I own a M7040 with Cab and FEl
Dealer's mechanic gave me this trick to help starting in very cold weather.
In very cold weather, with the block heater plugged in, the glow plug sensor will lock out the glow plugs as it senses a warm engine.
However, starting, in these circumstances can be rough and worrisome.
The trick is to put the shuttle shift lever in forward and turn the key to the start position.
You will hear a relay click on. I count to 10, put the shuttle back into the neutral position and start the engine.
How this came up was I was at the dealer on a reasonably cold day and noticed the staff moving around a large number of tractors for snow removal. These are machines that could have been sitting for months. The mechanic said they used to have problems getting all machines started in spite of using the glow plugs as allowed by the tractors electronics until the service rep told them how to get another cycle out of the glow plugs which was the shuttle shift in forward and turning the key to start. The electronics wont give you a second round of glow plugs even if you wanted them. Without this trick, when you turn the key to on, if the tractor is cold enough to need the glow plugs, a symbol lights up on the dash and you just leave the key in the on position until the symbol goes out and then turn the key to start. If the tractor does not start you are screwed. I am certain the system re sets itself after a while but I don't know how long.
When using this trick, the dash symbol does not light up and all you hear is a relay click once when you hold the key in the start position.
I count to 10 holding the key in start to not overheat the glow plugs as this seems to be how long they stay on under the controller in the coldest conditions.
When you return the shuttle shift to neutral and turn the key to start there is no doubt that the glow plugs have heated up.
It makes an amazing difference.
I dont know which other models this applies to but from what I saw many newer models have some trick to effect this.
Dave M7040
Dealer's mechanic gave me this trick to help starting in very cold weather.
In very cold weather, with the block heater plugged in, the glow plug sensor will lock out the glow plugs as it senses a warm engine.
However, starting, in these circumstances can be rough and worrisome.
The trick is to put the shuttle shift lever in forward and turn the key to the start position.
You will hear a relay click on. I count to 10, put the shuttle back into the neutral position and start the engine.
How this came up was I was at the dealer on a reasonably cold day and noticed the staff moving around a large number of tractors for snow removal. These are machines that could have been sitting for months. The mechanic said they used to have problems getting all machines started in spite of using the glow plugs as allowed by the tractors electronics until the service rep told them how to get another cycle out of the glow plugs which was the shuttle shift in forward and turning the key to start. The electronics wont give you a second round of glow plugs even if you wanted them. Without this trick, when you turn the key to on, if the tractor is cold enough to need the glow plugs, a symbol lights up on the dash and you just leave the key in the on position until the symbol goes out and then turn the key to start. If the tractor does not start you are screwed. I am certain the system re sets itself after a while but I don't know how long.
When using this trick, the dash symbol does not light up and all you hear is a relay click once when you hold the key in the start position.
I count to 10 holding the key in start to not overheat the glow plugs as this seems to be how long they stay on under the controller in the coldest conditions.
When you return the shuttle shift to neutral and turn the key to start there is no doubt that the glow plugs have heated up.
It makes an amazing difference.
I dont know which other models this applies to but from what I saw many newer models have some trick to effect this.
Dave M7040
