I have an older 743 and it starts without a problem when the weather is warm. After chilly 30 degree F nights it is difficult to start. When starting I hold the key to glow for 30 or so seconds and then it cranks over and over. It will finally hit but it blows smoke 15 to 20 seconds before it runs clean. Would using a block heater help or is there something else I can do?
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A block heater will defintely help, above the 49th parallel we consider heat "life support" for our engines 3 to 5 months a year. But at 30 degrees it should start with glow plugs if the compression is good. Tazza has a thread or two about checking you gp's
Worst case, glow plugs elements are burnt out they are not getting power from the key. Your volt meter should drop when activated. Test the bar conecting the plugs to see its getting power.
Then unhook the plugs from the bar, hook you test light ground clip to the battery + and probe each glow plug to see if the light can get a ground though it, no ground = dead plug.
Also they do "wear out" and if the budget allows and the ole girl has some long hours on her, then a whole new from your favourite auto parts store would be a good choice.
You can remove them and power them up, they should glow at the tip and work its way back, if they have no tip, they are past do for changing.
Also if you a fan of 15/40 or some other thick as tar motor oil you may want to reconsider for the winter months. My LS 160 thinks 5/30 is to thick and lives on a year round supply of 0-40 now
Regards
Ken
Ken
Worst case, glow plugs elements are burnt out they are not getting power from the key. Your volt meter should drop when activated. Test the bar conecting the plugs to see its getting power.
Then unhook the plugs from the bar, hook you test light ground clip to the battery + and probe each glow plug to see if the light can get a ground though it, no ground = dead plug.
Also they do "wear out" and if the budget allows and the ole girl has some long hours on her, then a whole new from your favourite auto parts store would be a good choice.
You can remove them and power them up, they should glow at the tip and work its way back, if they have no tip, they are past do for changing.
Also if you a fan of 15/40 or some other thick as tar motor oil you may want to reconsider for the winter months. My LS 160 thinks 5/30 is to thick and lives on a year round supply of 0-40 now
Regards
Ken
Ken
It sounds like your glow plugs need changing. Remove them and connect them to a battery. They should glow red rite to the tip within about 5 seconds.
If they are glowing correctly, you may just have low compression.
The smoke at startup, is it white? If so, its just un-burnt fuel.
If they are glowing correctly, you may just have low compression.
The smoke at startup, is it white? If so, its just un-burnt fuel.
Yes the smoke at start up appears to be mostly white but it does have a taint of black in it but not too bad. When it does start it starts slow "sputters" and then picks up like normal. I will check the plugs and see what I can find out. I guess it could be the compression but hopefully not.
