the motor now!.

Somewhere I heard once there is a figure as to how many hours 1 way below freezing cold start takes off a motors life. I think it was around a 500- 1000 hours a time, according to the guys that figured it out.
Regards Robert
 

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