Re: TWL: Re: Lehman cold start
I think Wayne has summed it up quite accurately. I can remember when I was
in the Air Force (many years ago) that many of the diesel generators had
crankcase heaters and engine block heaters to keep the engine block and oil
warm for quick starts. I am not sure, but I think battery capacity also
decreases as the temperature drops below freezing.
I have been very interested in Captn Wil's epistles on synthetic oil and
just recently had to drive from Florida to freezing New York in our Ford
Expedition. While in New York I noticed that the Expedition was very slow
cranking and did a lot of clanking after starting. To indulge my curiosity
about synthetic oil, I took advantage of an advertised special for a $29 oil
and filter change using Mobil 1. After the change, I was amazed at the
engine's ease of starting and running at temperatures below 30 degrees. I am
now seriously thinking of trying the Mobil Delvac 1 synthetic oil in my
American Diesel and genset. According to the Mobil engineer I spoke with, it
creates less friction between the moving parts and has better cleaning or
detergent qualities than regular oil.
Consider installing a crankcase or engine block heater to keep the engine
block and oil warm, or try using a multi viscosity oil or using a synthetic
to help with the cold starting.
Al
M/V Pleasant Moment
Pacific Trawler 37
Palm Coast, FL
snip >>>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 13:24:52 EST
From: Albin43Tr@aol.com
Subject: Re: TWL: Re: Lehman cold start
'lo all,
<< Im looking for an answer too. My Lehman is really slow cranking in this
cold weather. 30 degrees. >>
I think you are possibly missing the most salient factor that is causing
your
slow starting/cranking engines .... it is cold .... the oil and battery are
cold .... the oil is thicker (even multi-viscosity) .... thick oil takes
more
to energy to allow parts to slip .... more energy required means more energy
consumed .... means larger load on the battery .... means a higher voltage
drop across all resistances in between the battery and starter as well as
lower output from the cold battery .... means lower power at the starter
....
means starter turns slower .... means less heat is generated due to
compression per second of time .... means cold block absorbs lots of the
heat
generated that would normally go to start your engine .... means you have to
keep cranking until you get enough heat in the compressed air/fuel mixture
to
ignite it. And, if you crank too long, your starter can overheat, burn out
and you get to buy a new one.
Yes, this is possibly over simplified ....
Wayne
M/V Celestial
Albin 43 Sundeck<<<
I do not claim to be an expert, but my wife and I have driven our small VW
diesels over 300K miles. Our old 52 hp. Jetta would occasionally need to be
cranked hard during our New England winters and we used more than our share
of batteries. It did have a block heater and it did better when it was
plugged in. After a lot of reading on the VW TDI web site I decided to use
Mobil 1 when we bought our Passat Diesel. The Mobil 1 seems to have
eliminated the need to do any hard cranking, although that may be due to the
TDI technology being better. It may be interesting to note that many VW
Diesel owners are using Delvac and swearing by it. They indicate the need
to do significantly fewer oil changes using the Delvac. I may be less of a
risk taker so I change the Mobil 1 at 5K.
I have not taken the next step to use Mobil 1 or Delvac in my Lehman 135,
but I am considering it. I do use multi-viscosity in the Lehman and Onan
Generator due to our New England temperature extremes. I still have some
doubts about the possibility of viscosity breakdown and would probably use a
single weight in southern climes.
Peter North
Salty Dog KK42 # 52
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-trawler-world-list@samurai.com
[mailto:owner-trawler-world-list@samurai.com] On Behalf Of Dr. Al Miller
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2001 8:34 AM
To: trawler-world-list
Subject: Re: TWL: Re: Lehman cold start
I think Wayne has summed it up quite accurately. I can remember when I was
in the Air Force (many years ago) that many of the diesel generators had
crankcase heaters and engine block heaters to keep the engine block and oil
warm for quick starts. I am not sure, but I think battery capacity also
decreases as the temperature drops below freezing.
I have been very interested in Captn Wil's epistles on synthetic oil and
just recently had to drive from Florida to freezing New York in our Ford
Expedition. While in New York I noticed that the Expedition was very slow
cranking and did a lot of clanking after starting. To indulge my curiosity
about synthetic oil, I took advantage of an advertised special for a $29 oil
and filter change using Mobil 1. After the change, I was amazed at the
engine's ease of starting and running at temperatures below 30 degrees. I am
now seriously thinking of trying the Mobil Delvac 1 synthetic oil in my
American Diesel and genset. According to the Mobil engineer I spoke with, it
creates less friction between the moving parts and has better cleaning or
detergent qualities than regular oil.
Consider installing a crankcase or engine block heater to keep the engine
block and oil warm, or try using a multi viscosity oil or using a synthetic
to help with the cold starting.
Al
M/V Pleasant Moment
Pacific Trawler 37
Palm Coast, FL
snip >>>Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001 13:24:52 EST
From: Albin43Tr@aol.com
Subject: Re: TWL: Re: Lehman cold start
'lo all,
<< Im looking for an answer too. My Lehman is really slow cranking in this
cold weather. 30 degrees. >>