Trouble Starting my B9200

MMH · Jan 21, 2011

My B9200 has been sitting outside. It's been cold lately (single digits at night up to mid teens during the day). I tried starting my B9200. Would hold the glow plugs on for 60 seconds, then crank. After two or three tries, it caught and would run (very rough & slow) for 5 seconds or so. I thought, good, it will catch & run next time. But, it did the exact same thing. Tried again 4 or 5 more times with identical results. At this point started thinking that the battery was beginning to get drawn down, so I hooked up some jumper cable to my truck. Heated up the glow plugs & cranked & it caught & ran.

Confused why it finally started. I hooked up the jumpers 'just in case' but did not think that anything would happen. I was figuring that either the glow plugs were not working or my fuel gelled up. Could it have been a week battery all along?

BrierPatch · Jan 21, 2011

It could have been a weak battery. The faster you can get it to turn over the better.

Does your 9200 have a decompression knob? Black knob on the left side of dash oppisite of red stop pull knob. It connects to a lever on the back/ firewall side of the valve cover. The cable on mine was frozen from sitting outside and I had to open the hood and reach in and actuate it manually while trying to start.

Using the decompression and adjusting the throttle really helped my old B7200. Sometimes it would still take a couple of attempts to get it going to where it would stay running on its own. Sometimes when it would start to slow down like it was going to die I would give it some more glow plug to keep it going or when it started to fire on its own I would immediatly go back to glow position on the key since it doesn't shut it off. I was just careful to not run the glow plugs too long.

If your glow plugs were not working it probably would never have fired with the temp being in the teens. My old 7200 needed the glow plugs even in the summer to start. Was the element on the dash glowing. I believe it won't work if the glow plugs are not working, but not certain.

Good Luck.

MMH · Jan 22, 2011

BriarPatch,

Thanks for your informative post. I learned allot more about my tractor than the question that I asked. To answer your questions:

- I believe that it may have been a weak battery, but this is just a gut feel. On the other hand, it did not seem as if the first engine was spinning over that slow. By the 7th or 8th try, it did slow up.

- I do not even know if mine has a decompression knob. I'll look - thanks for the description & telling me where it connects on the valve cover. I have a rod on the right side which is the stop rod. My tractor is in slightly rough shape. I assume that it used to have a red knob on it. EDIT - I just checked & no decompression knob.

- I tried adjusting the throttle while it was trying to start. The sequence would go like this. Hold glow plugs on for 60 seconds. Crank over. The engine would catch and run slow/rough for three seconds. Black smoke would come out of the exhaust. Would add more throttle, but this would no difference. The engine would run progressively slower and after two more seconds, die. I could smell plenty of unburned fuel in the exhaust at this point.

- I agree that the glow plugs must have been working, at least initially. I was not checking if the glow plug light was on at first, but did look if it were lit as I had trouble starting. I did not see it, but then again, I normally have trouble seeing it. On my B9200 you have to look down in a hole. I only remember seeing the light on once, but I only have had the tractor for a month. I just checked if the light would come on & don't see it on. I guess that means that at least one of the four glow plugs, the glow plug relay, or the glow plug indicator light is not working. It did try to start, so that rules out the relay and also tells me that at least two glow plugs were working. Could I have been holding the glow plugs on too long? Will this 'burn out' the glow plugs? Every starting attempt would begin by me holding the glow plugs on for 60 seconds?

I guess that I need to invest in a service manual. Until I do, can someone give me some instructions on how to check mine for proper operation?

moship · Jan 22, 2011

MMH,

Do you have a voltmeter to confirm electrical power? You'll need one to confirm what is going on with the glow plug circuit.

My neighbor has the same tractor that I do all the repairs for him. The glow plug indicator on his wouldn't illuminate (glow red) and made starting difficult in the winter. Simply loosening and retightening the connector at each glow plug was enough to ensure electrical continuity. Yes they were all tight, but after 25 years there was enough surface oxidation to prevent good electrical continuity. Another area of concern with his was at the key switch if I remember correctly. The wire connector was a bit corroded. Simply cut the old one off and soldered a new one on. I do not believe in relying on crimp connectors for long term durability. There is no telling if this is your problem or not, but I wanted to give you some easy things you could try at zero $'s. On older tractors it is worth cleaning each electrical connector by at least disconnecting and reconnecting each joint including all grounds.

If I get a chance, I'll ask to borrow his repair manual to see what all is in the electrical circuit and how to test the glow plugs. I believe glow plugs can be checked by measuring the resistance between where the wire connects (heavy gauge solid wire) and ground. An open circuit will be a clear indication of failure. Just remember to remove the wire from the glow plug first.

Please keep in mind I am not saying this is your problem, but is something you can check to rule out the glow plugs being a contributor to your hard starting problem.

It can also be a fuel or fuel delivery issue. Diesel fuel absorbs moisture and this can lead to problems if the fuel is not turned over frequently. I've learned this first hand when algae grew in my fuel. If I don't use my tractor for a while, I'll drain the tank and put fresh fuel in it. Most places that accept used motor oil will take it. Also keep in mind winter diesel fuel is blended differently to aid cold weather starting. Again changing fuel is relatively cheap and easy to swap out.

Good luck and it may be a few days to get the manual as I値l be very busy this weekend.

BrierPatch · Jan 22, 2011

Holding the glow plugs for 60sec. was not uncommon for my old 7200 in cold weather. I used the throttle kinda like a choke, but not constant, I would just give it some extra fuel for a few seconds and then back to just off idle. If you could smell the fuel and had black smoke coming out I would say you had enough or too much fuel.

The glow plug "light" on your dash is actually like a heater element. It is not a light. When it lights it is actually glowing red/orange hot and takes a little bit for it to heat up enough to be able to see or you need to be in a darker area to see it.

I don't have my WSM anymore (it went with the tractor) so I can't look up the circuit for the glow plug, but I think I posted for some else the starting procedure out of it. I will look up the old post.

BrierPatch · Jan 22, 2011

Here is the link to my old post. However I got to thinking if your 9200 does not have the decompression then it would be different than my 7200. I thought the 9200 was very similar to the 7200, but maybe not. I guess maybe it is the 5200,6200,7200 that are pretty much the same and the 8200,9200 are diff.

Good Luck.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...200-cold-weather-operation-2.html#post1560846

MMH · Jan 22, 2011

We'll I'm thinking more & more that it was a combination of COLD & battery that was not 100%.

I removed the bussbar & checked the resistance of the glow plugs - they all were between 1.5 - 2.0 ohms.

I also replaced the fuel filter. I could not believe how filthy it was!!! I just bought the tractor & have not had a chance to check all things. I also added Power Service to the tank to make sure that the fuel was not gelling up.

Finally, I bought a magnetic block heater. Next time it gets really cold, I will put on pan & plug in for a couple of hours before starting.

varmint · Jan 23, 2011

I know that my B8200 is cold blooded, and required at least 45 seconds of glow plugs to get started when it was cold (32 or less) even with Power Stroke, and still would run rough or die for several attempts... but the block heater I installed fixed that nicely. I use a Harbour Freight battery maintainer in the winter, and that seems to be helpful... it was less than $5 on sale, and works well, as far as I can tell. Now, my tractor starts right up like it was summer outside the barn.

npalen · Apr 13, 2012

Needing a little info on cold starting a B9200 that I'm looking at buying but have not seen in the flesh yet. Does turning the key switch counterclockwise and holding activate the glow plugs?
Thanks

RobertN · Apr 13, 2012

It should, like the B8200. When I had my B8200, I would hold the key like that, and count slowly to 10. That was usually enough.

npalen said:
Needing a little info on cold starting a B9200 that I'm looking at buying but have not seen in the flesh yet. Does turning the key switch counterclockwise and holding activate the glow plugs?
Thanks