BX1500 Angry When Started in Cold Weather

[BXAK]

I have owned a BX1500 for a few years here in Alaska. During the winter I warm the engine with a torpedo heater for about 30 minutes before start and this usually results in the engine starting like it would on a summer day.

This year however it is colder than usual, already well below zero Fahrenheit in mid November. I'm noticing that while the tractor starts easily it is extremely loud and blows black smoke for the first 30 seconds and then runs fine. Even if I have the throttle set to minimum, it seems to start at full throttle in this scenario.

I'm running 15w40 Rotella T4.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thank you

 

[Smokeydog]

You would be a good candidate for Rotella T6 5W-40 full synthetic. Sudt2 in hydraulic/transmission?

 

[mikester]

Rad hose heater would be my first choice, frost plug block heater my second. Grill bra for sure.

Full throttle at startup doesn't sound right. Do you leave the tractor stored outside in the elements?

 

[Roadworthy]

In addition to the above, check your air cleaner if you haven't cleaned or changed it since last summer. It sounds pretty basic until you experience problems as I did. Then you become a believer in checking air filters even if you think they're clean.

 

[5030]

They all start at wide open fuel rack no matter where the throttle is set, how they all work, Mine bang and clang a bit and smoke too and they are 100% cold started. Nothing to be concerned about. What you hear is combustion noise.

 

[BXAK]

You would be a good candidate for Rotella T6 5W-40 full synthetic. Sudt2 in hydraulic/transmission?

I couldn't find any Rotella T6 in town but I got some Mobil 1 5W-40 Heavy Duty Diesel oil. Going to try that. Running SUDT2 in the HST.

 

[BXAK]

Rad hose heater would be my first choice, frost plug block heater my second. Grill bra for sure.

Full throttle at startup doesn't sound right. Do you leave the tractor stored outside in the elements?

Tractor lives in a garage. I've tried to install both the heaters you recommend but they were pretty much impossible to get on the BX1500. Really wish I could though.

 

[5030]

Get yourself one of those 'Kats' magnetic oil pan heaters and use that. They work quite well actually.

 

[5030]

I couldn't find any Rotella T6 in town but I got some Mobil 1 5W-40 Heavy Duty Diesel oil. Going to try that. Running SUDT2 in the HST.

Just as good. I don't use SUDT myself. I use Chevron All Weather THC synthetic. For me, when it's really cold, it seems to flow a bit better plus it's dyed orange so you can see it easily. Probably use 4 times as much as you do. Normal fill on my transmissions (I have 2 identical tractors) is just under 14 gallons a fill, including new filters which I always change when changing gearbox oil.

I change mine yearly but I farm with mine so they get used pretty hard and unlike motor oil, gearbox oil don't 'color' up so if it's good or it's shot, you have no way of knowing other than doing an oil analysis on it.

 

[5030]

My buddy has a fleet of 56 trucks and he uses Mobil in all of them.

 

[JWR]

Tractor lives in a garage. I've tried to install both the heaters you recommend but they were pretty much impossible to get on the BX1500. Really wish I could though.

The heaters that splice into the radiator hose are the best I think. The warm water circulating catches everything of interest except the fuel lines. You need the 50/50 mix of #1 and #2 fuel of course. The radiator hose type heaters normally go in the lower hose but surely can be installed in the top hose which I think would be accessible in your BX1500. Have to make sure the thermostat is open somehow.

 

[North to Alaska]

Get the John Deer Plus 50 0w40. Craig Taylor has it in stock at a decent price. I went from a factory fill 15w40 to T6 5w40 last winter which made a huge difference. However I will be switching to the 0w40 shortly.
Also, do you have a 75w90 synthetic gear oil in? I assume it takes a 90 weight gear oil. Huge difference between that and a 80w90 in extreme cold. 80w90 is basically a sticky grease at these temps.
Craig Taylor also has the winter low viscosity synthetic hydraulic fluid. That made a big difference in the cold too. My FEL moves a lot faster and takes considerably less time to warm up enough. The motor didn’t want to stall when I shifted to a higher range with this hydraulic fluid like the factory fill did.

Interesting is some of these specialty cold weather fluids are actually cheaper from John Deere up here.

Finally, I recommend the Valvoline synthetic grease. Cheap and exceptional cold weather properties. Get it out of Autozone.

My 2 cents
Edit: just seen you are running the good hydraulic fluid.

 

[Smokeydog]

Some members have upgraded their BXs to a B type fuel filter over the OEM in-line filters for improved cold weather use. Doesn’t take much water to block a filter.

 

[Thunderfish]

Get yourself one of those 'Kats' magnetic oil pan heaters and use that. They work quite well actually.

Unless it has a aluminum oil pan like my ZL2202 .

 

[5030]

You need the 50/50 mix of #1 and #2 fuel of course

Interesting comment as in, in 30 years, all of mine have gotten a steady diet of number 2 off road and never mixed squat. I do add Power Service winter blend however at the recommended dosage (and biocide of course). never had a start issue. Cold starts are more dependent on a good and fully charged starting battery than anything else.

They sit in an unheated barn when in use and are never plugged in (my cab unit has a never used block heater, factory installed). The seal is on the plug and been that way for 20 years.

 

[JWR]

Interesting comment as in, in 30 years, all of mine have gotten a steady diet of number 2 off road and never mixed squat. I do add Power Service winter blend however at the recommended dosage (and biocide of course). never had a start issue. Cold starts are more dependent on a good and fully charged starting battery than anything else.

They sit in an unheated barn when in use and are never plugged in (my cab unit has a never used block heater, factory installed). The seal is on the plug and been that way for 20 years.

So you no doubt live and operate in an area which EITHER never goes below 10 or 12 degrees F OR one which is so predictably cold that your fuel suppliers treat the fuel seasonally. Starting is not usually the issue but rather running a few minutes later. Fuel will gel in the lines even when the engine is toasty warm unless treated or mixed with #1.

Nuisance issues often arise in borderline areas where no one knows with any reliability whether the fuel has been treated for cold weather or not. In northern VT (having travelled from warmer climes) I recall plugging in a VW diesel overnight and it started just like warm weather next morning at around 10 below. I drove it about 1/4 mile before it chugged sputtered and quit. Locals pointed out to me that the heavy equip users all mix #1 and #2 up there in cold weather. In another case I left home in the 20's and 150 miles later topped a mountain where the thermometer said 10 degrees. Began to sputter & chug and made it mostly downhill to the next station where I added #1 to the tank. Newer cars I'm told have line warmers from the tanks to the engines.

 

[Rob41]

Lots of great heater suggestions. I'd give those magnetic heater a try.

 

[5030]

So you no doubt live and operate in an area which EITHER never goes below 10 or 12 degrees F OR one which is so predictably cold that your fuel suppliers treat the fuel seasonally. Starting is not usually the issue but rather running a few minutes later. Fuel will gel in the lines even when the engine is toasty warm unless treated or mixed with #1.

Nuisance issues often arise in borderline areas where no one knows with any reliability whether the fuel has been treated for cold weather or not. In northern VT (having travelled from warmer climes) I recall plugging in a VW diesel overnight and it started just like warm weather next morning at around 10 below. I drove it about 1/4 mile before it chugged sputtered and quit. Locals pointed out to me that the heavy equip users all mix #1 and #2 up there in cold weather. In another case I left home in the 20's and 150 miles later topped a mountain where the thermometer said 10 degrees. Began to sputter & chug and made it mostly downhill to the next station where I added #1 to the tank. Newer cars I'm told have line warmers from the tanks to the engines.

Not really. It's 14 here right now and I've seen -45 here but then I'm not fiddling with anything that has an engine at those temps anyway. I'm inside toasting my feet in front of the woodstove. Live in Michigan, it gets cold here and when it is, I'm not outside anyway.

Far as fuel goes, I buy mine in bulk yearly, usually in the summer, have a 500 gallon bulk tank so any winter treatment is questionable. Like I said, all they get is either summer or winter blend Powerservice and BioKleen Biocide which I add to the bulk tank when I have it filled. Nothing else and I've never had a gelling issue.

My issue with mixing in No.1 (Kerosene) is more of a lubricity issue than anything else. ULSD is lubricity defficient from the get go and my tractors aren't new, why I use Powerservice in the first place. I'd say at 6000+ hours and 2500+ hours I'm just fine. Just had the 6000+ hour unit in for an overhead adjustment and they pop tested the injectors and checked the spray pattern all all was good. Lack of lubricity in diesel impacts the injector pintles more than anything else and mine are old style mechanical injectors.

 

[JWR]

5030 -- Understand. Makes sense. You're really getting longevity out of your tractors. I knew about the lubricity issue. What I suspect is going on is that the heavy equipment people in northern climes only care if it starts and runs OK tomorrow and if something goes wrong a shop crew takes care of it, not them. For the casual citizens and gentleman farmers and people relatively rarely worrying about operations in very cold weather -- they (including me) do this fuel doctoring so infrequently and such a small % of the time, reduced lubrication quality of the fuel is negligible.