Detroit 3-53 hard start

jbshocks

Member
I have a hough h30 with a DD 3.53 in it. For the last 40 years it has needed a tiny squirt of ether to get it going when it is below freezing. This last year it has gotten to where it needs a squirt even if it is above 50 for the first start of the day. When it is cranking it puffs white smoke until it fires. This thing has never cranked over super fast at least not like my jd350. i have see modern gear reducer starters and have considered getting one in hopes that it spins faster and maybe starts easier. Any thoughts? Do these usually spin faster? Does faster spinning make them fire more easily? Other possible causes?
 
Roll up a newspaper and light it on fire and hold it where the air intake can inhale the heated air from the flame.
 
Like all diesels, cranking speed is imperative.

Perhaps the cranking system needs attention, e.g., battery, cables, connections, starter, etc.

Dean
 
Well it is like this she is getting plum wore out and since it has had a diet of EITHER SHE GO OR EITHER SHE BLOW more then likely she had broken rings and wore out liners and lacking proper compression , bad injectors , valves not seating right / out of adjustment an yes your starter is not turning it fast enough .It has been now what 45-46 years since i have worked on a Detroit . Been around them since 1961 and from the start they were and engine that was always needing work not real long life , Did not have any lugging ability as long as you could keep them screaming and not have them drop more then 500 RPM they were ok . The company where i started my working life had spare engines setting and ready to pluck one out and drop in a spare then it would be rebuilt and tucked away in the far back bay . And engine would go down a call was made a spare was pulled and off to the job site and two guys could make the swap in half a day . we had rebuilt from 2 Cyl on up to a V16 in the 53- 71 and 110 . I ran 238 and 318 's in semi's and we were lucky to get over 100000 miles on one . My one friend and could rebuild one half of a 318 in and evening then do the other side the next and not miss out on a day's work .
 
(quoted from post at 08:14:38 09/24/21) Well it is like this she is getting plum wore out and since it has had a diet of EITHER SHE GO OR EITHER SHE BLOW more then likely she had broken rings and wore out liners and lacking proper compression , bad injectors , valves not seating right / out of adjustment an yes your starter is not turning it fast enough .It has been now what 45-46 years since i have worked on a Detroit . Been around them since 1961 and from the start they were and engine that was always needing work not real long life , Did not have any lugging ability as long as you could keep them screaming and not have them drop more then 500 RPM they were ok . The company where i started my working life had spare engines setting and ready to pluck one out and drop in a spare then it would be rebuilt and tucked away in the far back bay . And engine would go down a call was made a spare was pulled and off to the job site and two guys could make the swap in half a day . we had rebuilt from 2 Cyl on up to a V16 in the 53- 71 and 110 . I ran 238 and 318 's in semi's and we were lucky to get over 100000 miles on one . My one friend and could rebuild one half of a 318 in and evening then do the other side the next and not miss out on a day's work .
I would not say it is a steady diet of ether. Probably 10 times in the last 40 years. This is actually a pristine loader. It was just a few years old when my grand father bought it and it has been garage stored since and used for hobby digging in warm weather primarily. I would have to check the hours but I can't imagine it is wore out. I think I will start with replacing the battery cables and see if I can spin it faster.
 
The most logical starting point is a by-the-book tune
up. The only special tools you will need is an
injector timing pin for your particular engine ( as will
be stated in the manual , height in inches) or you
can use a depth micrometer. Also need a gauge to
reset fuel modulator if it is turbocharged. If after all
this still starts hard, remove the air box covers and
check for stuck or broken piston rings. Poke the
rings with a blunt instrument and they should feel
springy to be serviceable. Stuck or broken rings will
be also darker in color from no pressure on the
cylinder wall. With the fuel off, have an assistant
crank the engine while you have your ear at the
exhaust, to listen for leaking exhaust valves.
Hard starting also occurs if the fuel system has a
tank below the fuel pump to where fuel is draining
back into the tank. Smoke should appear very
nearly immediately at the first start attempt. If no
smoke within a couple seconds of cranking, check
the anti- drain-back valve for wear, or it may have
sucked something out of the tank and the valve is
stuck open. The above is assuming the injectors
are not toast and the electrical system is up to
snuff.
 

Only takes one snort of either to break rings .
What is the voltage across the states WHILE cranking ?
The early 53s with the S series components were lousy starters . Need N series pistons and sleeves . C45 injectors . The updated springs on both the cam followers and exhaust valves .
Blower needs the new drive shaft seal update.
All bearings require replacement and clearances checked or oil pressure will be low .
The crank snout will probably need a speedy sleeve to bring it back into spec .
 
(quoted from post at 13:15:42 09/24/21)
Only takes one snort of either to break rings .
What is the voltage across the states WHILE cranking ?
The early 53s with the S series components were lousy starters . Need N series pistons and sleeves . C45 injectors . The updated springs on both the cam followers and exhaust valves .
Blower needs the new drive shaft seal update.
All bearings require replacement and clearances checked or oil pressure will be low .
The crank snout will probably need a speedy sleeve to bring it back into spec .

Out of curiosity, If ether is such a bad thing, why does the factory offer an optional ether injector kit?
 
Ether is not necessarily damaging but improper application can well be.

My father was a field engineer for GM Truck and Coach for over 30 years. He knew more about Detroits than anyone else that I have ever known.

I once watched him start a 671 in a GM road tractor at about 30 below F by dripping a few drops of (then) drug store ether into the blower inlet after the owner (a personal friend of his) had tried fruitlessly
most of the morning.

Dean
 
While doing the checking have the emergency air flap ready to trip if needed as they are easy to runaway with themselves. Check for any drain back in the fuel lines and connections. With lines that old if they are the old flexible fuel hose good chance they could be leaking air through them while setting overnight or in low use periods. I have had that on old trucks with that cloth braid fuel hose. Filters with cans not sealing if the filters were changed lately and of course the little fuel pump be low on volume or pressure to the engine.
 
I'm with Dean. Look at your electrical. I have a 1660 Case combine with the Cummins engine. Bought it used and PO put new batteries in it
without asking me (I wanted it switched to a pair of 6 volts when I got the chance, he bought Deere batteries also arrgghh) any way I suffered
with that for about three years and finally switched batteries and found the pos cable was green at one of the battery terminals. Fixing that
helped a little but still usually needed a jump in the morning esp in corn.

Last year middle of corn wouldn't turn over at all. Pulled the starter and then pulled the cover BINGO commutator was a mess. Put a CNH
rebuilt on spins good now.

As we all know you need to spin up a diesel to light it coz it depends on compression to light the charge. One other trick I use from a old
Cartalk puzzler is the crank the engine for a bit maybe 6 to 12 revolutions and let it rest for a bit, this lets a bit of heat build in the
castings, I know not much but I feel it helps, seems to me they light a bit better without running the battery down.

JM2CW YMMV

jt
 

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