Early 80s L275DT Cold Start

[forrest carver]

Growing up, my father used a 4WD L275 which he swears was a 1979 but I think was actually an '81. I cut my teeth on that machine and got to know it pretty well. When he sold his property to my sister, he gave her the tractor with it. However, she has never been able to get it started except when my father was around. He seemed to have the magic touch. Now I have great need of the tractor, and she is glad to be rid of it, so if I can get it started then it's mine. It was last running at least a year ago, but it hasn't been in regular use for at least a decade.

I can get it to turn over by bridging the solenoid, but it doesn't seem to be getting enough juice even with heavy duty jumper cables and the truck revved up. My father claims that a quick shot of starter fluid in the carb is always necessary to get it going, but that doesn't seem to be helping. I got a new battery for it and will try that tonight but looking for other ideas to persuade it to fire up, beyond the shot of starter fluid. Any other ways to set myself up for success?

I can get some pics for you soon, I know everyone loves pics on these forums, haha

 

[85Hokie]

Welcome to the forum,

First - I would stop with the starting fluid, not a good idea at all - very bad for a diesel engine.

There is no carb - just an air intake, but we get what you meant.

I would check the condition of the glow plugs - those working correctly will help more than anything.

Any smoke at all when turning over?

 

[forrest carver]

Welcome to the forum,

First - I would stop with the starting fluid, not a good idea at all - very bad for a diesel engine.

There is no carb - just an air intake, but we get what you meant.

I would check the condition of the glow plugs - those working correctly will help more than anything.

Any smoke at all when turning over?

Thanks! I will gladly stop with the starting fluid. It didn't seem to do anything, in fact it almost seemed to have a harder time after the squirt. And thanks for the terminology correction.

Back in the 90s when I was using the tractor more frequently, we had to hold the key to the left for a good 10-20 seconds for the glow plug every time to start it reliably. However, checking with my father about it, he didn't even recall that it HAD glow plugs at first. Then he said "oh no, when we swapped out the new ignition we stopped having to do that." Still doesn't make much sense to me.

Anyway, where can I locate these plugs and check if they need to be replaced?

Smoke is indeed coming out of the stack when it turns over.

 

[85Hokie]

Despite what you father may have replaced - there is no substitution for glow plugs of this era's diesel engines.

Turn the key backwards and hold it there for a minute - a good 60 seconds and see what happens. The fact that you have smoke is a good sign. Where there is smoke - there is fire ........eventually !

 

[forrest carver]

Thanks. The new ignition switch doesn't have a fourth, leftmost setting unfortunately like the old one. That's on me as I got it for them as a present a didn't do my homework. However that didnt stop my bro in law from installing it seemingly successfully (although it doesn't work, can only turn over with bridging, so I guess not really successfully). So I should get an oem ignition it sounds like? Best place to find one

 

[forrest carver]

Thanks. The new ignition switch doesn't have a fourth, leftmost setting unfortunately like the old one. That's on me as I got it for them as a present a didn't do my homework. However that didnt stop my bro in law from installing it seemingly successfully (although it doesn't work, can only turn over with bridging, so I guess not really successfully). So I should get an oem ignition it sounds like? Best place to find one

 

[85Hokie]

I would get the OEM switch - most of us will tell you, older engines like that need a bit of glowing to get it started

 

[TheOldHokie]

Thanks. The new ignition switch doesn't have a fourth, leftmost setting unfortunately like the old one. That's on me as I got it for them as a present a didn't do my homework. However that didnt stop my bro in law from installing it seemingly successfully (although it doesn't work, can only turn over with bridging, so I guess not really successfully). So I should get an oem ignition it sounds like? Best place to find one

Part number 37150-31820, $45 from Messicks. Complete assembly with keys is part number 37150-31800 - $85 from Messicks.

Dan

 

[forrest carver]

You guys are fantastic! On the ball! I will get that ordered up. Any other small part recommendations you have that I could combine with the order would be welcome in case I run into something else sooner or later. Possibly hoses for the loader? They look bad.

P.S. Geez, those are some expensive keys! $40?

 

[Russell King]

The original set up was a key switch and a separate switch with a knob for the glow plugs and the starter. Turning the key to the first position turned on the electrical system, the next position turned on the lights and then the third position was high beams. The starter will work in any position.

Turning the knob left was glow plugs and right was starter and glow plugs.

I agree that it would be better to get it somewhat back to original but the two parts may be about $200 total if you need both.

To get it running this weekend should be doable if you’re somewhat electrically and mechanically inclined with no parts.

The glow plugs are are near the injectors on top of the engine .

Do you have a any wire about the same size as the largest attached to the switch?

Is there a glow plug indicator that looks like a hole in the dash with a small wire behind the hole? Is there a wire to the glow plugs from the indicator?

 

[forrest carver]

The original set up was a key switch and a separate switch with a knob for the glow plugs and the starter. Turning the key to the first position turned on the electrical system, the next position turned on the lights and then the third position was high beams. The starter will work in any position.

Turning the knob left was glow plugs and right was starter and glow plugs.

I agree that it would be better to get it somewhat back to original but the two parts may be about $200 total if you need both.

To get it running this weekend should be doable if you’re somewhat electrically and mechanically inclined with no parts.

The glow plugs are are near the injectors on top of the engine .

Do you have a any wire about the same size as the largest attached to the switch?

Is there a glow plug indicator that looks like a hole in the dash with a small wire behind the hole? Is there a wire to the glow plugs from the indicator?

I just got home from attempt #3 so it's not in front of me, but I asked my sister for pics of the dashboard and will share them if I get them. From memory, there were two red lights. Turning the key to the left for the glow plug turned on one light, and turning it to the right turned on both lights? In any case those lights don't currently illuminate and there's no click when the key's turned so I assume bad connection somewhere. I think it makes more sense to just order the right ignition. But, it would be cool to get it started tomorrow and at least get it home so I can work on it with my own tools, lighting, and no stress.

I do have wire, yes

 

[TheOldHokie]

You guys are fantastic! On the ball! I will get that ordered up. Any other small part recommendations you have that I could combine with the order would be welcome in case I run into something else sooner or later. Possibly hoses for the loader? They look bad.

P.S. Geez, those are some expensive keys! $40?

Double check my part numbers. Its not clear to me that the only difference is keys.

Dan

 

[forrest carver]

The left indicator light has fallen out but you can still see part of it dangling down

 

[forrest carver]

Here's a shot of the top of the engine

 

[Dave_eng]

Your engine has parallel wired glow plugs. This is relevant as some early L's had series wired such as the L210.
The correct key switch is necessary for proper GP operation. During the pre heat stage power flows through the glow indicator which is like toaster wire. This is not a light bulb. It is a resistor in series with the GP's and is there to lower the voltage seen by the GP's
During times when the key switch is in the START position, the power to the GP's bypasses the glow indicator feeding battery voltage to the GP's. The battery voltage is lowered by the current draw of the starter which is why the indicator is no longer in the circuit.
If this is not set up as described above getting reliable starts is very difficult.
Dave

 

[forrest carver]

Double check my part numbers. Its not clear to me that the only difference is keys.

Dan

It looks like it, based on this EV. I wonder if I can get the OEM ignition and a cheap key on ebay

 

[Russell King]

In the picture of the dash the glow plug indicator is on the right side with the silver ring and two screws in a vertical pattern. The terminal in the picture is directly in front of it.

The start switch is missing so I assume the wiring is a mess but that will be easy to work around. Since you have a method to get it cranking just leave that in place.

The simple idea is to connect the positive battery terminal to the glow plug indicator for about 30 seconds and then disconnect that and crank the engine.
Can you get to the back of the dash and connect a wire to the bottom terminal of the glow plug indicator?

I can’t see the glow plugs in the picture of the engine . I’ll post a picture of my L185 in the morning to show you where they are

 

[Russell King]

I see the decompression cable is on your engine . Do you understand what that does and how to use it? Are you sure it is closing completely?

Does the engine spin quickly or is it struggling to spin the engine?

 

[forrest carver]

In the picture of the dash the glow plug indicator is on the right side with the silver ring and two screws in a vertical pattern. The terminal in the picture is directly in front of it.

The start switch is missing so I assume the wiring is a mess but that will be easy to work around. Since you have a method to get it cranking just leave that in place.

The simple idea is to connect the positive battery terminal to the glow plug indicator for about 30 seconds and then disconnect that and crank the engine.
Can you get to the back of the dash and connect a wire to the bottom terminal of the glow plug indicator?

I can’t see the glow plugs in the picture of the engine . I’ll post a picture of my L185 in the morning to show you where they are

OK, I don't think there's anything in the glow plug indicator at this time. Can you see the indicator in the "rats nest of wires" pic in post #6 by any chance? (the black wire looks like it's plugged in to the indicator, but I just did that to keep the assembly hanging and ground it if it was a ground.)

What does the indicator look like? I can go back today and remove the dash to get a better idea of what I'm looking at. Or are you saying to connect to the lower screw in the vertical pattern?

So basically, I need to run an additional wire (or a jumper cable?) from the positive terminal of the battery to the glow plug indicator, leave it on for about 30 seconds, remove it, and try to turn it over?
What sights/smells/sounds should I expect when I have successfully powered the indicator? Purely out of curiosity, what would be the result if I accidentally left it connected?

About the cable, yes, I did play with that a bit. The cable is seized but I was able to manipulate the arm while cranking the engine. Moving it inward made the sound change for the worse, like maybe a higher frequency of compressions until they petered out completely. The engine does seem to spin relatively quickly (ever since I got the powerful new battery in it) without that cable engaged, so I didn't think that cable should be pulled. But I also don't know what it does, or anything.

 

[Russell King]

Ok the indicator electrical wiring connections are under the dash so don’t connect any wiring to screws that you see.

I’ll post pictures of my tractor in a little bit