"Cerumen" wrote in message
...

"Ted Bell" wrote in message
...
When it's very cold I have a hard time cranking my diesel. I was
wondering if I put Tilley wicks saturated in meths around the
injectors and lit them if it would warm up the injectors enough to
vaporize the fuel better. Anybody ever try it?

No but I have warmed a reluctant deisel with a blow lamp before now,
heat inlet manifold and then crank. Another tip is to cover, if you
can, the inlet port which can make the engine spin a lot faster,
remove the blockage and inertia helps to start it.


--
Chris, West Cork, Ireland.


If I've read it right a diesel compresses the air to a very great
extent. The compression heats the air so much that fuel self-ignites
when injected into the hot air. Even if it's very cold it's my
understanding the compressed air is still hot enough to ignite the fuel.
So it seems to me if the fuel doesn't ignite maybe it's because it's so
cold and thick that the injectors don't spray it in properly. Maybe just
dribbles of larger droplets that are reluctant to burn. So heating the
injectors seems like it would take care of that problem. Sort of the
same principle that a pressure diesel stove uses to pre-heat the fuel.
Meths don't burn all that hot so although it might blacken the paint I
can't see where it would damage the injector. I think I'll give it a go.
.. .

Thanks to all who responded.

I'm Ted Bell!