Starting Diesels with no heater plugs

andrew , has it not got a pin on the injector pump that you have to push in whilst having throttle fully down , for cold starting .

it may have one but im not entirely sure .

the genny i had at work is 150kva , fiat engine .

Perkins agricultural engines used to use a "glow plug" like device in the air intake - a coil of resistance wire which as it got hot opened a valve which allowed diesel to flow onto it, bursting into flames.

Point a hot air gun down the air intake. Alternatively, if you don't have 240V nearby, use a blowtorch.

If he HAD 240 V nearby he wouldn't need a bloomin' generator.... ;-) Steve

Possibly it has an inlet heater like some of the Perkins 4203 diesel engines. Failing that, a goodly squirt of Easy Start.

The ignition switch on my old Perkins has a two-position ignition switch. Turn it partway for a count of ten (20 if really frosty) then turn it fully to start cranking the engine.

Well use the 240v from the genny to power the hot air gun. Bloody hell, some people are just so stupid.

There will be some sort of cold start device on there somewhere, if it is a Dover engine, as used in the Ford Cargo, then the cold start will on the fuel pump, in the form of a small button coming out of the middle of the engine stop lever on the side of the fuel pump, or it will have a electrically operated cold start, in which case there will be a small solenoid instead of the plunger. In either case they are operated in the same way, make sure the stop lever is set in the run position, set the throttle lever to max (it will probably be held at max by the genny speed control when the engine is not running) and operate the plunger. You should hear a clunk from inside the pump as the fuel rail springs over to the excess fuel position. now start the engine, it should crack up nicely no matter what the temperature. The plunger will reset itself as soon as the engine reaches governed speed.

Alan is right. The thing he is referring to is a "Thermostart" not ("Thermostat" in case you thought that was a typo) It fits in the inlet manifold and is fed tromp the spare outlet on the fuel filter. These are about the most effective pre heaters - if a little archaic). Get one from a Lucas CAV agent.

Alan is right. The thing he is referring to is a "Thermostart" not ("Thermostat" in case you thought that was a typo) It fits in the inlet manifold and is fed FROM the spare outlet on the fuel filter. These are about the most effective pre heaters - if a little archaic). Get one from a Lucas CAV agent.

(Don't know where 'tromp' came from when I previously posted this!)

In message , SimonJ writes

....here come the problem staters.

Yes that is a good explanation, the 6 cylinder Ford direct injection engines, with inline Simms or Minimec type injection pumps, are good starters as long as the excess fuel button is used.

If its new to you I suggest draining the injector pump body and refilling with decent oil.

AJH

>

Isn't the genny to power BFO induction furnace? You average single phase domestic supply is only good for 20kVA or there abouts not

100...

The only thing I'd say about starting is avoid easy start if at all possible. Engines must be designed to have some form of cold start system that isn't quite so brutal.

's probably 3 phase at that rating.

Steve

You are probably correct. This engine should have a Simms or CAV inline injector pump with an 'excess fuel' button on one of the control lever axis. It will pop out automatically when the engine starts. It may need some little hand throttle before it will stay in initially. Surprisingly effective.

Huw

Yes Steve, it's for the induction furnace (when I've sorted out why I have no drive to the field coil, and added some soundproofing before the neighbours slap an ASBO on me )

So 240v hair drier are an option, so I suppose is an Easy Start ether spray if it'ts not been banned by Europe :(

AWEM

AJH,

It's a Ford 2704ET with a SIMMS injector pump, and it seems it does have a button gizzmo on the throttle lever (or I assume it's the throttle lever - in this application it's pulled fully open with a solenoid.

I've not been able to find any information on-line on either the Ford

2704ET engine of the SIMMS injector pump (lots of Google hits but no tech inf just commercial bits) so if anyone has any gen I'd be grateful.

AWEM

"Andrew Mawson" >

Both are very very common but predate the internet and email by a year or two ;-) Nothing complicated and consequently can be maintained and repaired by anyone with an ounce of mechanical aptitude. The Simms/CAV-Minimec are inline pumps. In most applications their cambox is filled with oil to a level plug and should be changed periodically. In later applications up to the early '90's it may be force fed oil from the engine but I don't think the 2704E was built in that era. I think this engine was built through the

70's to the mid 80's but have no definitive data to back it up.

Huw

Probably but most people don't have 3 phase handy... and 100kVA is still 30+ per phase rather than 20. B-)

I notice that Andrew is asking how to make a sound proof box for his new toy. The generator I normally work with are around the 100kVA mark some with complete hot spares. These are generally fairly quiet just a low rumble, the really good ones the only way to tell if they are running is by the heat haze from the exhaust and looking at the control panel. B-) Oh ther are also mounted on the back of trucks...

Its the same engine as fitted to the ford cargo, up until the 90's, and all the examples I have seen are fed with oil from the engine, so no need to worry about changing the oil in the fuel pump.

Andrew, check if the pump has a couple of oil lines coming from the oil rail in the side of the block to the pump, and from the pump to a drain somewhere above sump level in the side of the block, if these pipes are in place you have an engine fed pump, so the lubrication will take care of itself as long as the engine oil is ok.

That is the stop control, and will be held in the run position as long as the genny control panel is switched on. The throttle lever is located between the pump and the side of the block, and should be connected to some sort of govenor control to hold the engine at constant speed regardless of the load on teh genny.

try looking for information on the ford Dover engine, this is the same engine in automotive form. Ford cargo workshop manuals should have all the info in.