Perkins 354 hard starting?

[kb88]

I've had experience with about half dozen 354s in different equipment and they never seemed to start very good below 40 degrees. I have a 236 that will start at 0. They all had been rebuilt at some point and I've heard talk about the valve protrusion in the head not being right will cause this. If everything in the fuel system is good will the valve protrusion cause that?

 

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I've had experience with about half dozen 354s in different equipment and they never seemed to start very good below 40 degrees. I have a 236 that will start at 0. They all had been rebuilt at some point and I've heard talk about the valve protrusion in the head not being right will cause this. If everything in the fuel system is good will the valve protrusion cause that?

Dad's 1130 always seemed to start good until it was 20 or below. His smoked white quite a bit when cranking. A good set of batteries to get things turning was a must. I have not heard of protrusion causing a cold start issue, but possible I guess. I'd be more inclined to run a compression test and see where your numbers are. The 354 with chrome rings had issues with cracking.

 

[Dieseltech]

YES!!! Valves too deep in the diesel head WILL drop the cold starting ability due too lower heat needed for starting cold. Diesels will RUN with 275 PSI compression but DON'T start well when that low, 350/400 PSI works best for cold starting. I had all new valve seat installed on my Ford 5000 diesel head BECAUSE it would not start well cold. Compression test showed 300 PSI before the seats were installed to get the valves back to where they should be, then 380/400 PSI when the head was back on. Having been repairing pumps and injectors close to fifty years the biggest mistake I've seen is valves AND seats ground and sinking the valves TOO MUCH in most diesel heads which KILLS the cold start compression heat.

 

[kb88]

YES!!! Valves too deep in the diesel head WILL drop the cold starting ability due too lower heat needed for starting cold. Diesels will RUN with 275 PSI compression but DON'T start well when that low, 350/400 PSI works best for cold starting. I had all new valve seat installed on my Ford 5000 diesel head BECAUSE it would not start well cold. Compression test showed 300 PSI before the seats were installed to get the valves back to where they should be, then 380/400 PSI when the head was back on. Having been repairing pumps and injectors close to fifty years the biggest mistake I've seen is valves AND seats ground and sinking the valves TOO MUCH in most diesel heads which KILLS the cold start compression heat.

Hardest part now days is finding a machine shop that will look up the spec

 

[moresmoke]

Had an 1105 that was pretty good down to about 0F. Also had a log skidder with a 236, if it didn't start you had no business being out in the woods!

 

[rustred]

Pretty much any diesel engine is not going to start like on a summer day. I redid the head on my 660 ih to factory spec’s , set the valves .005 below the head surface with new sleeves and pistons. In the summer it was starting with 2 turns of the engine. Now below 40 degrees it takes longer glow plug time and cranks more. My 354 in the Massey combine starts very good in warm weather. But it’s the same deal below 40
Degrees , it will need a sniff of starting fluid. You’re not going to fire up a diesel engine in cool weather without help. Plus good batteries to spin them fast is of upmost importance. I have a 560 ih which the head has never been off or the pump touched. This morning it was under 40 degrees here and I had to start it. Held glow plugs for about a minute and no go. Noticed it was not spinning fast enough. Hooked the truck on it with a boost and it fired right up as it spun faster.

 

[wh]

Had a massey ferguson 275 with a perkins engine. If it was below 40 degrees get out the ether. At same time had a 7600 and a 5600 ford. The 7600 would fire off at 25 degrees as well as a summer day. The 5600 would do that at 15 degrees. Currently have a caseih cx90 with a perkins. Down to 0 and it fires off perfect.

 

[m16ty]

I've got a AD152 Perkins in a MF40, that thing will start at 20 deg as well as it will 100 deg. Best starting diesel I've ever been around.

I've also got a 354 in my Oliver 1850. It's not bad starting, with some manifold heat it will start at 20 deg fairly easy. Anything below 20 you either need to have the block heater plugged in or some really good batteries to run the manifold heater and still have enough juice left over to crank the engine.