Cold weather starting aids?

[M.Magis]

Was wondering if anyone had any good tips for starting a warm blooded diesel tractor in the winter. I have a mid '80s Deere 2550, and the only factory starting aid it came with is a device to screw on a can of ether. Someone added an intake heater, but it helps very little. If I keep a heat lamp under the oil pan it will start down to maybe 30 F or a bit under. After that I have to use the old gas Ford 3000. I had the injector pump rebuilt and I think I have the timing slightly advanced, because it's a lot harder to start than it used to be, but that's another topic. Was thinking of getting a propane torpedo heater to put in the garage.

 

[RanchMan90]

Advanced timing does make harder starts. Does is not have an electric block heater? That would help a lot

 

[M-5]

a little snort of ether and crank the steering wheel back and forth will turning it over

 

[dun]

Advanced timing does make harder starts. Does is not have an electric block heater? That would help a lot

Block heater is about as good as it gets

 

[halfbean]

We take a rag soaked with gas and put it over air intake while cranking.

 

[callmefence]

a little snort of ether and crank the steering wheel back and forth will turning it over

Ok I'm going to go ahead and ask. What does cranking the steering wheel do?

 

[M-5]

a little snort of ether and crank the steering wheel back and forth will turning it over

Ok I'm going to go ahead and ask. What does cranking the steering wheel do?

Apparently you've never had to crank a JD in the winter. The hydraulics on old JD will actually bind the engine by cranking the steering wheel it relieves the pressure to allow the engine to spin faster.

 

[Atimm693]

Ether is okay in moderation. Make sure you disable the grid heater, or you might blow up your intake.

A block heater in a core plug is the best bet. Put it on a timer set to come on a couple hours before you start chores to save on your electric bill.

Second best would be an in-hose coolant heater, third would be a magnetic stick-on oil pan heater. Both of those should be more affective than the heat lamp.

 

[callmefence]

a little snort of ether and crank the steering wheel back and forth will turning it over

Ok I'm going to go ahead and ask. What does cranking the steering wheel do?

Apparently you've never had to crank a JD in the winter. The hydraulics on old JD will actually bind the engine by cranking the steering wheel it relieves the pressure to allow the engine to spin faster.

Well now I know... Another good day on ct, thanks 5

 

[ohiosteve]

Propane torch. Heat the intake manifold for about 5 minutes keeping the torch moving back and forth.

 

[RanchMan90]

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. It shouldn't need ether or a torch to the manifold.

 

[Aaron]

Second best would be an in-hose coolant heater

That is what the majority of people use around here.

 

[Kingfisher]

Ok I'm going to go ahead and ask. What does cranking the steering wheel do?

Apparently you've never had to crank a JD in the winter. The hydraulics on old JD will actually bind the engine by cranking the steering wheel it relieves the pressure to allow the engine to spin faster.

Well now I know... Another good day on ct, thanks 5

I'm right there with you Cowboy. Learned us a good one! I was over in Nix the other day. Sure was nice.

 

[Nesikep]

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. It shouldn't need ether or a torch to the manifold.

Some stuff is just hard to start, no matter if it's taken care of or not.

On our old Ford County, which has no cold start assists of any kind, I used to use ether when i had to, but wince every time... Since then I've welded a bung into the inake pipe with a good plug.. when I want to start it I put a heat gun in there on high until I get smoke coming out of the air cleaner... just barely cranks over but fires right away and will low idle happily with no need to rev it... it does however want the heat gun going for the first few minutes.

retarding the timing definitely helps on cold starts too!.. I just pulled my truck timing back from 20* to 14* and it's a world of difference

 

[callmefence]

Apparently you've never had to crank a JD in the winter. The hydraulics on old JD will actually bind the engine by cranking the steering wheel it relieves the pressure to allow the engine to spin faster.

Well now I know... Another good day on ct, thanks 5

I'm right there with you Cowboy. Learned us a good one! I was over in Nix the other day. Sure was nice.

Your getting real close to my secret blue cat hole there king

I've always just sprayed ether and cussed . I'm going to try try the steering wheel crank. I'm a little worried if I can do all three at the same time.

 

[M.Magis]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to adjust the timing when I get a chance, but it was hard to start before. Cranking on the steering wheel is a necessity on this thing even when it's warm, a de-stroking kit is another thing I need. Thanks again, I'm going to look into getting a block heater first. Warm oil seems to be all it needs to crank.

 

[cfpinz]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to adjust the timing when I get a chance, but it was hard to start before. Cranking on the steering wheel is a necessity on this thing even when it's warm, a de-stroking kit is another thing I need. Thanks again, I'm going to look into getting a block heater first. Warm oil seems to be all it needs to crank.

Drain the antifreeze, knock out a freeze plug, insert block heater and tighten o-ring and reinstall antifreeze. About as easy as it's going to get. Mine are on timers to run for an hour before I need them, I can't seem to see any improved performance over the 1 hour mark.

 

[dun]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to adjust the timing when I get a chance, but it was hard to start before. Cranking on the steering wheel is a necessity on this thing even when it's warm, a de-stroking kit is another thing I need. Thanks again, I'm going to look into getting a block heater first. Warm oil seems to be all it needs to crank.

Drain the antifreeze, knock out a freeze plug, insert block heater and tighten o-ring and reinstall antifreeze. About as easy as it's going to get. Mine are on timers to run for an hour before I need them, I can't seem to see any improved performance over the 1 hour mark.

Depends on the freeze plug placement. On my 5093 it goes in a plug real high in the block. I cheated and only drained a little before I knocked out the plug. Didn;t drain quite enough an a little dribbled out the hole., no big deal.Put in the plug and dumped the antifreeze back in. Didn;t even take a quart to top it off. As to using a timer, I'm not organized enough to know when I'm going to need it so I just leave it plugged in all the time. The water and block always stay warm but the thermostat shuts it off so it doesn;t run all the time.

 

[skyhightree1]

Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. It shouldn't need ether or a torch to the manifold.

Some stuff is just hard to start, no matter if it's taken care of or not.

very true + 1

 

[J&D Cattle]

Thanks for the help. I'm going to adjust the timing when I get a chance, but it was hard to start before. Cranking on the steering wheel is a necessity on this thing even when it's warm, a de-stroking kit is another thing I need. Thanks again, I'm going to look into getting a block heater first. Warm oil seems to be all it needs to crank.

Drain the antifreeze, knock out a freeze plug, insert block heater and tighten o-ring and reinstall antifreeze. About as easy as it's going to get. Mine are on timers to run for an hour before I need them, I can't seem to see any improved performance over the 1 hour mark.

Have you had any better luck with a certain brand of timer?