The "correct" way to start a diesel engine.

[jollyrodger]

The old Marathon I used to drive ,fruit mkts on way up and roof tiles back from Sandtoft Yorks
Use to start up early morning and cover the airfield in white smoke in the colder winters till things got warmed up

 

[Barclaybasher]

there was me thinking to start a real diesel engine, you switch on the ignition and crank the handle

On a real diesel you don't even have an ignition key

 

[jollyrodger]

"Fag ends" and a compressor resavoir. ..and ear muffs

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Had one car which needed the clutch pedal depressing to start.

But in a manual I always start the car with clutch pedal down, having driven a lot of multi user cars where last person has left it in gear...certainly wakes you up as you lurch forward

Any car Should be parked in gear or Park if an auto. Some handbrakes are notoriously poor & unreliable. Advanced driving page 1.

 

[jonandshell]

Any car Should be parked in gear. Some handbrakes are notoriously poor & unreliable. Advanced driving page 1.

Not doubting what is written, but that advice sounds like it is from the 50s!
A non-functioning handbrake is illegal under Road Vehicle Construction and Use Regs, is it not?

You wouldn't pass an MOT with an inefficient handbrake after all.

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[Mrsambulancekidd]

The older tractors that I knew required about 5 mins worth of heater plugs followed by 5 mins of cranking. One cylinder would fire up, them a few more got lonely & joined in, then all four would finally sing. The clutch pedal required to be pressed all the way home to the slip clutch before they'd engage the starter.
Our TDI Discovery's didn't required heater plugs to start (user manual instructions) unless temp was about -20c but always started instantly. Today's heater plugs hit their start temp in one or two seconds & are barely noticeable, we had a brand new diesel Ford Galaxy powershift in 2011 & that had a starter button & wouldn't crank over til it was happy that the heater plugs had done they're work. You just hit the button & let go, the car's computer did the rest.

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Not doubting what is written, but that advice sounds like it is from the 50s!
A non-functioning handbrake is illegal under Road Vehicle Construction and Use Regs, is it not?

You wouldn't pass an MOT with an inefficient handbrake after all.

Couldn't disagree more, even some very recent vehicles had appalling handbrakes, try Mercedes Sprinters 2001 til 2006 & VWs Transporters of the same era simply could not be trusted on a hill & the manufacturer's advice was that it was a "Characteristic" NOT A FAULT??? Plenty on here will have ran or are still running these vehicles as moho's. However, if you like to trust a handbrakes mechanism, carry on as you are! Today's news has an example of serious injury or death (can't remember which) of a runaway vehicle.

 

[TheBig1]

Any car Should be parked in gear or Park if an auto. Some handbrakes are notoriously poor & unreliable. Advanced driving page 1.

I learnt that and to turn the steering to the curb when I was first taught to drive. we lived on a very steep hill and saw several vehicles pop their handbrake and roll away at speed. had a couple of our vehicles hit by such runaways and next door had the wall demolished a few times. such things stick in your memory

 

[Techno]

I don't have a clutch pedal and I can start it in gear or in neutral
Obviously the computer must disconnect the gearbox for me as gears are not engaged until accelerator is depressed

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

I learnt that and to turn the steering to the curb when I was first taught to drive. we lived on a very steep hill and saw several vehicles pop their handbrake and roll away at speed. had a couple of our vehicles hit by such runaways and next door had the wall demolished a few times. such things stick in your memory

Interesting - on some streets in San Francisco you will get a ticket if you don't leave your wheels turned into the kerb.

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[Barclaybasher]

In France if parked in a street full of cars you are expected to leave your handbrake OFF and out of gear...... so that you could 'push' your way in, or 'push' your way out...................

 

[mpdcymru]

Off thread a little but I remember an old Daf 55 automatic that had to be started in gear (otherwise you could not engage drive or reverse). The thing you had to remember though was to keep your foot HARD on the footbrake, especially if the choke (some may be too young to remember those) was out otherwise it would leap forward (or back). Fabulous little car I remember and it would beat any 1275 mini away from the lights!

Also had several Hyundais that needed clutch down to start.

 

[pyro]

I agree with the comments regarding handbrake efficiencies (or lack of)

MOT requirements appear to demand 25% efficiency on handbrake, which is pretty inadequate IMO Link Removed

I always park in gear, and generally leave wheels turned into the curb on hills

 

[Enword]

Friends had Electronic Handbrake fail, car ran away & hit a wall,think Vauxhall had probs with E Handbrake as well once, leave it in gear

 

[tonyidle]

there was me thinking to start a real diesel engine, you switch on the ignition and crank the handle

Switch on what??

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[roamingman]

there was me thinking to start a real diesel engine, you switch on the ignition and crank the handle

After leaving school got a job as a coalman, the motor we had was a Thames Trader, it got worse and worse got to the state of me in drivers seat pulling up the starter handle in the cab with left hand and leaning out of the door going underneath the wing and pushing in the solniod button with right hand and boss cranked the handle at the front.

 

[jonandshell]

Ok, so we carry on driving a dangerously defective vehicle, but mitigate our negligence by leaving it in gear.
Explain that to the courts......

 

[gus-lopez]

After leaving school got a job as a coalman, the motor we had was a Thames Trader, .

Saw one of those locally today

 

[Mrsambulancekidd]

Off thread a little but I remember an old Daf 55 automatic that had to be started in gear (otherwise you could not engage drive or reverse). The thing you had to remember though was to keep your foot HARD on the footbrake, especially if the choke (some may be too young to remember those) was out otherwise it would leap forward (or back). Fabulous little car I remember and it would beat any 1275 mini away from the lights!

Also had several Hyundais that needed clutch down to start.

Ah that was the vehicle that eventually became a Volvo of all things. A good idea but with very poor actuation. The belts actually pushed the car, not pulling as many people thought.

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

Thanks guys, and gals, for some very informative input.

I've certainly learnt something today and maybe others have too.

Thanks

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[Mrsambulancekidd]

Ok, so we carry on driving a dangerously defective vehicle, but mitigate our negligence by leaving it in gear.
Explain that to the courts......

Without being rude about it, what else could you do? The vehicles that I've mentioned had that had this "characteristic" & you were stuck with it. You can get the handbrake to scrape through the MOT but within a few weeks of driving the handbrake was a no no.
Lets try putting it another way, what does it cost to park a car in gear? Nothing, so you've got belt & braces free of charge. Not much is free in this day & age.
Try reading this, then try convincing me of your point of view, oh & just to focus your point of view, imagine that this child was your son!!! Nasty, I should say so, but the kid was someones son.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-37431503
Oh one other problem might have been that the Sprinter ambulance has this type of crap handbrake, so you wonder why the paramedics turn the vehicle off instead of running safe mode & as luck would have it, the Police might arrive in the same type of vehicle!

BTW safe mode means, engine running, no keys in ignition & unable to drive off without the keys, this was supposed to allow the crew to have full vehicle generating power to charge the three 130 amp gel batteries. Some hope, the batteries last about 6 months tops!

 

[Larrynwin]

The disadvantage of the tiptronic gearbox unlike a real automatic is it has no park position so the handbrake must be totally relied on.

My Hymer / Fiat was supplied with park chocks which must be used in some European countries when parking on a slope according to the handbook.
The square wheel next ?

 

[The Dotties]

The handbook for my 2011 Ducato advises depressing the clutch pedal on cold starting.

 

[Jaws]

When I worked on fork trucks I was given the firms diesel transit pickup.
Official clock on time was 8am.
I was allowed to arrive 40 minutes later as I had to wait for the milkman to turn up so I could jump from his big ol' batteries.
Thing had a york engine and even after a rebuild it was still a bitch to start on a cold morning.. And that soon degenerated to a will not start situation within a couple of thousand miles.
In the end the guv'nor allowed me to use easy start which SOMETIMES got the bloody thing fired up..
Ended up fitting an easy start remote can so I could give it a squirt from inside the cab !

 

[vwalan]

The disadvantage of the tiptronic gearbox unlike a real automatic is it has no park position so the handbrake must be totally relied on.

My Hymer / Fiat was supplied with park chocks which must be used in some European countries when parking on a slope according to the handbook.
The square wheel next ?

in many eu countries its law that you use wheel chocks if on a marked slope if your vehicle is over 3,500kg .
its another spanish police money maker.

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[Peter A Forbes]

Here's how we start our diesel:





Peter

 

[maxi77]

I believe the reason for depressing the clutch was to loose the drag of the gearbox when the oil was cold. Certainly you could tell the difference on the1928 Austin 12/4 I used to own. With modern lubricants it is probably a close thing between the drag of the gearbox and the drag of the clutch. I had an old BMC B series diesel in a boat and they suggested 1/3 throttle after 30 seconds preheat. All I do on the car or the van these days is wait for the preheat light to go out and start, works a treat every time.

 

[WillH]

I remember one diesel generator we would start with a roll of 35mm film and a bengal match, worked every time!

 

[Larrynwin]

an easy one

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEejYf6cfuE

 

[maxi77]

We used to start Napier Deltic engines with a blank 12 bore cartridge, 0 to 1800 rpm in the flash of an eye

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