We have a 1998 JD 270 skid steer, 4.5L 1500hrs. Anytime it gets cold darn thing wont start just seems like it wont spin fast enough to fire. Starts fine all other times, have replaced battery and alternator. Reads 13.8v sitting and only .4 milli amp draw. Ive never seen a warmer light come on, anyone else had any problems with this machine or anything to go after? :Banghead
What does the manual say? Do you have glow plugs or a heat grid in the air stream? Must be a preheater of some kind and probably just a fuse or relay not working but you still should see a countdown or indication of preheat.
Machine is equiped with a screw in intake heater, not sue if thats considered a heat grid or not. Broke out multimeter and found power to heater solenoid would just flash on then off, same with indicator light. After a visit to dealer to get wiring schematic I decided to order auto preheat unit as everything else seemed to check out.
Went to start machine today, first checked bat voltage 12.2. Low preheated manually
And turned over very slow no go. What should I expect to see for a draw when not running? Replaced battery and alternator last year for same problem never resolved just got warmer
The preheat is manual, I would run it at least count of 30, 60 if real cold. Also a block heater would be a big help. As to turning over slow, hard to tell what is slow without seeing it. The 4.5 is a pretty big 4 banger, they don't wing over very fast when stone cold. Tractors with the same engine, I have little faith in starting under 30 if not plugged in. That aside, what do the cables look like? Grounds look good? A bad ground can do a good starter in pretty quick
The pre heater is automatic, by manual I meant that I jumped the terminals on the solenoid. I previously cleaned the ground to chassis and engine and both battery terminals. Alternator charges at 14.3v. Have a block heater but nowhere to plug in. I was going to get a manual switch but no one could tell me if it would just plug in without rewire.
I know 240 and 250 have a manual switch, I was pretty sure that largers did too.
Hate to say it, but maybe it's just a slow starter? I have a 4-276 from late 80's in a backhoe, and that baby starts great in the cold, at least if I have a good OR warm battery in it. It's never not started if it cranked, even down to zero at least. I'm pretty sure I don't have any intake heater. Best cold starting diesel I've ever seen, regardless of hours. What happens if you take the battery inside over night? or jump it from some warm batteries with a good set of jumper cables if the battery is a pain to remove and replace. Also, a thinner oil may help, or maybe you just need a few thousand more hours on the clock??? How cold are you talking about?
Do away with the intake heater and put ether aid on it.
I once disconnected battery overnight with no change but should try again. As for jumping, I think you could jump it with a dead battery. As soon as you connect another power source fires right up, even with out any preheat. By temps low this problem starts as soon as overnight temps dip into the 40's. note, does not matter if I jump to battery terminal or chassis.
Dipping into the 40's?! that's when you start to wonder if the really old stuff is going to start, not something that new. I don't think it should need any heaters either until well under freezing. Try a different battery. If it starts fine with just a little jump then the starter's fine. Possibly still a bad connection, but I'm betting a better battery will do it. Maybe the battery got drained too low and/or froze? the draw didn't sound out of line, and you already replaced the alternator so I doubt it's draining the battery, but 12.2v is pretty low. Just thinking out loud and waiting to hear what the real fix is...
Can someone offer some insight on the testing and operation of the coldstart advance system?
Old thread but for anyone in the same situation this ended up being a bad starter :Banghead. On the plus side I got the two cold start assist systems working and machine fires up no matter the temp. :drinkup