Old trucks and cold mornings

[cs]

If you plan on leaving your truck sitting without starting for a 2 or 3 months, with nothing but fumes in the tank, don't expect it to start right away on sub freezing mornings without a little bit of persuasion.

It takes a bit of jumper cables and a bit of ether. Just ignore the frozen switch and the flames coming out of the carburator. And you may have to pump the hell out of the gas once it starts on the ether so that the pump can suck up the reminants of fuel that lives on the bottom of the tank.

Good thing about them old trucks is despite all of that they will start and run like a champ.

Chad

[Captain Blight]

You can rebuild a carburettor. Very difficult to rebuild a fuel-injection black box. Ya can't put a wrench on an electron.

[Tylerdurden]

Mine is getting close to needing to be plugged in. Its a new Cummins but one can tell it will need assistance once the temps get colder.

[mmd]

'Round here it is bad practice to park a vehicle for any length of time with a near-empty tank this time of year. With our normally frequent freeze-thaw cycles and high relative humidity, doing so is a sure-fire way to get water in the tank & gas lines due to condensation. I pretty near always keep the tank topped-up.

[Bob Adams]

Good thing about them old trucks is despite all of that they will start and run like a champ.

Chad

Must be a Japaneese truck eh? Can't be American, everyone on this forum knows American vehicles are junk:rolleyes:

[S B]

Put a manual choke on it. Spray a little WD40 into the cylinders befor cranking, cuts down on the abrasion of working a dry motor. The solvent will give you fire on the first try. The choke will suck the fumes from the carburator.

[Domesticated_Mr. Know It All]

Just roll it down the hill and pop the clutch.

[pila]

My old ('92) has never failed to start, with 234K miles on it. It's only a V6 Chev.

[Popeye]

ya , keep the tank topped up

an old trick is to turn on the headlights for half a minute and then off before cranking

[cs]

Must be a Japaneese truck eh? Can't be American, everyone on this forum knows American vehicles are junk:rolleyes:


Nope, just good old American iron.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/3055293549_90e0c10a0c_o.jpg

I don't really drive my truck much anymore. Just trips to the dump, or to Home Depot or to pull the boat. Yeah I probably need to keep more gas in it. I've used the headlight thing before, but don't think in this case it would have helped. The truck had been sitting long enough that even with a fresh battery it would need more than just a standard start.

Once I got enough juice to the battery and got the fumes flowing she started up and ran great.

Chad

[Popeye]

had a low batt one freezing morning , she would not turn over for love nor money

i managed to grab the distributor cap with both hands, and turn it back just a couple degrees , and away she went , reset the correct timing a bit later on

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

While walking the dog this morning in 27 F ( Thats what real cold is like Chad ; ) ) I put the key in the Volvo V70 XC and started her rite up. Clicked the seat warmer button and headlight, side view mirror and rear window defrost. By the time lucky finished his business and was back in the house I sat my but down on a nice toasty hot seat and placed my coffee in the cup holder tuned into NPR and was on my way to work in complete scandinavian leather luxury :)

[Paul Pless]

do try to keep it shiny side up joe;)

[Tylerdurden]

Cummins didn't start. The group 31 battery has sang it last song I guess. I just plugged in the block heater and charger and will give it a go in twenty minutes. Time for a new Battery.:eek:

I am making a new pan and will install two as I have the inverter wired in there. No worry's.

[Dan McCosh]

Try a snowplow business featuring a 1954 Dodge Power Wagon with a flathead six, at 10 below. That's starting a truck.

[cs]

While walking the dog this morning in 27 F ( Thats what real cold is like Chad ; ) ) I put the key in the Volvo V70 XC and started her rite up. Clicked the seat warmer button and headlight, side view mirror and rear window defrost. By the time lucky finished his business and was back in the house I sat my but down on a nice toasty hot seat and placed my coffee in the cup holder tuned into NPR and was on my way to work in complete scandinavian leather luxury :)

Hey Joe, if you think 27 is real cold, than you are a bigger whimp than I thought. I've been on guard duty outside on a walking post and seen wind chills of 100 below zero.

BTW you prompted me to go back and do check on the history for Saturday morning when I was trying to start the truck. The temp was between 20 & 25 F and I didn't even have no seat warmers.

Saturday Nov 22 (http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/pastweather/hourly/37343?stn=0&when=112208)

Chad

And just a note, there is a difference in a daily driver starting on a cold morning and one you have let sit for 2 or 3 months and than try to start on a cold morning. At least I was able to start it. I bet if it would have been a Volvo I would have had to have taken it apart and rebuilt it. ;)

[Popeye]

my old vw's , had bosch direct fuel injection , started every time

just turn the key , the colder the better

[cs]

Hey Joe, need more input on that cold weather your having up there. ;)

Chad

[Bob Adams]

Nope, just good old American iron.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/3055293549_90e0c10a0c_o.jpg

I don't really drive my truck much anymore. Just trips to the dump, or to Home Depot or to pull the boat. Yeah I probably need to keep more gas in it. I've used the headlight thing before, but don't think in this case it would have helped. The truck had been sitting long enough that even with a fresh battery it would need more than just a standard start.

Once I got enough juice to the battery and got the fumes flowing she started up and ran great.

Chad

You do understand I was just being a smart ass, right? ALL my vehicles are American brands, and built in the USA.

[Popeye]

no starter fluid .. a kettle of boiling hot water over the gas line just behind the carb bowl , warms up the gasoline , coupla pumps and away she goes

[paladin]

Originally Posted by Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson ) View Post
While walking the dog this morning in 27 F ( Thats what real cold is like Chad ; ) ) I put the key in the Volvo V70 XC and started her rite up. Clicked the seat warmer button and headlight, side view mirror and rear window defrost. By the time lucky finished his business and was back in the house I sat my but down on a nice toasty hot seat and placed my coffee in the cup holder tuned into NPR and was on my way to work in complete scandinavian leather luxury

Wimp!
Cold is when the no wind temp is sitting 60 below zero and the wind is close to 200 mph.....try that for chill factor...with a heater running full blast, not the engine block heater but a separate gasoline fired similar to a vw microbus PLUS the engine heater inside a non insulated aluminum Weasel....wearing Sorel arctic boots and 1/4 inch thick felt boot linings, warm flannel lined clothes plus an arctic snowmobile suit and still freezing your @$$ off....

[Captain Blight]

/\/\/\/\

Chuck,
In Minnesota we call those conditions "Tuesdays."

[Popeye]

sorry , i ain't buying no definitions of cold

i live in a moderate climate , lots of moderation from the ocean , been up north too and that ain't cold , it's dry but it ain't .. cold

you gotta be damp to know cold

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

Hey Joe, if you think 27 is real cold, than you are a bigger whimp than I thought. I've been on guard duty outside on a walking post and seen wind chills of 100 below zero.

BTW you prompted me to go back and do check on the history for Saturday morning when I was trying to start the truck. The temp was between 20 & 25 F and I didn't even have no seat warmers.

Saturday Nov 22 (http://www.weather.com/outlook/driving/interstate/pastweather/hourly/37343?stn=0&when=112208)

Chad

And just a note, there is a difference in a daily driver starting on a cold morning and one you have let sit for 2 or 3 months and than try to start on a cold morning. At least I was able to start it. I bet if it would have been a Volvo I would have had to have taken it apart and rebuilt it. ;)

I guesstimated the temp was actually 17 deg F Saturday Nov 22

[Phillip Allen]

I've heard of it being cold enough up north that gasoline wouldn't burn without warming it up...is this true and if so at what temps?

[Popeye]

same is true for dynamite and diesel , won't work if it's too cold to volatilize

there was once a famous expedition to the north , two groups of people tried to make it , one group went with machinery , tractors

the other group went with teams of dog sleds

guess which group made it ..

[cs]

The flash point of gasoline is somewhere at -97 below zero. So gas should burn and combuste anywhere above that. Problem with gas in cold weather is not the gas but any water they may be in it. If you keep your tank above half a tank you should not have a problem. For the belt and suspenders approach or if your tank is getting below half full, add gas line anti-freeze.

I can say this because I was stationed in Minot ND for over 2 years and experianced 2-1/2 winters up there. I've seen the extreme cold weather. I've been in 30 and 40 below. I've seen your windchills of 100 below. And I like none of it.

Hey Joe you are the one that brought up the comparision to cold. I guess that I thought that if you were thinking that 27 was cold that I needed to let you know we were below that when I was dealing with the truck.

Chad

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I was just fooling with ya Chad. Tenn vs NY in cold winters in not as cold as Minot ND ;) eeeew who would want to live in Minot ND anyway eeek

[cs]

Cold weather is one reason I'm ready to move even further south, I hate cold. I did find that the cold of ND was bearable, if the wind wouldn't blow, but the wind always blew and blew and blew.

Chad

[Torna]

Christmas day, ~1975, central Vermont, 27F below zero.
We must go get Grandma for Christmas dinner, but despite bringing the battery inside to warm it, charging, &c all day, the old Saab will not start. Dad tells me that the oil in the engine is about the consistency of tar - and that's what it sounds like when 'cranking'.
Finally at about 5PM my dad, in desperation, fires up the DC arc welder. My mom cranks the car, dad jams the electrode onto the battery terminal, and I slowly turn up the arc welder until the Saab cranks fast enough to start.
Grandma is fetched just fine.

A few years later we gave up on old Saab and got Toyotas - and we haven't needed the arc welder since.

-leif

[Noah]

had a low batt one freezing morning , she would not turn over for love nor money

i managed to grab the distributor cap with both hands, and turn it back just a couple degrees , and away she went , reset the correct timing a bit later on

You don't twist the distributor cap, you would need to move the whole distributor - if you twisted the cap you wouldn't get anything all all out of the thing.

[mmd]

"you gotta be damp to know cold"

I'm in agreement with that statement...

[Nicholas Scheuer]

I've been too happy with Chevy and Dodge trucks to even consider an "offshore" model.

Now Toyota is trying the TUNDRA. How many tries is it now, for competency in full-size pickups?

Last winter was my first experience with a Cummins in cold weather. It started fine all winter, and we had record cold.

Moby Nick

[cs]

I have seen folks use those big 100,000 candlepower spotlights to help thaw the ice in fuel lines so that they could get their truck started.

Speaking of damp and cold, when I was a gun chief everywhere the gun went the chief rode head and sholders out of the commander's hatch, rain, shine snow, sleet it didn't matter. Try doing a road march out of the hatch in the middle of winter while it is raining. Been there done that got the T-shirt.

Chad

[Tylerdurden]

Well I got lucky and found a new Group 31 marine battery for the truck and installed it. I checked the old one and had a bad cell. Surprised it started at all. I have to keep a sharp eye on the night temps and plug it in if needed. I have a good timer so I will wire it to fire a few hours before start time as it costs money to run the damn things.

[skuthorp]

Whe I was a kid and living in an old gold mining town in the late 40's-50's a WW1 vet with one arm called Jimmy Young had an old solid-tyred chain-driven Benz truck. He lived on top of a steep hill, and started the truck by rolling down the hill in the mornings, and I presume ran it all day till he got back in the afternoon. He carted timber, fence posts, gravel etc mostly and occasionally wool. It would get down to -5 or -7 on winter mornings, occasionally hail, but never snow.

[Tylerdurden]

I assume its possible to do with mine as it is mechanically injected but one would need enough power to hold the shutoff solenoid open. That and I am at the bottom of my first hill.:D

[Three Cedars]

1966 GMC 1/2 ton 250 6 cylinder, -28F started everytime , never plugged it in, you had to cringe a bit hearing the metal on metal for the first minute or so, Damn good engine that 250 straight six. The heater full blast didn't help at all driving west of Fort Macleod toward Pincher Creek where the wind blows most of the time , I could only do about 50mph into the wind I had every winter item of clothing on and still was chilled to the bone by the time I made it to the Crowsnest Pass. I sure liked that truck.

[boylesboats]

1966 GMC 1/2 ton 250 6 cylinder, -28F started everytime , never plugged it in, you had to cringe a bit hearing the metal on metal for the first minute or so, Damn good engine that 250 straight six. The heater full blast didn't help at all driving west of Fort Macleod toward Pincher Creek where the wind blows most of the time , I could only do about 50mph into the wind I had every winter item of clothing on and still was chilled to the bone by the time I made it to the Crowsnest Pass. I sure liked that truck.

I hear ya.... 250, 292, 350 are the greatest engines Chevrolet ever mass produced..
I am still hanging onto this baby.. Converted to electric fuel pump for quicker starts in friggin' cold winter months..
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p182/boylesboats/Truck1.jpg

[cs]

Mark one thing you might look for is a battery jacket. The Trans Am I drove when in the cold frigid north had a block heater and a battery jacket.

I get in her every morning and turn the key and the big old 455 would uuuump uuuump uuuump BAM! If it went much beyond that third uuuump you might as well get some cables. I rarely had any problems if I remember to plug her in.

BTW just as a side note, an engine needs two things to run; fire and fuel. Fuel has two parts; gasoline (or other fuels) and oxygen. With that in mind always remember to clear the snow off of the shaker scope before starting.

Chad

[paladin]

Do like Alaskans...install a heated dipstick and a headbolt heater on the engine. I had a quadravan (ford 4 wheel drive van) with a fuel fired VW type heater in the aft compartment, extended fuel tanks and extra internal insulation and a couple of radios, before cell phones. During one Iditarod race our amateur radio club supplied communications. I had my van sitting on top of Hatcher pass.....and specialized jeeps with V8's couldn't get up there.....

[S B]

Nope, just good old American iron.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3170/3055293549_90e0c10a0c_o.jpg

I don't really drive my truck much anymore. Just trips to the dump, or to Home Depot or to pull the boat. Yeah I probably need to keep more gas in it. I've used the headlight thing before, but don't think in this case it would have helped. The truck had been sitting long enough that even with a fresh battery it would need more than just a standard start.

Once I got enough juice to the battery and got the fumes flowing she started up and ran great.

Chad
I thought you said you had an "OLD" truck, fer Christ sake it still has the original doors.

[S B]

had a low batt one freezing morning , she would not turn over for love nor money

i managed to grab the distributor cap with both hands, and turn it back just a couple degrees , and away she went , reset the correct timing a bit later on
This is not something you should be telling people to do. Very dangerous, Despite warnings I used to do this with an old chevy nova, working on it's 3rd motor, until one damp day the coil went to ground, through me. Quite the smack, paralized my right arm for about 1/2 hr. Lucky it didn't kill me.

[S B]

Cold? It's that cold at Labrador city, that at the iron ore mine you will be fired for "shutting off" a vehicle,in winter.:rolleyes:

[Paul Pless]

I hear ya.... 250, 292, 350 are the greatest engines Chevrolet ever mass produced.
Ya just gonna leave out the 283, 302, 327, 400; and the 396, 409, 427, and 454???

[boylesboats]

Ya just gonna leave out the 283, 302, 327; and the 396, 427, and 454???

Oop!:D Never did owned those size of wonderful engines.. Even the faithful 366 big block truck engine...

[Tylerdurden]

Got the dad help call at 530 this morning. Son was coming home from work and the rain fell on the frozen road at the top of my hill on the S turns. He came around the rise to find three cars across the road. Took the scenic route and nosed a tree. Wasn't going much more than twenty so its bumper, Hood , grill and radiator support.:(
I got there with the fire dept and the chief wasn't going to let me pull him out. I said fine if he was going to pay the tow bill and if he would cover the damage when someone came over the hill and plowed into us. Common sense prevailed and I pulled him out and told him to drive home. Ford trucks can take a hit pretty good I would say. Of course during the rescue I did a full back plant on the ice. Multiple Tylenol later and a cuppa and all is well except for the forth coming body work.:rolleyes:
I feel better than the guy in the Toyota. He wasn't going anywhere on his own power.

[Popeye]

Quite the smack, paralized my right arm for about 1/2 hr. Lucky it didn't kill me.which is probably why it didn't , your heart is on the left

i did however advise one person , who had to work near hv electronics to do it this way , don't wear a ring , don't touch anything else, one hand only , your right .. heaven forbid if he did get a jolt by accident chances are the least damage is on the right

[Popeye]

i knew an old guy who used to hang around the marina , a retired diesel mechanic

his job was precisely that , coaxing heavy equipment , cold diesels into life, he knew a thing or two , told me once how he got diesel engines with failed starters going by using only a heavy maul or a hammer , smart guy , he saved the company he worked for literally millions of dollars over the years getting cranes and trucks fired up and running on time-is-money jobs, loading docks, in the damnedest weather

they got him a pick up truck and a gas credit card for a retirement gift , i think poor old dave passed away a few years back , shame before i had a chance to pick his brains a bit

[Popeye]

I would welcome some advice on starting an eight year old Ford Endura diesel (210,000 miles) in sub-zero conditions.

my old MD1A liked a squirt of wd-40 on cold mornings, lit up nice and smooth, no big bang like you get with ether

get the fly wheel going , drop the valve lever and poofa poofa..

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

OK, I would welcome some advice on starting an eight year old Ford Endura diesel (210,000 miles) in sub-zero conditions. I bought a new battery yesterday...:o

If the new battery spins the engine OK and it starts only reluctantly - glow plug?

After that, things get expensive or unreasonably fiddly.

[Popeye]

a little kerosene mixed in ?

[Tylerdurden]

OK, I would welcome some advice on starting an eight year old Ford Endura diesel (210,000 miles) in sub-zero conditions. I bought a new battery yesterday...:o

Fords eat glow plugs. My first guess would be to check the relay then the glowplugs. If you can park a car next to it and hose the exhaust to the engine for a while to loosen it up. Put the pipe directly under the oil pan. I assume your car does not come equipped with a heater block. You can order one but for small diesels the water jacket ones work fastest. Mount it in the lower hose.

[pipefitter]

The old Bronco I have always starts no matter what. It's just one of those vehicles. The only time it didn't was when the plug in connector on the ignition side of the coil had gotten loose with age. I looked under the hood, took the wire off, put it back on and it fired up. Even better since adding the Mallory uni-lite pointless distributor. The 85 Toyota SR5 pickup was runner up. Heck, every vehicle I have ever owned has been like that including this Ford Explorer I have now. I must be lucky.

[Paul Pless]

Heck, every vehicle I have ever owned has been like that including this Ford Explorer I have now. I must be lucky.Or maybe you know how to take care of a vehicle.;)

[Popeye]

many an old timer kept a blow torch handy in the aft locker :)

clean injectors , tight tight tight gaskets and new fuel gives better than average performance , not much more to it i have found

[Ron Williamson]

Our new-to-us loader(75 hp Perkins) has an intake heater.
It has a wee diesel injector and an element like a toaster,IIRC.
It doesn't even hesitate to start at -5C.
R

[Dan McCosh]

Our new-to-us loader(75 hp Perkins) has an intake heater.
It has a wee diesel injector and an element like a toaster,IIRC.
It doesn't even hesitate to start at -5C.
R

What's that in real temperature?

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

What's that in real temperature?

Just add 273. You'll be close enough.

[paladin]

When it turned really cold in Iceland and the VW Superbug wouldn't even turn over, I just pulled the canvas off my 1931 Essex, opened the choke, cranked the engine once by hand, pushed in the choke, turned on the ignition, and the old girl always started on the first or second flip....

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

No, I did not but a nice story.

Related, and jaw dropping. (http://www.salmonfishingforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3478#2)

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Sabbath is OK for trout.

I knew that river over forty years ago and, there and then, the salmon was strictly a tinned fish.

The next major landmark on that journey was the skeleton of what would later be known as the QE2.

Big changes.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Ygorra know where to look (http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=Glasgow+University&ie=UTF8&ll=55.869219,-4.287586&spn=0.004659,0.022209&t=h&z=16) - the Kelvin winds its way through a very pretty Victorian park - University to the north - Art Gallery to the south..

[Popeye]

might consider a block heater , standard fare in places like labrador , it's either that or you walk

different configurations , mostly they heat the coolant , another type actually heats the block , looking at about 400 watts overnight, also consider 'warm' engine will save a bit on fuel as opposed to 'cold' starts

http://www.warehouseautoparts.com/Specials/Kat/images/10417-K4N_series-02-640x.jpg

[cs]

Just for the record, I never plan on living again in a place where I have to plug my car in at night to keep it from freezing. Heck my plan is live in a climite that lets me keep the top down 24/7/365.

Chad

[Popeye]

I never plan on living again in a place where I have to plug my car in at night to keep it from freezing.

used vehicles from labrador are actually desirable , it's so cold in the winter , road salt won't work so they don't use it and the cars and trucks get less rusty

[Popeye]

i was told to avoid glasgow , so i did

saw a washed out bridge in aberdeen , it was like deja vu all over again

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://www.woodenboat.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2019238#post2019238)
OK, I would welcome some advice on starting an eight year old Ford Endura diesel (210,000 miles) in sub-zero conditions. I bought a new battery yesterday...:o

Fords eat glow plugs. My first guess would be to check the relay then the glowplugs. If you can park a car next to it and hose the exhaust to the engine for a while to loosen it up. Put the pipe directly under the oil pan. I assume your car does not come equipped with a heater block. You can order one but for small diesels the water jacket ones work fastest. Mount it in the lower hose.


Fords eat glow plugs. My first guess would be to check the relay then the glowplugs. If you can park a car next to it and hose the exhaust to the engine for a while to loosen it up. Put the pipe directly under the oil pan. I assume your car does not come equipped with a heater block. You can order one but for small diesels the water jacket ones work fastest. Mount it in the lower hose.

Most of the heavy-duty diesels I've seen do not have glow plugs or pre-chambers, but rather intake air heaters that fire off the battery. They do have plug in block heaters but those are not any good when away from AC power. And the intake air doesn't work as well as the military style flame heaters, I think. Speaking of which, one time, I did have one plugged in for a day, still wouldn't start, even with ether (I can't remember if it wouldn't fire at all, or just wouldn't run) it was well below freezing and windy, and I knew the intake air heat was on the fritz. (You're not supposed to use ether with intake heat, but I knew it wasn't working and I bypassed the heat stage during start attempt with ether.) Set up a mountaineering (camping) stove underneath (single burner, white gas, 10,000 btu), about 6" below the oil pan, I didn't want to scorch anything as the oil was not circulating. After about 90 minutes, it fired. Was so worried it wouldn't start again, idled it for hours when I had to pull over to sleep.

I have seen additives to improve cold start, cetane improvers ("cetane boost"); do they work? Also, does anti-gel for the fuel help or hurt cold start?
http://www.islandyachtingcentre.net/shop/pc/catalog/DieselKleen.JPG

[Jim Bow]

50 year old Chevy 235. Insert key, pull choke, tromp gas pedal 7 times, turn key, step on starter button.

Fires up every time.

[PeterSibley]

OK, I would welcome some advice on starting an eight year old Ford Endura diesel (210,000 miles) in sub-zero conditions. I bought a new battery yesterday...:o

No glow plugs ?

otherwise it comes in a spray can .

[paladin]

The little Studebaker 4 cyl. engine in the weasel started every time.....but I cheated.....I usually pulled a sled behind, like a little trailer....and always stuck on 3-4 jerry cans just to feed the heater....ain't nuthin' warm inside an aluminum can with the wind making 60 knots outside.

[Canoeyawl]

I have an Old (1929) McCormick Deering crawler tractor that years ago we used as a supplementary log skidder. (I haven’t started it in years) It would start on gasoline, run on kerosene and you had to oil the valves twice a day, and under severe conditions maybe three times!
This machine is crank start only and on a cold morning it was just about impossible to start unless you parked it on a hill.
When it was warm my wife could start it.

Now to begin there are little primer cups/petcocks up on top of the head and you open these and put a bit of gasoline in each then crank it. This seems innocent enough but mostly this trick would make it kick back, as it was just trying to kill you, not run.
The real trick to cold starting was finally figured out – I would prime it, crank it around slow a couple of times with the magneto off, and then stop and pull all the spark plugs. Then I would light two cigarettes (this was a long time ago), break them in half, light the other halves and drop a lit piece into each hole (four), reinstall the plugs, retard the timing, reconnect the magneto, then run around front and crank… Ka-boom, chuff chuff, chuff – finally settling into a reassuring clickety clickety-click, sounding like the worlds largest sewing machine!
Of course by then you were madly running around putting out the little brush fires that the burning cigarette bits had started...

[Peter Kalshoven]

Finally sold my quarter-million mile diesel Suburban last year. Had that thing back when we lived 30 miles from Canada. Easy to start... as long as you plugged it in. Knew it was cold in SC when the Suburban needed plug-in.
Standard equipment in a diesel... 100 foot of heavy duty extention cords and Duct Tape. We used to always get an outside hotel room on the Christmas trip home to Iowa to see the folks, crack the window, throw the cord out to plug in the diesel, and then seal the window back up with duct tape to keep from freezing.
And Chad, you know what they say in ND! 40 below keeps the riff-raff out! :)

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

I have an Old (1929) McCormick Deering crawler tractor that years ago we used as a supplementary log skidder. (I haven’t started it in years) It would start on gasoline, run on kerosene and you had to oil the valves twice a day, and under severe conditions maybe three times!
This machine is crank start only and on a cold morning it was just about impossible to start unless you parked it on a hill.
When it was warm my wife could start it.

Now to begin there are little primer cups/petcocks up on top of the head and you open these and put a bit of gasoline in each then crank it. This seems innocent enough but mostly this trick would make it kick back, as it was just trying to kill you, not run.
The real trick to cold starting was finally figured out – I would prime it, crank it around slow a couple of times with the magneto off, and then stop and pull all the spark plugs. Then I would light two cigarettes (this was a long time ago), break them in half, light the other halves and drop a lit piece into each hole (four), reinstall the plugs, retard the timing, reconnect the magneto, then run around front and crank… Ka-boom, chuff chuff, chuff – finally settling into a reassuring clickety clickety-click, sounding like the worlds largest sewing machine!
Of course by then you were madly running around putting out the little brush fires that the burning cigarette bits had started...

Poor man's glow plugs, LOVE IT!

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

Finally sold my quarter-million mile diesel Suburban last year. Had that thing back when we lived 30 miles from Canada. Easy to start... as long as you plugged it in. Knew it was cold in SC when the Suburban needed plug-in.
Standard equipment in a diesel... 100 foot of heavy duty extention cords and Duct Tape. We used to always get an outside hotel room on the Christmas trip home to Iowa to see the folks, crack the window, throw the cord out to plug in the diesel, and then seal the window back up with duct tape to keep from freezing.
And Chad, you know what they say in ND! 40 below keeps the riff-raff out! :)

I brought (2) 100'ers just in case. Was stopping at rest areas for the night, found one with an outlet for the soda machine. Only needed 100' of cord. Loses some voltage, these were just the standard orange outdoor cords, but adequate. This was mild weather, might have started, but with the intake heat busted, didn't want to take the chance.

[paladin]

I had the block heater on my quadravan in Alaska.....The day I bought it ran it over to the Sea Airmotive hangar on lake Hood, had the upholstery removed, the insides sprayed with foam, and then all the guts reinstalled.....Double saddle tanks and a rear mounted heater....walk 30 feet from the back door in my mummy suit....get in and it would start right off and warm as toast. The regular battery was replaced with an oversized gel unit, and two more batteries installed inside the van to run the little Volkswagen microbus heater when parked, and it had a couple of turns copper tubing and a header tank to keep hot fluid going through the engine. I had a Herman Nelson mounted in the back so that I could back up to the plane, throw an insulated blanket over the engine, and run the heater duct under the blanket to warm the aircraft engine....folks would not believe all that we went through up there to keep ourselves and the equipment warm.

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

I've been toying with schemes to warm the diesel block (6.6L), far away from power. Because even when the air intake heat is working, I don't think it will start when it gets near zero. Been thinking about short circuiting the cooling system to bypass the radiator on-demand (valves), and somewhere in that shunt pipe, arrange a place where I can heat the coolant with a little 10,000 btu mountaineering stove, which can run on white gas, kerosene, gasoline, or diesel fuel. And a little 12VDC circulating pump to move the liquid, that shouldn't draw much power because I don't need to move it fast. Not sure if this system could keep up, add heat faster than the cold would take it away. I would think it could because the electric block heater is 1500 watts I think, and that converts to 5,118 BTUs/hour. Any thoughts anyone? Anybody ever done this before?

[Ron Williamson]

A+ on the small generator.
IIRC,Webasto and others make engine heaters that run on diesel fuel,but they aren't cheap.
I don't doubt that a small stove with coil of 1/2" copper pipe, tied into the heater lines, would work,but where would you plant the thing conveniently,open flame and all?
R

[Bob (oh, THAT Bob)]

A+ on the small generator.
IIRC,Webasto and others make engine heaters that run on diesel fuel,but they aren't cheap.
I don't doubt that a small stove with coil of 1/2" copper pipe, tied into the heater lines, would work,but where would you plant the thing conveniently,open flame and all?
R

I would assume I would be warming it with the hood open. It's a medium duty so has a huge engine compartment with easily removable wheel wells, so I may be able to run the pipes near there with a flip-down platform for the stove. Plumbing into the radiator lines may be more difficult as they are huge diameter, but you may have a good idea, plumbing into the much smaller heater lines, I will look into that. Key is whether using those lines and a pump, whether it will circulate through the block well. One would think, given how the heater works. Perhaps I don't need to block off the large radiator lines, just cover the radiator to minimize air blowing over it. Thanks.

[Ron Williamson]

IIRC the Temro(Also ,IIRC) circulating 110 v heater that I installed in my loader, works much the same as coffee maker.It is to be installed as low as possible with no high spots in the lines.High spots catch bubbles and screw with the thermosiphon.
Since you are trying to heat the block,not the rad,you want to stay out of the rad hoses.The engine thermostat would block the flow through them anyway.You get instant cab heat, too.
At -10C,the one on my loader opens the thermostat after about an hour.
R
Google "circulating block heater" for way too much information on the type.