December 26th, 2008.
Boys, We're getting mighty scientific here..... My observation of my deuce is as follows: If it's much below 10*F above, she's likely going to need the flame heater. How do I know if it's working? When I crank the truck and hit the heater switch, she fires almost instantly.... And the exhaust plume will change color accordingly.... The manual says to use it intermittently as the truck warms up to even it out if its running rough and to help the truck get up to operating temperature. The Multifuel diesel seems to be more forgiving on cold starts then do most modern diesels, even those with glow plugs or ether starting systems, I guess the Army just figured "Winter Happens"
. The German Diesels I have worked with, primarily the Deutz Air Cooled FL912's never needed the ether to start, even at -30*F, they would run rough first time and cut out within 30 seconds, second time they'd run and pick right up to speed. If I could afford a Deutz for the Deuce, it would be seriously tempting as the reliability is exceptional.
By comparision, my 1963 Swiss Unimogwith the M180 6 cylinder gas engine (134 CID) is a abosuute dinosaur about starting when cold, and it has to be choked just about untill it gets near operating temperature.... then it's a whole different beast. The Mercedes Benz diesels in the Unimogs would be worth knowing about as to how they handle winter, as most younger Unimogs are diesels.....
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I hope you guys have a safe and proseperous New Years.....
Cheers,
Kyle F. McGrogan
1971 Kaiser Jeep M35A2 Wo/W "Saddam's Nightmare"
1963 Swiss Army Cargo Unimog, S.404.114
1968 Johnson Corp M105A2 Cargo Trailer
1967 Hercules MEP023A Gas Gen Set APU