Cummins Marine Diesel Repower Specialists › Forums › General Discussion › 2002 5 KW Westerbeke preheating question

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  • January 3, 2019 at 8:13 pm #52033

    Joe Monaco
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Tunacious
    Engines: 3126 TA 420 hp
    Location: San Diego
    Country: USA

    What is a normal amount of time to hold the preheat when it’s colder? Also how long is too long for the motor to start after hitting the starter? Today I held pre heat for 30 seconds and it took about 15 seconds to start. Which seemed like a long time to run the starter. Normal?? At what point in hard cold starting would I need to check out the glow plug condition? Machine has about 700 hours and runs fine once started and starts right up if it’s warmed up. Thanks!

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  • January 31, 2019 at 7:16 am #55982

    Joe Monaco
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Tunacious
    Engines: 3126 TA 420 hp
    Location: San Diego
    Country: USA

    To follow up on this topic. As mentioned as a possibility by other posters my start batteries were weak/bad. The preheat was draining them and when I hit the starter the generator was not turning over as it should delaying the start.

    New batteries it starts right up the way it’s use to. Thanks to all!

    January 25, 2019 at 9:26 pm #55452

    Fireisland1
    Participant
    Vessel Name: Riverwind
    Engines: cummins QSB 380
    Location: long island n.y.
    Country: usa

    There are a few things you can do .
    Charge and test battery condition
    Clean and check pos – neg connections { all }
    Do an amp test on each glow plug. They should be about the same on all
    If everything checks out. And still is slow . Add a heater.
    If it doesn’t spin faster when hot , have starter tested.

    January 4, 2019 at 6:21 am #52054

    Rob Schepis
    Forum Moderator
    Vessel Name: Tenacious
    Engines: 6BTA 5.9 330's - "Seaboard Style"
    Location: Long Island, NY
    Country: USA

    Battery Voltage

    Just another example of the many ways every boat would benefit from a set of DVM’s for every bank. This is a Yanmar powered 5KW Kohler genset with a Grp 27 crank battery.

    https://youtu.be/m4RD6nEACJM

    January 4, 2019 at 5:06 am #52051

    Tony Athens
    Moderator
    Vessel Name: Local Banks
    Engines: QSB 6.7 550 HP
    Location: Oxnard, CA
    Country: USA

    Pre-Combustion chamber Diesel w/ Glow Plugs

    Joe,

    Sounds like you have “glow plugs” and the time it takes to get the engine to start will mostly depend on the temp of the engine block & head when you try and start it. There is no set rule or time. Other things that affect “how long” are the conditions of the batteries and that actual cranking voltage/cranking RPM you have during that mode. Also, lower compression from engine wear or ??, affect start-up time. The slower the engine cranks, the longer start-up will take. … Put a 125W Oil pan heater on the engines oil pan and run it 24-7 at the dock if you are really concerned and want a much quicker start-up………..It’s all about heat 1st, and then fuel as to how fast the engine starts.

    Tony

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