Cold weather start problem

[ernemats]

We have had several days of cold weather lows about 5 above. Today got up to about 35 so I decided to get the 422 Power Trac ready for the snow that is to be coming Sunday, well it would not start turned over fine and would run at a slow idle for about 5 seconds then would stop , same thing happened several times. Tried with choke at different settings and same thing , to me it seems like a fuel problem. First I have had starting problem for a long time it usually starts right up. Any ideas what to check first

 

[ponytug]

Murphy strikes again. Not the time for it, is it?

The starting and then dying is suggestive to me of fuel starvation. Perhaps there is water in the fuel, even some ice in the fuel or fuel line? Have you looked in the tank? With all of the cold, water or condensation may have precipitated out of the fuel. Can you warm the engine /gas tank area up at all? Heat gun? Hot pad?

Regardless, a can of anti-icing additive probably wouldn't hurt.

All the best,

Peter

 

[m5040]

My PT180 acts the same way. It seems to me that the hydraulics start flowing in that time period and when pressure starts to build, the engine can't mange the load.

When I need to use the tractor, I put an old fashion incandescent drop light with 100 watt bulb as low as possible in the engine compartment and cover the engine hood/compartment with a blanket at least 24 hours before use. This is in an unheated building.

This will heat the engine, pumps and one wall of the hyd tank. Works for me. Just be careful with oils, gas and flammable products or use a smaller lightbulb.

 

[ernemats]

Tried again temp in mid 20's turns over fine sounds like it wants to start but no go. Put new spark plugs in and new fuel filter , checked spark and it was real strong at both cylinders , tried using starting fluid still would not start.

 

[ponytug]

Tried again temp in mid 20's turns over fine sounds like it wants to start but no go. Put new spark plugs in and new fuel filter , checked spark and it was real strong at both cylinders , tried using starting fluid still would not start.

That sounds frustrating.

Are you get fuel through to the cylinders? I.e. you smell gas when cranking? Any chance that the air intake is clogged? (Some rodent moved in?)

Any chance that the carburetor needs cleaning? (You don't have the EFI engine, correct?)

All the best, Peter

 

[jfh28]

yeah it's been getting pretty cold here too......I've got the Robin engine and I've experienced the exact same thing you have but only on hot humid days in the summer so I suspect it's a moisture thing.....do you keep your machine in an enclosed building that you can heat.......even just running an electric heater for a half hour before you start it could make a difference.......mines in a garage that I dropped one heat duct in to so it puts some heat in there (maybe 30-40 degrees) and I rarely have a problem starting in the winter......Moss posted about how he started a while ago and I've been following it and seem to have good results.....set the throttle about 1/4 speed......set choke at 1/2 and turn the key.....let it crank for maybe a little less then 10 seconds and then while it's still cranking push the choke down all the way......mine starts almost immediately then....as soon as it starts I push the choke all the way back up and you can hear the engine smooth out and get up to power.....hope you get yours started up.....why do problems always show up when there's a big storm and never when it only snows 2"?.......lol........I think someone mentioned that Robin has a "bowl" type carburetor so maybe that makes it more sensitive to moisture?.......I know I use to get a backfire when I turned it off until someone said with the bowl type push the throttle all the way up to idle and let it idle for a minute or so before turning it off and doing that seems to have solved that problem