In order to participate in the GunBroker Member forums, you must be logged in with your GunBroker.com account. Click the sign-in button at the top right of the forums page to get connected.
diesel engines and real cold weather don't work good
danielgage
Member Posts: 10,588 ✭✭✭✭
my diesel tractor and diesel truck don't want to run in this cold weather
0 degree weather this morning in the teens now
I run Howse Diesel treatment and usually it works good but we don't usually get this cold
what do you cold climate guys use in your diesels?
Comments
Synthetic engine oil
#1 fuel oil if you can get it, usually they just have what they call "winter blend"
Engine block heater
GOOD batteries/cables/connections.
A sniff of ether if it's that cold.
Back in the days of old, you could cut the diesel with gasoline in extreme cold. 20%-25% gas.
Power Service. Double dose if 10* and lower, never failed me yet
The old tried and true method is to cut the diesel with 25% kerosene. My tractor and UTV start every time even with extended 0 degree days.
All good to cut with kerosene in farm or off road vehicles.
It is red, guess what if DOT catches you with red fuel in your on road stuff? SOL
Winter blend diesel fuel and a block heater works wonders.
Winter blend fuel from the gas station. Or #1 fuel
My power stroke started right up at -26 f Sunday.
that maybe the problem we didn't have #1 diesel here or winter blend
#2 is what we have around here I believe
they run fine most of the time but 0 degrees we don't see hardly ever
handful of times in my lifetime maybe
I almost had to walk today but finally the powerstroke finally warmed up or burnt the water out of the diesel or quit gelling I reckon
even the little dogs were outrunning me
I park my Ford PS and feeding Kubota tractor in an enclosed garage. They started just fine.
I grew up on a farm in Iowa. My dad fed cattle and hogs, so it didn't matter if it was 100 degrees or -25 degrees, we had to feed the livestock. In the winter, the tractor, John Deere 4430, was always parked in the shed, filled with #1 diesel and plugged in. A shot of ether from the built in injector and it was usually running. On the really cold days sometimes it took an hour or so of running a Knipco kerosene heater in the shed blowing on the oil pan to get it started.
Winter blend fuel. Block heater.
also kept in pole barn.
"what do you cold climate guys use in your diesels?"
certainly NOT Howse
Previously used Power Service but changed this year to Schaeffer fuel treatment. Tomorrow will be the first really cold test of how that works. The old idea of cutting #2 fuel with kerosene or heating oil is bad news for many newer fuel pumps and injectors.
the old man that ran Northeast Arkansas Diesel that I knew many years ago. Told me to use Howse diesel treatment so he wouldn't ever have to rebuild my injector pump and it has worked good for me so far.
this in-climate weather just has changed the usual
maybe I need to double up amount of treatment for below zero temperatures
Power Service, next door diesel mechanic told me to use it, says he can tell on every engine he works on whether they use it. Works for me.
Lubricity is the big factor as is compatibility with certain internal pump parts.
Many, many Roosamaster pumps were ruined by using the wrong type of fuel treatment or using kerosene/heater oil to dilute #2 diesel.
I remember when my dad use to put a capsule of "either" in one cylinder in really cold conditions to start the engines!
I plugged my bus in and it got down to 11deg. one night. I didn’t know that the gfci had tripped. Fortunately, she started right up. It has a Mercedes Diesel engine that’s 15 years old.
I have always wondered how the Russians were able to do so well with their T-34s when the Germans had so much of a problem with their gas engines?
My little Kubota 3 cyl. 24 horse has a block heater. I was told by the service guy when I bought it new to only plug the heater in for just an hour before starting. Not to leave it plugged in overnight. I have followed his advise these past 5 years and also found that even if I plug it in for just 20 minutes the tractor starts up with no problems and the temp gage reads warm. The same if plugged in for the whole hour.
I did ask why only an hour and no more, and was told that lengthy heating put a strain on the block heater.
"rattle like a concrete mixer full of tin cans,"
That is what some of us call "hammer start" which is when the motor makes the sound of hammering on cast iron. Do you all know what the biggest cause of wear on diesel engine internals is caused by?? COLD STARTS.
Getting the engine warm enough to start has NOTHING to do with having oil pressure or flow during the initial start up.
Not just a diesel engine, the big boys say that 80% of wear on any engine is caused at cold start up. Even if it's a summer morning at 70°, that's still cold startup.
finally got the tractor running good today
water in the fuel I believe
I changed both fuel filters
Seafoam, Howes and a new battery
man that was aggravating
moved snow for three hours so maybe she's good again
Had to jump start my kubota to feed cattle the other day when it was minus 7. Now it’s in the garage with the wood stove and it starts great . Saves a lot of wear and tear on them not letting the oil and fuel get that cold
it got cold enough the 2019
ford didnt even sound so good when t started . It wasn’t in the heated garage either .
Don’t shut it off.
My John Deeres have "pre/post-lubers" on them. A small oil pump that draws oil from the pan and sends it through the bearings for 30 seconds before start-up to get oil to the moving parts and for 90 seconds after shutdown to cool the turbo bearings.