Cold Weather Engine Start

[CBinRI]

Originally Posted by jr438234606

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glow_plug

Not all "glowplugs" are the same. In my Perkins 4.108, the cold start device consists of a small heating element that plugs into the air intake manifold. Diesel dribbles onto the red-hot coil and ignites, and is then drawn into the combustion chamber. This device stopped functioning one time when it was cold, so I got a can of WD40 and a cigarette lighter and made a torch, directing the flame into the breather while the engine was turned over. Worked fine.

My cold-start device takes about 4 seconds to do its job.

This is a helpful coincidence. I just bought a boat with a Perkins 4.108 and was wondering about this. I was guessing right, I guess, at about 3 or 4 seconds.

[sailingdog]

Originally Posted by jr438234606

My cold-start device incorporates a valve in the fuel line that opens when the heating element reaches the critical temperature (it takes about 4-5 seconds). Fuel then dribbles over the element and ignites. If you take the breather cap off, a large flame will actually leap out of the air intake. This is BEFORE you even turn the engine over. It's VERY effective.

I wonder what type of cold start device the original poster's engine uses?

My guess is that your cold-start device would not be considered glow plugs, but something else entirely instead.

[FrankLanger]

Gary,

On my 2 cylinder universal engine, the operators manual states to push the glow plug in for 30 - 60 seconds, then start the motor. It is possible to start the motor without simultaneously using the glow plug. I have only used the boat during April to September (relatively new to the boat), and have managed to start the motor easily with about 20 - 30 seconds of glow plug; it may need longer in the colder winter months.

Frank.

[Faster]

SD and JR, I stand corrected with regard to your specifics. My apologies.
My engine, a Pathfinder, does none of these things, the glow plug is in a precombustion chamber, and my starter switch is a three-way switch that disengages the glowplugs before energizing the starter, so there is not heating during cranking.

The airway pre-ignition described sounds unlike anything I've seen before.

Checking glow plugs can be done with an clamp-on ammeter, initially current will be quite high and will decay as the glow plug(s) heat up because their resistance increases with temperature. Actual current expected depends on the type and number of them.

[cardiacpaul]

The flame thrower on the Perkins is unique to those "english" blokes...
compliments of the "Prince of Darkness" Mr. Lucas. Most other diesels use the pre-combustion chamber, finger type of glow plug.

[sailingdog]

Faster-

No worries.

Just because the glowplug on your engine is depowered, doesn't mean it isn't still at nearly 1000 degrees and more than capable of igniting the diesel..

The English solution is novel...and sounds a bit whacked...but if it works... that's what really matters.

[Artwerke]

The glow plugs on my M-35 Universal need about 20 sec. cold & it fires within 1 revolution. The Perkins system sounds weird for anything except a Limey design,as a former owner of a 63 Jag.it sounds typicaly brit-eccentric. Art.

[feetup]

Just out of interest sake
In the 40's and early 50's International Harveter Corp. made a diesel for construction and agricultural use that was designed to be hand cranked to start, although electric starting was an option. They were 4 cyl, of somewhere above 300 cu in displacment and even with thier relatively low compression ratio of about 14 to 1 they were impossible to turn over, much less start by hand. The designer's solution was to place a third valve in each combustion chamber which opened to an auxilary combustion chamber with a spark plug fired by an impulse type magneto. The mechanism that opened these valves also operated two buterfly valves in the intake manifold, one of which closed off the normal air intake, and the other opened to a small updraft carburettor which had a choke, but no throttle valve. The engine could be cranked over if your shoulders and arms were of stouter stuff than mine and with the impulse magneto would fire fairly easily and run at a fast idle on gasoline till the combustion chambers were warm enough to ignite the diesel. When you judged that the time was right you closed the compression release and opened the fuel lever and IF you held your tongue just right and your timing was good it would begin to hammer away on diesel and when the smoke turned from white to black you could settle it back to idle and not shut it off unless you had to. I owned one in a crawler for a while and it was a delight to use in the same way as a wooden block or a capstan windlass.
It made me appreciate the old guys that made our land. There were thousands of these on the Alaska Hwy. and the DEW line in Canada's north country where in the 40's you could not rely on a battery to give you any juice at all at 40 below.

[Dawkahab]

Two ways to check glow plugs
1. Put your fingeer on the top of the plug where the wire attaches, It should be very warm to hot. Do not activate plugs removed from the block you may burn them out.
2. Check with your engine mfr for Ohms resistance and measure the cold plugs to determine whether or not they are within spec. Hot plugs will create show greater resistance. If you measre current draw by the plugs you will at least know if some of them are working. On new engines or with new plugs I log the current draw of the activated plugs, If it drops you know one or more has failed and you can determine which one by checking its cold resistance with an Ohm meter.