Where do I point heater

[David H]

I have an old Kubota L185 it starts hard in colder weather. Even with 1 minute of glow plug time.
Would like to know where I would point a utility heater to warm it up before trying to start.
Fuel side or oil pan or?? Or any other suggestions. I am the orig owner 1978 and it is well taken care of.
Using 5W40 full synthetic oil. fresh changed always near 15 hours.
Thanks David

 

[DustyRusty]

Put a block heater into it. It will work more efficiently that blowing warm air onto the engine.

 

[BruceP]

I have an old Kubota L185 it starts hard in colder weather. Even with 1 minute of glow plug time.

Have you tested the GlowPlugs to ensure they are ALL working?

Yours is a 2 cylinder engine so if one GlowPlug is bad, 1/2 the engine is not helping to start.

When your engine does finally start... does it sound as if one of the cylinders is not contributing until it has been running for 30 seconds or so? That is a SURE sign that you may have a bad GlowPlugs.

-----------------------
It is a fairly simple task to test GlowPlugs with Ohmmeter. (GPs remain installed in engine)

1. Electrically isolate the GPs from each other by removing all the wires/jumpers from them.
2. Clip one lead of Ohmmeter to engine-block.
3. Probe the top of each GP one at a time.
4. Any GP which shows OPEN CIRCUIT is bad.
   • Good ones will have very low ohms (perhaps less than 10 ohms)

It is that simple.

Order new GPs
Unscrew bad GP and screw in new one.

Engine should again start fairly easily after glowing.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I have an old Kubota L185 it starts hard in colder weather. Even with 1 minute of glow plug time.
Would like to know where I would point a utility heater to warm it up before trying to start.
Fuel side or oil pan or?? Or any other suggestions. I am the orig owner 1978 and it is well taken care of.
Using 5W40 full synthetic oil. fresh changed always near 15 hours.
Thanks David

I have a B7200 - 140K BTU torpedo heater blowing dead amid-ship about 6 feet from fuel side will work wonders in a matter of minutes. Cranks and starts like summer. And with a few more minutes of run time its snow begone.....

Dan

 

[Russell King]

I will suggest a few things that helped my L185 start better.

Make sure the glow plugs are getting power. Circuit is battery positive to key switch to starter switch (glow plugs activated on left position) then to indicator then to glow plugs that are grounded to engine, to frame to battery cable to battery negative. Measure voltage at glow plugs and it should be 10 or so volts. The indicator drops the voltage.

If the indicator is not glowing at all after a minute it is probably bad. In reality it is easy to replace the indicator and glow plugs and not very much money involved. Just get a deep socket to make it even easier. All three parts less than $75

Use the decompression knob in cold weather to get engine spinning rapidly in cold weather and the engine is easier to start. Free

Get a new starter that is the gear reduction type if you can find one. If not then replacing the starter with a rebuilt one will probably spin it faster anyway. My rebuilt starter was about 30 to 50 percent faster at spinning the engine. Incredibly easy to start. The rebuilt starter was expensive at ~$200

Replace or have someone rebuild the injectors. Two injectors, washers and hoses and clamps and socket to use to torque injectors with were somewhat expensive but less than $200 total.

All parts from dealer except starter was from local rebuild shop.

As an aside, when replacing the injectors I noticed that the fuel lines were nasty on the interior and one was difficult to loosen the nut so I went all in and replaced them also.

Tractor starts easy and starter made the most difference in starting. Glow plugs made some improvements to starting but the old ones were operational still. Injectors make some difference in starting but a lot more difference in running better.

 

[D2Cat]

Use your heat gun (or wife's blow dryer) and direct the heat directly to the intake manifold.

 

[DaveFromMi]

My Dad used a torpedo heater for a 1974 JD 830 diesel. The heater was pointed at the crankcase and block on the fuel side.

 

[Mark_BX25D]

Forget the bandaid. Find the problem and fix it. As mentioned, start with the glow plugs.

If they are good, check your compression.

 

[BAP]

Put a block heater in it and plug it in a few hours before you are going to use it. They work wonders when it is cold. Of make sure everything else is working properly.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

Install a battery warmer even if you don't put in the block heater !! A warm battery is a happy battery and will spin the engine AND power the glowplugs, making for better,faster, easier starts.
Most timers today have TWO spots..magically one for the block heater, the other for the battery warmer.
batteries lose a LOT (50%+) of their energy when cold AND take longer to recharge.

 

[The Evil Twin]

I agree with those that said to ensure the glow plugs are working correctly first. That may be the root of the problem.
If you really just want to warm it up, either a block heater un the coolant or oil. Even a magnetic Kats heater.

 

[mikester]

My preference is for using the rad hose heaters. Check out these posts someone here made a really soft nice engine cover for their tractor and posted some excellent pics.

Kubota L3560 and Grand L 60 Series Winter Front Covers Now Available

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