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Hello we are finding it hard to start our 911 in cold conditions first thing in the morning.

She started first time in patagonia at minus degrees but now in peru she takes a long time to start.

we have put in diesel additive for icing but it seems to not help. when we turn her over we have to pump the accelerator for a good minute and she starts with a lot of white smoke.

when warmed up she will start in minus degrees no problem.

any ideas on what this is or is it just normal

cheers david

http://www.nessiesadventures.com

She started first time in patagonia at minus degrees

What minus degrees are you talking about, it's certainly not -1°C, is it?

Below -10 / -15°C the willingness to start decreases even at sea level, but Peru sounds like high altitude too and this combination does not sound ideal for a smooth starting procedure.

My 352 engine is reasonably new, but its white smoke in winter during the first 5 minutes is frequently mentioned in the weather forecasts ".... sunny intervals with some patches of heavy fog in certain rural areas..."

Have you ever tried something like a hot water bottle to warm up the injection pump? Sometimes it also helps a little bit NOT to park the car with the front into the cold headwinds.

But, most importantly:


DON'T PANIC


Cheers mate,

Jochen

Hi,

white smoke is normal for cold engine, this is simply steam of diesel.

I think you should check the glow system.
I'm not expert with 911 but there are in principle two systems in use.

One system is using a glow plug per cylinder. There are switched in line (new systems are parallel switched). This is normal for a lot of engines with swirl chamber.
Direct injection engines mostly using a flame start system. There is a glow plug installed in the air intake combined with a vent to inject diesel. After glowing a while a bimetal switch in the in-line resistor with the glow plug will turn on an release the vent to inject diesel. When pressing the start button the fuel pump injects diesel to the glow plug, this will cause a combustion in the air intake and hot air into the engine.

Whatever system you have you should check all electrical contacts. In most cases there is some fault, either broken fuse or bad contact. Sometimes also the glow plugs are gone. A multimeter to measure voltage is a good choice to find out the problematic part.

A lot you will find in the forum by searching "Vorglühanlage" or "Glühkerzen" or "Flammstart".

If possible dont use start pilot, extensive use will kill the engine more or less with time. Better preheat with a gasjet.

Best regards

Veit

I'm not expert with 911

No need to mention this explicitly, your answer has already suggested it, matey


OM 352 (one of the most built and used engines since the early 1960ies) has direct injection without any dingly donglies like "Flammstartanlage" that could have a malfunction of electrical contacts etc.

Better preheat with a gasjet.

Point taken!

Jochen

thanks for the quick replies,
we have not checked the overnight temperature around -5 degrees or so but we have been high - around 4,000 or so metres so this won't have helped. Our truck didn't complain so much in these conditions before.
but we did promise her tropical beaches this year to warm her up, so we head north to Ecuador then onto Colombia and Venezuela, should help with the diesel price also in Venezuela/

many thanks again

dave

Hello, Are the batteries charging ok and the condition of the batteries?

Peru is a high place and vehicles will work different then in somewhere of low levels like Holland/Denmark.

It has been a frost at night in England the last two evenings and snow in the mountains of Scotland.

Hi checked the batteries a few weeks ago and topped them up and they seem to be charging o.k
have been sitting for four days now so tomorrow will start her up and see.

nice to hear scotland is getting some more snow ha ha
cheers
dave

Possible waxing of the diesel overnight in cold mountain areas?

Not sure if the fuel filters have been changed/checked? (If running normal after starting then no issue)

I ALWAYS use a fine mesh funnel filter when filling up with cans and make sure the tank neck/pick up pipe/inline filters are cleaned often.

Some fuel bulk tanks contain water which causes running problems.

Cheers for those thoughts but our OM352 engine is terrific for coping with dodgy fuel unlike some of the more modern engines.....
Waxing is the common problem in the altiplano but we have used special additive or petrol to help prevent this.
Going to start her up soon after 5 days of being parked, so we'll see what happens...........