I have a 1979 Case 580c that I purchased in the spring, last weekend went to start it on a cold morning (without pulling in the heater block). It turned over serveral times without starting with black smoke coming out of the exhaust. The battery was a bit weak at the start and then it wouldn't turn it over, so I charged the battery and pulled in the heater block and now it will not turn over quickly. I do not know a lot about diesel engines, but could it be locked up with fuel on top of the piston? Any help would be great, trying to get wood in for the winter and need the backhoe. Brian
A few things can cause the engine to spin slowly in cold weather. Start with the basics: Make sure the battery cable terminals are clean and tight on both ends (Battery and starter) Use multi-grade oil for winter use (5w30 or 15w40) Try using a different battery to see if cranks better. I use a 680 cold cranking amp on mine. Check the starter. May just need cleaning or it may need to be rebuilt or replaced. If the engine spins at all it is not locked from fuel. I have a 580C 1976 model and it is a tad bit slower to spin once the temperature drops below 40 degrees but it still starts without a heater.
Need to put a load test on your battery, next check cable ends. If crank speed does not come up i would pull the starter and have it checked out. Winter weather is hard on the starting system and depending on the engine, you could have factors that would require the starting system to really be at it's peak. Engines will load up on raw fuel when the crank speed dosen't have enough to build compression. The normal compression starting is around 380 psi at 200 rpm, then around 480 psi at 800 rpm running. Some other things to check, quick connects at the backhoe mounting causing a hyd pump flow issue putting a drag to the engine starting threw the hyd pump flow. I would go with battery load, cable ends and ground, then starter service, hope this helps.
as was suggested before (and if the battery is in good condition) make sure the terminals are clean and have good contact, especially the braided ground cable to the frame!. if this cable corrodes, you will not have sufficient current flowing to the starter. same goes for the battery posts and terminals at starter...
thanks everybody for the ideas, as it turns out the 11 month old battery died. I was able to get it started with a power pack on the starter, thing fired right off. Can not believe the battery died like that.