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all the tricks for cold starting a diesel

My vote is the espar or webasto
Get the timer and you will love it. When I was looking at them they were around $1500. Seems pricey but it will save you money on wear on that engine. Check the batteries upgrade them to more cold cranking amps, change to 0W40 or 0W30.

Keep in mind you also may have a problem with the intake heater, you might want to do some testing to that system as well. Those system have relays, timers and elements burn out so that would be worth checking out.

Other than pull out the comapart and put in a CAT:D
 
block heater and a small house space heater. we get older diesel mercedes getting towed in from a mountain resort due to not starting. open the hood, place the heater under the hood and let it cook for about an hour, also a block heater.

you say no power? buy a small generator. you will save a lot more money than replacing cables, starter, flywheel, batteries. it will start right up. thats all I can tell you. go heat it up a couple of hours before you have to go, after a while you will figure out how long it needs to pre-warm up. If that engines warm and in good condition it will start right up.
 
We run iron in Alaska all winter long and have determined the Fastest and easiest method is to Disconnect the heater grids and use starting fluid. Good batteries and synthetic engine oil will help it spin over faster. We hook up the heater grids in the spring when it's 30f and warmer. The setting around for 30-60 minutes while any type of heater warmed things up was WAY TO EXPENSIVE! It still has to warm up once started, bad enough. If on a budget, thats the best. If you can scrounge up the $1000ish bucks, the desiel coolant heaters like posted are better. Most can be programmed to come on before you get there. Set the timer before you want to start, she'll be ready!
 
My vote is also for the fuel fired heaters, we ride down there alot and by the way used to use them on the older 12 valve dodge pick-ups.....................who wants a cold truck in the AM!.......
 
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I work in the gas patch and the exhaust hose works great for frozen pipes, you can get around 500F coming out of the hose plus it is moving air so it will heat up a larger area. We buy the hoses from the local hydraulic store, which would be a good place to buy the parts for the heater hose connection too. It would be a cheap way to heat it up. Other than the price of fuel that you would be using, if your doing all this you could add a dc to ac power source under your hood and plug the block heater in too.
 
I never use ether myself, But someone showed me a trick using a rag soaked in gasoline wrapped around the air intake of my backhoe that started up. Same results as ether, but not so damaging to the motor.
 
Thing you can do now:
1. Change oil to 5W-40 SYNTHETIC diesel oil like rotella t synthetic.
2. Good Batteries, new if possible.
3. Treat the fuel with an anti-gel or get #1 diesel in it.
4. Cylcle the grid heaters 2-4 times before turning it over. On my truck
you turn the key on, let wait to start light go out, turn key off repeat,
might be an 'ignition' or 'start' switch on a comercial diesel.
5. Cover up the engine compartment to keep the residual heat in over night
when you shut it down to help start the next day.
Using these tip I've got my cummins/dodge pu to start after sitting 3 days unplugged at 30 bellow.

Things to invest in an 'Espar' or 'Webasto' diesel fulled engine heater, runs
when the units off but check how much battery draw don't kill the batt's
with it. Ive also seen propane fired coolant heaters you light up 15-20 mins
before starting, probably better option if you let it sit for a few days because of the battery draw of the diesel fueled engine heaters.
Good Luck, Thaks for Grooming .we Love our Groomer Operators!:beer;:face-icon-small-coo
 
mountainbigbull said:
You might be thinking HUEI which was in the later E's and the yearly G's and ya if there is a cool breeze they would be hard starting.;)
Click to expand...

No, No I am thinking ACERT and a 627G's . We had to put our Early E's back to work to keep production up while the G's were warming up.
 
if you can swing it buy the espar heater , will pay done the road
in engine life! have proved it time amd time again on a fleet of
rental equipment , 855 cummins takes about 20 minutes and the temp.
gauge is starting to move, uses next to no power and fuel , we've
used them for years and never had one fail yet , get the timer if waiting
is a problem. still alot faster than boosting and ether , and doesn't take any effort, push the button and go. also check batteries and use 5w40 oil.
 
I have a 2001 dodge ram with the 5.9L cummins, stock it started fine. I have it cranked up to 550 hp 1200 tq. It don't like to start under -10f. I took the air intake plenum off and drilled and taped a 1/4ntp hole. it has a plug in it all the time unless it don't fire. If it don't fire i pull the plug and put a barb nipple with a hose and spray wd40 while cranking and she fires up. Another thought.......
 
mtnclmr said:
I use the exhaust trick all the time, it works great. Rev the engine up a little and it gets pretty hot. That's how I get my paver, rollers, skidsteers and whatever else started on them cold montana mornings!
Click to expand...

Do you guys actually pave in Montana that cold? Here in CO we don't pave below freezing, usually has to be 40 F and rising.

On another note, my 7.3 Powerstroke has a slight oil leak, around one of the sensors, I think. If I go to synthetic, will it get worse?
 
silverram323 said:
I have a 2001 dodge ram with the 5.9L cummins, stock it started fine. I have it cranked up to 550 hp 1200 tq. It don't like to start under -10f. I took the air intake plenum off and drilled and taped a 1/4ntp hole. it has a plug in it all the time unless it don't fire. If it don't fire i pull the plug and put a barb nipple with a hose and spray wd40 while cranking and she fires up. Another thought.......
Click to expand...

That's a pretty good idea. This is on the last elbow on top, that is downstream of the heaters, right? I was gonna mention the wd40...basically atomized diesel and propane, and a lot less harsh than ether. I like the valvoline premium blue synthetic 5w40, recomended by cumins, tested by TDR. Cycle those grid heaters...

Lots of good ideas here, good luck,
John
 
vmaxfrank said:
.....On another note, my 7.3 Powerstroke has a slight oil leak, around one of the sensors, I think. If I go to synthetic, will it get worse?
Click to expand...

Yeah, It very well might. The viscosity of the synthetic oil tends to allow it to seep past seals and gaskets a little easier. However, running synthetic oil will tend to "rejuvinate" hardened seals after some time.

I had an older Porsche and couldn't run Amsoil as it looked like an oil can exploded under the car. Strangely enough, running the same weight Mobil 1 it didn't leak nearly as much. Tends to suggest the Amsoil had better lubricity maybe....


Also, I certainly wouldn't recommend letting any diesel idle at low idle rpm for an extended time (5-10 minutes). Wetstacking will occur and will wash the cylinder walls of lubricants and dilute the oil with fuel. Most rigs and even newer pickups have a high idle feature for extended idling, use it.
 
Ether, providing you know how to use it properly. Less wear and tear.

Cummins used to have compression releases, which were good only if you had top notch batteries.

On another note, nothing better than a pony motor to start a main engine when its cold.
 
Cover it with a tarp and use a propane torch(weed burner) to warm it that's what we do. If you think your fuel is gelling change the filters and blend your fuel 50/50 with some number one diesel. Try parking it so that the radiator is pointed away from the prevailing wind it helps some.You may also look at the fitting on the bottom of the fuel tank and possibly change it to a larger fitting I've seen ice crystals hang up on tractors and changing the fitting helped tremendously
 
I_boondock said:
attachment.php


http://www.webasto.us/press/en/am_off_highway_heaters_1150.html

A bit of an investment, but it's always ready to go. Other companies make similar products including Cummins. We use them on big side boom wrecking cats that can't be plugged in but have to be ready to go on a moments notice.
Click to expand...
Bumping this one back to the top for anyone wanting to prep their diesel trucks/groomers for this winter.

Also going to throw this one out there:

Espar Coolant Heaters
 
You can build a small coolant tank out of 8" line pipe about a foot and a half long, cap the ends of it, and weld one inch collars on it, and plumb it in with hydraulic fittings.Then you weld another 8 inch pipe to the tank at one end, at a 90 degree angle. This is just a place to stuff a tiger torch in. It will look like a big "L".

Then you hook it up with quick couplers, same deal as mentioned in previous posts.

I used this for years to start Cat 3412s, and 3406s, on Drilling rigs in -30 to -40 celsius weather. Takes about 20 mins. Also its a good idea to warm up the fuel filters, pump etc with torch etc. you don't neet to burn the unit down, just wave the torch over then a few times.

Hope this helps
 
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