diesel engine external heater

[smitch6]

Hi folks

I have twin ford 2700 straight 6 (dorset) engines on my tub

This time of year the engines do not start because there's no glow plugs or plugs or pre-heater etc anywhere

the only thing there is, is a button on the injector pump that you push in while the throttle is on full

and as soon as the throttle is released it pops out

this is all well and good but to get at them i have to remove the floor as with twin engines..... well you can imagine

so i heard somewhere someone saying about flame plugs?

does anyone know about these or know anything betterer for my needs pls

thanks

[Antares_9]

You could use thermostarts, (THERMO-START) a device that fits in the inlet manifold, usually just after the air filter. Not saying I recommend them as your manufacturer has provided you witha (inconvenient admittedly) cold start device already.

[diesel falcon]

Flame plugs won,t work, you need to fit glow plugs, but if your engine hasn,t got turbulance chambers,or pre chambers, you can,t use these either, how about a pre drilled hole in the floor with a bung and a length of rod??,crude but cheap!!

[smitch6]

the hole in the floor won't work as the button is tucked away in an awkward place on the injector pump as well lol

i would literally have to remove 2 units/seats and then a piece of flooring

i can't even get to it by laying on top of the engine not a good design is it?

[smitch6]

the flame thing is a more advanced way of the old fashioned way they used to start these engines in winter

they used to put a piece of scrunched up newspaper in the inlet and set fire to it

my engines are ford 2700 which were used in the old tractors and buses yrs ago

[MBA Marine]

Dont use it in winter.

get new boat.

Replace both engines!

Sorry not very helpfull but i couldnt come up with anything usefull.

[Antares_9]

the hole in the floor won't work as the button is tucked away in an awkward place on the injector pump as well lol

i would literally have to remove 2 units/seats and then a piece of flooring

i can't even get to it by laying on top of the engine not a good design is it?

Any possibility of some kind of solenoid arrangement to press the buttons, you can get pushers as well as pullers, the bracketry may be a pain but that's all I have left to offer if the thermostart is a non starter (pun intended)

[diesel falcon]

Coarse there is another way....either fit a espacher hyronic unit to heat the engines(both) or 2 inline electric jacket heaters so the engines are never cold ...blurdy expensive though!!

[wayneakp]

Hi Steve

Have a look at the kenlowe site :

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/diy.html

Wayne

[wayneakp]

Hi Steve

Have a look at the kenlowe site :

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/diy.html

Wayne

Or: - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Boxed-240 ... 2a17a9068a

[smitch6]

Thanks for the advice so far folks

all seem to be way expensive

[Antares_9]

Thanks for the advice so far folks

all seem to be way expensive

Who ever told you owning a decent sized boat would be otherwise?

[littlesprite]

Ok. I haven't got a clue what I'm talking about' "But"

if you have a warm air heating system on the boat could you fit a valved line to the intake manifold ?

Sorry if this is total rubbish but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

[mjt]

Flame plugs won't work, you need to fit glow plugs

A thermostart is a standard fitting on my Perkins 4.108 so is there something different about Steve's engines which would prevent it working?

[diesel falcon]

Personally i wouldn,t like to fit them in an engine which is possibly not designed to have them fitted,having said that if he consulted with a ford dorset 6 specialist?they might advise where to fit them in the intake,the modification may be more expensive than fitting external heaters,and may cause his air cleaner to catch fire!!

[smitch6]

warm air heater nope i have a normal household combo boiler running the radiators

we live on here don't forget lol

trouble is with anything 240v i need the engines to start to charge the batteries which run the inverter to provide 240v lol

so not really an option is it ?????

where we will be moving to in a couple of months we won't have shore power anymore so i need to get the engines all sorted so they'll start

actually i need to get engine 1 working but thats another story lol

[diesel falcon]

No shore power?? then it,s the webo then as 12volt that or a genny!!

[MBA Marine]

warm air heater nope i have a normal household combo boiler running the radiators

we live on here don't forget lol

trouble is with anything 240v i need the engines to start to charge the batteries which run the inverter to provide 240v lol

so not really an option is it ?????

where we will be moving to in a couple of months we won't have shore power anymore so i need to get the engines all sorted so they'll start

actually i need to get engine 1 working but thats another story lol

No shore power! thats going to cost you a fortune in diesel, thats if you can start yor engines, you have a domestic boiler so thats a small but constant 240V applience plus what ever other 240v systems your wanting to run and via an inverter! I like inverters but without an array of solar pannels the length of your boat your never going to keep your batteries up. You will need a bank of approx 5x 110ah batteries and if your using your engine to charge them the your engines will be running for hours and hours every day, fine if your cruising but sat on your moorings with that is not nice for you or a neighbour. Running for a hour in the morn will not give the batteries a full charge they need just a quick boost and they will soon drop back down. this abuse of the batteries will cause them to fail then your looking at £80 each to replace (lead acid). A quiet running gene would be cheaper to run and better on the ear!

Out of the box thought, would putting a coil into the diesel tank of the heating system, flowing hot water round as heat converter not give you a tank of nice warm oil? should be easier for the engine to fire on. Its not conventional and i may get laughed off the forum for suggesting it but its a thought.

[Guest]

I cut my teeth on these at Ford Research, never designed to have heat, never needed it IF THEY WERE IN GOOD CONDITION

They started in generator set with no electric starter just a huge spring starter that only turned it over 4 revolutions !!

And I saw one start when being turned over by hand ! Guy got a bit of a shock, then a good rucking for not having the stop over.

You could try getting the injectors serviced on one engine to see if it helps.

As an aside the trucks had a cable system to pop the cold start in, remote chance you find a breaker ?

Also always start on full throttle !

[MBA Marine]

Sorry to drag this up, but had light bulb moment! not overly cheap but....... what about fitting a racor fuel filter that you can fit a heater plug in? fitted as close to the engine as poss, might still take a bit of spinning over before the warmed fuel comes through. butt its might just help.