How hard should it be to start my 003A when outside temp. is below 40 degrees?

[69zfarmer]

I got my 003A running Friday.Everything looks good and i am thankful nothing was wrong.I had it in my shop Friday night and the temp was probally 35-40 degrees in shop overnight.I went to start it Saturday morning without using glow plugs and it would not start.All it done was blowed out white smoke.I then used to glow plugs for 30 seconds or so and it finally started after alot of knocking and white smoke.Is this normal for it to not start without glow plugs?How long do you hold knob to heat up glow plugs?

 

[doghead]

Yes, that's normal.

Have you read the starting instructions?

and you know to never idle it, right?

 

[simpleserf]

Below 40 I hold My 002a on glow for about a minute. Above 40 I hold glow for 30 sec. Even in 80 degrees, mine needs some preheat. The TM says it will and Onan DJ series always needs some heat.

If you aren't used to them, they all seem hard to start.

 

[edgephoto]

I got my 003A running Friday.Everything looks good and i am thankful nothing was wrong.I had it in my shop Friday night and the temp was probally 35-40 degrees in shop overnight.I went to start it Saturday morning without using glow plugs and it would not start.All it done was blowed out white smoke.I then used to glow plugs for 30 seconds or so and it finally started after alot of knocking and white smoke.Is this normal for it to not start without glow plugs?How long do you hold knob to heat up glow plugs?

That is normal. Read the TM for starting instructions.

 

[ProPower]

If you read the tag on the side of the "unit" it says to preheat for one minute before starting ! Yes they start very hard and "DO NOT LET IT IDLE FOR VERY LONG".

 

[ETN550]

Onan DJ series are old school prechambered diesel engines and are not designed to start cold unaided. The glow plug in the prechamber is most beneficial as it gets orange hot and is hit directly with fuel spray on the injection stroke. Once the prechamber builds temp it will be smooth and smoke free. Prechambered engines also knock a lot when thay are cold due to big ingnition delay when all the fuel goes off at once. Preheating helps minimize the ignition delay which can be hard on headgaskets.

A big advantage of a prechambered engine is the outward opening pintle nozzle in the injector. They are cheap and easy to fix, tolerant of abuse, and they are great for handling alternalte fuels.