cold start DT-436

[Nates90]

I have a 1486 and i was wondering at what temp. it should be abil to start at without starting fluid or pluging it in.

 

[Wayne from Wi]

I have a 966 (414 engine) that I comfortably start unassisted down to about 30 to 35F. Any colder than that I will plug it in. It probably will start colder than that without plugging in, but I never tried. Wayne

 

[Steven f/AZ]

Our 1086 (DT414) will start down to about 30 degrees without any assist. Down to about 10 it will go with a sniff of ether. Any lower than that and it needs to be plugged in.

The 1460 combine (DT436) won't start below 40 degrees without ether. Usually takes a sniff to get it going after it has sat for a month, too.

 

[Lee in Iowa]

I started my 1486 late last night to feed cows it wasn't plugged in and I didn't use ether. I looked at the the thermometer on the way back to the house it was 20 degrees. It started pretty easy could probably go down to 10 or 15 without anything, but the motor and injector pump are both pretty fresh. Lee

 

[Hugh MacKay]

Nates: If possible, I plug those big diesels in any time temp drops below 40F. A very high percentage of engine wear occurs the first 5 min a cold engine is running. The block heater benefits for quick engine warm up and low wear far outweigh ability to fire up. Just call the quick fire up a side benefit. Avoid ether if at all possible.