saddamsnightmare
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February 3rd, 2008.
DO NOTE POSTS ABOVE ON AMOUNT OF ETHER USED!! Diesels pretty much hate ether for starting, it works, but too much and the diesel won't start-period. I have a German Deutz Diesel, FL912 4 cylinder air cooled driving a 30 KW genset, and even at -30*F it would start without ether, 1st start would run rough about 30 seconds, then stall, the 2nd start would run uneven for 30 seconds then pick up to speed. I had it fitted with an ether injector unit, and I haven't used it twice since the unit was new in 1985.
Needless to say, diesels are odd animals when they are cold, but as long as the flame heater works, I'm going to leave it alone, but for you guys up in the Arctic North, my two cents would point towards battery heating pads and coolant heaters (electric) to get them to fire over faster in the cold. My M35A2 is struggling with a weak cell or set of cells, and won't crank below 32*F, but will fire over in less then two revolutions without the flame heater at 33-34*F, so I'll replace the starting batteries (See post on "M35A2 Starting Batteries, REplacement of".
My observation on cold weather starting issues is that the German Diesels are designed to handle cold weather starts ("Winter Happens"), whereas few American designed diesels handle winter starts with much grace and elan, see the number or Lizardlike deuces noted in the Deuce Forums. RAilway locomotive diesels are very hard to start below 50*F, and most are designed to dump their coollant (water) automatically at 45*F if not running, so that is why you generally see them idleing all winter, unless they have electric coolant heaters, pumps and oil pan and battery heater units (electric) applied ( and a regular place to tie up with an electric outlet nearby).
Just a thought on a subject germaine to all our deuces.....
With Great Regards,
Sincerely,
Kyle F. McGrogan
1963 Mercedes Benz Unimog S404.114 (Swiss)
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Vietnam and Desert Storm Deuce (and current cold start lizard champion due to bad batteries).
DO NOTE POSTS ABOVE ON AMOUNT OF ETHER USED!! Diesels pretty much hate ether for starting, it works, but too much and the diesel won't start-period. I have a German Deutz Diesel, FL912 4 cylinder air cooled driving a 30 KW genset, and even at -30*F it would start without ether, 1st start would run rough about 30 seconds, then stall, the 2nd start would run uneven for 30 seconds then pick up to speed. I had it fitted with an ether injector unit, and I haven't used it twice since the unit was new in 1985.
Needless to say, diesels are odd animals when they are cold, but as long as the flame heater works, I'm going to leave it alone, but for you guys up in the Arctic North, my two cents would point towards battery heating pads and coolant heaters (electric) to get them to fire over faster in the cold. My M35A2 is struggling with a weak cell or set of cells, and won't crank below 32*F, but will fire over in less then two revolutions without the flame heater at 33-34*F, so I'll replace the starting batteries (See post on "M35A2 Starting Batteries, REplacement of".
My observation on cold weather starting issues is that the German Diesels are designed to handle cold weather starts ("Winter Happens"), whereas few American designed diesels handle winter starts with much grace and elan, see the number or Lizardlike deuces noted in the Deuce Forums. RAilway locomotive diesels are very hard to start below 50*F, and most are designed to dump their coollant (water) automatically at 45*F if not running, so that is why you generally see them idleing all winter, unless they have electric coolant heaters, pumps and oil pan and battery heater units (electric) applied ( and a regular place to tie up with an electric outlet nearby).
Just a thought on a subject germaine to all our deuces.....
With Great Regards,
Sincerely,
Kyle F. McGrogan
1963 Mercedes Benz Unimog S404.114 (Swiss)
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare" Vietnam and Desert Storm Deuce (and current cold start lizard champion due to bad batteries).
