Go BottomNortrac Tractor Hard to start
 | hoggpops
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 13 west texas 
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2008-10-04 157021
I live in West Texas, recieved my NorTrac 254 a month ago and it was hard to start even when it was 95*-100*, using the heater position on the start key didn't seem to make much difference. Don't think it will start at all when temps get lower than 40*. The manual says NOT to use starting fluid. I grew up on a farm in the northern panhandle of Tx and know how to start tractors in cold weather , but , we didn't have Chinese tractors--- any help out there ??
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 | auerbach
Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 2168 West of Toronto 
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2008-10-04 157022
If that's from Northern Tools, have you asked them? If it's valves out of adjustment, bad injectors, blocked air supply, whatever, they should look after it.
I'm sure you know routine servicing and starting techniques. If it were just temp-sensitive, you could ask your fuel supplier about winter-grade diesel or recommended additives, but this seems to be a problem the seller should fix.
Texas is not Antarctica, and any decent diesel should start in the winter without aids such as decompression, heater, glow-plugs. ....
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 | candoarms
Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1932 North Dakota 
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2008-10-04 157026
Hoggpops,
Could you tell us how long you leave the key in the heat position before attempting to start the tractor?
Glow plugs are nothing more than simple heating elements. It takes somewhere between 10 and 20 seconds for them to hot enough to help with starting.
After allowing the glow plugs to heat up good, your tractor should start quickly on starter contact. If not, I'd suspect that you have faulty glow plugs, or possibly an electrical problem in the glow plug circuit.
You can check to see if you have power going to the glow plugs easy enough. This test may eliminate any electrical circuit problem. You could also remove the glow plugs, one at a time, to see if they're actually heating.
I would first attempt to eliminate the glow plugs and the related electrical circuit. Once I know that the glow plugs are working properly, I would then move forward with a compression check on the cylinders. (diesel fuel requires extreme compression....about 18:1).
At low rpms, such as when starting the engine, the slightest loss of compression (dirty valve seat / pitted valve / cracked head gasket) can cause the engine not to fire. At higher rpms, a tiny amount of compression loss will not prevent the engine from running.
Joel ....
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 | greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2008-10-04 157028
When you turn the key to the HEAT position, the ammeter should register ~25 amps draw (more or less depending upon the temperature of the glow plugs). As they heat, you should be able to observe the ammeter needle returning toward zero. When the needle gets down between 15-18A (the colder it is, the longer this will take), open the compression release and turn the keyswitch to START. While the starter motor is cranking, switch your attention to the oil pressure gauge. As soon as you see the pressure come up, let go of the compression release. The engine should catch. Let go of the keyswitch. The spring return should move the key back to the RUN position.
//greg// ....
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| hoggpops
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 13 west texas
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2008-10-04 157029
I started out @ 10 sec then went to 15-20 sec, works better but still a little rough idle for about 30 sec after it starts. The tractor only has 10 hrs. ....
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| hoggpops
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 13 west texas
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2008-10-04 157030
I did notice that the guage pulled down, so i figured that the g plugs are working. I had 2 D9 Cats in Nigeria that would not start without the glow plugs and the ambient temp would be around 120*. They had manifold heaters instead of cylender glow plugs. If they went out I would have to hold a gas-soaked rag over the intake to start them,,,aint gonna do that with this tractor,, Northern might just have to come and get it back. ....
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| greg_g
Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1816 Western Kentucky
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2008-10-04 157032
I forgot one item in the procedure I described above; while cold starting, the hand throttle should be at about 50 percent.
Plus, the Y385 engine is a notorious hard starter anyway. I mentioned ~25A draw on a cold engine on purpose. Colder it gets, the more it will draw. Middle of winter it can be nearly 30A. But for this weather, ~25A should be normal. If you see less, you may simply have one or more bad glow plugs.
See if you can get Northern to send you a new set. Even at that, some have been known to be bad right outa the box. Do resistance checks on them before installation.
//greg//
....
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| Paul161
Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 12 Loris, SC and Locust Grove, Oklahoma
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2009-03-05 160807
My Foton has a Perkins engine in it and I hold the glow plugs on for a full 30 seconds in the winter. It will run a little rough for about a minute. 90% of the time, I don't need them in the summer. ....
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| hoggpops
Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 13 west texas
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2009-03-05 160820
This Nortrac is hard-starting too,, usualy 15 sec. is enough but it doesn't mater what the temp outside is-hot or cold.
Thanks for your reply,
Jan (hoggpops) ....
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| ibgrumpy
Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 3 upstate NY
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2009-03-06 160853
I have an NT254 purchased last July. I love it! At temperatures in the 70s I still had to use glow plugs for 10 seconds or so. Down below 40 I needed at least 30 seconds on the glow plugs and even then had to try 2 or 3 times. In sub-freezing temperatures it doesn't stand a chance without a block heater. I do not use throttle or compression release though, maybe I should. Just wanted to let you know that they are hard to start but that is normal. ....
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