Chains Cold weather starting a diesel

[Gary Fowler]

Our old Ford 9000 came factory installed with an ether system and no glowplugs. In Louisiana this wasnt a problem as all but the coldest days it started without ether. It had a little push button on the dash that shot the ether into the manifold. A can holder was mounted on the engine block and small tubing about like a WD 40 spray tube ran to the manifold. They must still make something like that. A one second shot was all it took. 2 seconds would lock up the motor till it evaporated

 

[John_in_TN]

Everyone needs to remember that some diesels have grid heaters in their air intake system. A shot of either onto a hot grid heater can spell EXPLOSION!!!

 

[knightrider955]

I agree with knightrider955. They wouldn't have made it a 'factory installed' item if it wasn't beneficial.
My Yella Fella groans like a bear in hibernation without a whiff, and jumps like a puppy with it.

The bad thing about ether was that it dried the cylinder walls so there was no lubrication at startup. Modern starting fluid has lubricants in it so this is no longer a problem. And the new starting fluids arent quite as "wicked" as the old stuff.

 

[blueriver]

Cold starts is the one thing I dislike on my Branson 5530 ... if it drops below 50 degrees this girl is hard to start. It has glow plugs and I even cycle them 3 and 4 times and still hard to fire.

I have checked the buzz bar ... it stays on for 25 seconds each cycle. I guess I need to pull the glow plugs and make sure they actually are working.

 

[RaydaKub]

Ether was a great thing in it's day, but for any tractor with glow plugs (i.e. newer tractor) the ether can ignite in the intake manifold instead of in the cylinder. That's not a good thing. For an older tractor, by all means go for it. Just be gentle. I blew the top of a muffler off once with it. Thankfully that was all that blew and the engine was fine.

 

[knightrider955]

Ether was a great thing in it's day, but for any tractor with glow plugs (i.e. newer tractor) the ether can ignite in the intake manifold instead of in the cylinder. That's not a good thing. For an older tractor, by all means go for it. Just be gentle. I blew the top of a muffler off once with it. Thankfully that was all that blew and the engine was fine.

Yeah Ive shot a 3 foot flame out the muffler of my tractor before. Less is more when it comes to ether. On a tractor with glow plugs its better not to use the glowplugs and just fire it up with the ether.

 

[hydro2]

Has anybody had much success with a magnetic block heater?

 

[George2615]

Has anybody had much success with a magnetic block heater?

I just replied to another post about this. I had one. Unplugged it and plowed snow. Parked tractor and went to plug it back in but it was gone. It fell off while plowing and didn't find it till spring thaw. Others have said the thermal heat transfer is not that great. I use an inline lower hose heater which was the cheapest and fastest method to install for me.

 

[grsthegreat]

Has anybody had much success with a magnetic block heater?

nope...i have 2 of them that i tried...did nothing. I have a 3rd that i am using on my whole house generator and that works ok...cause it only holds about 2 quarts of oil.

id sell the other 2 on ebay...but i dont think anyone would bid on them

 

[DAY]

Remember, the newer machines are very different from the old timers. Anyone still driving a car with a hand choke?
Granddad started his tractor by advancing the spark, and then using the hand crank. And HIS daddy got the equipment going with a bucket of oats and a lap of hay!

 

[hydro2]

I just replied to another post about this. I had one. Unplugged it and plowed snow. Parked tractor and went to plug it back in but it was gone. It fell off while plowing and didn't find it till spring thaw. Others have said the thermal heat transfer is not that great. I use an inline lower hose heater which was the cheapest and fastest method to install for me.

I know this method works best, I just hate the thoughts of cutting into a new heater hose!!!

 

[Pete Judd]

Won't use ether on anyone of my diesels other than the old detroit that has an ether cup on top of the bower. Ether, will bend rods, and unseat rings. in most modern diesel engines. A hair hairdryer can preheat can heat the intake, to get most diesels going.

 

[Jerry/MT]

My newly acquired diesel tractor has no cold weather starting aids. No pre-heater, no block heater. With my other tractors I spray ether directly into the air intake, but on this one the intake is buried up under the cowl. I've been spraying through the grille, but it doesn't seem to be very effective. Has anyone done some kind of home grown mod to allow ether to be sprayed directly into the intake stream? The manifold and rubber hose from the air cleaner is somewhat accessible, is there some slick way to install some kind of port for spraying ether in?

I'd strongly recommend a block heater. Two hours on and the tractor will start on the first roll. It makes it easy on the engine and they are relatively cheap(~$30 for your size tractor). All you need is access to electricity.
If there is a tapping in the intake manifold, you might be able to install a Thermostart unit. It uses fuel and a heated grid to preheat the intake air. I have one on my Ford 4610 but it's only good down to around 20F.

I used a torpedo heater to blow warm air under and around the engine block to start before I got a block heater and that works also. I tried a blow drier and it didn't work for me. It might work on a smaller engine than 201 cu in block.

I hooked my block heater to a timer that goes on two hours before I feed. After disconnecting the heater it starts on the first roll and I'm off to feed.

 

[devildog1]

I'd strongly recommend block heater. Two hours on and the tractor will start on the first roll.

This is the best advice, I do the same, two hours before when cold and engine starts instantly.
DevilDog

 

[dixstir]

I would never ever put that stuff in my tractor use a block heater .when I was shop forman at a IH dealership we put a new engine in a truck and the guy went to start in on a cold day just to see if it would start so he give it a shot and bent the rods and cracked some pistons then he called to tell me it wound not start so we went and picked it up to find out he sprayed it bang another new engine I think he learned his lesson lots of dollars wasted .no warrenty .

 

[orezok]

Remember, the newer machines are very different from the old timers. Anyone still driving a car with a hand choke?
Granddad started his tractor by advancing the spark, and then using the hand crank. And HIS daddy got the equipment going with a bucket of oats and a lap of hay!

More likely he retarded the the spark so he wouldn't break an arm. Too much advance and that sucker will rip your hand off!

 

[RickB]

If you have a TSC store around there you might inquire about a block heater. For around $75 and an hours labor, your cold-start problems could be over. With a block heater installed, that little block will heat up enough in 30 minutes at zero degrees to start easy.

OEM block heaters are a lot less than $75. TSC often gives the illusion of lower prices. Sometimes yes, sometimes not so much.

 

[CTPhil]

I'd like to install a block heater eventually, I have one in a freeze plug hole behind the starter on my 2600. That seems to be a good way to go, but unfortunately on my 420 the loader frame makes installing one quite a project.

 

[tony Cecil]

The truth of the matter is that if the starter is a good starter, and the battery is good and strong, with very clean fittings, and it can vigorously turn the engine it`l start....Our very old deere , for years didn`t have a good starter (although it sounded good) and I gave just a very little ether and it cranked right up...When I got the entire wiring harness new battery and starter, it would catch very quickly unless it was very cold...I thought it possibly had become addicted to ether, but `no` just needed to turn over vigorously..Tony

 

[RickB]

I'd like to install a block heater eventually, I have one in a freeze plug hole behind the starter on my 2600. That seems to be a good way to go, but unfortunately on my 420 the loader frame makes installing one quite a project.

A working thermostart unit coupled with a little patience can be a great help. However a working thermostart and use of ether can be a disaster. If you have fuel available at the thermostart unit and power is supplied when the key is in the preheat and crank position, replacing the unit is easy and inexpensive and can be very helpful starting the tractor down to the single digits if starter, cables, battery and engine compressuion are up to snuff. It is good practice to disconnect the electrical wire from any type of manifold heater (thermostart or grid) when ether is used.