Harvey, I had to drive a diesel for work one time, and it ran the night before just fine, the next morning it would not start. I called my brother who worked at the same place, at that time. He ask if it turned over, I said it did and it puffed out dark smoke, not black like when it's running. He said, did you let the glow plugs heat up?... I turned the key on, and waited for the green light, it started right up. This was in the summer time. I never heard of started one with out letting the plugs warm up. Hope this helps! GOOD TIMES!!!

Ya your going to need to heat the cylinders or use the Go Go juice. My old IH tractor will smoke you out and never fire unless the cylinders are super hot. It uses the old style loop type glow plugs wired in series so it takes about 5 minutes to warm the cylinders enough to fire with out ether. You are going it the right direction.

2003 zero turn, zd18, just finished mowing, got off to take a quick squirt, left it run, made a funny noise, died, won't start. Just turned 800 hours. Starter went bad, new starter, cranks, smokes, won't start? Blows the glow plugs therie out of the water. Still didn't want to start. Now what?

Harvey I called a friend of mine that used to work at the local Kubota dealer when we used to have one. He said glow plug it, it well not start other wise. Hope that helps looking forward to seeing it run.

Harvey all the kubotas i have ever ran needed to have working glow plugs,especially the older engines my mid 80s tractor i have now will always start even in very cold temps but only with the glow plug on for the count of 30 seconds

Hair dryer/heat gun is a good idea , but don’t be afraid of a propane torch either. Perkins 4.236 diesel has a flame thrower in the intake for cold starts. It wasn’t that cold the past few days it should light unless there’s further issues like low compression or a fuel issue

DO NOT SPRAY ANYTHING in the intake. I would leave the throttle closed. Heat the glow plugs 15 seconds, then crank. If it doesn't start, heat the glow plugs another 15 seconds and try again. If it doesn't start rest it for a few minutes and try again. It is very unlikely it will start without heating the glowplugs, especially in the climate you live in. Only certain diesels start without glowplugs and even they need it in really cold weather. Looking forward to hearing it run. Have a good evening.

like i said before,get a real battery and hook up the glow plugs. be careful when playing with diesel injectors,they make big pressure that can kill you if the fuel spray blows a hole in your hand.

Defo need to power the glow plugs, is the starter spinning the engine the correct direction?

Hey Harvey ! Well I have a couple of pickup trucks and they both have diesel engines and the glow plugs do the main work to start them but they are both their own beast. Johnathan ??? has a channel that he owns a tow service and he does some awesome crazy builds. He put a 4 cylinder perkins diesel in a 55 chevy pick up truck. all he had to do was to put power to one spot on the pump I think and with out power it wouln't start. I suggest to go look at your mower that has the diesel I think you have a Kobata and check the connections to see what one has power all the time once the key is on. That is maybe some help but, look at your mower and or your sigh that has the diesel motor and see if it has a wire that brings in 12 v ???

Definitely need the glow plugs the Kubota I had in the cold -10C you can do the comparison to Fahrenheit, lol I had to preheat the glow plugs for about 20 seconds then crank and then preheat again for 20 seconds and it would start.

Those 2 things in behind injectors are the glow plugs just put 12 volts to them and it will definitely fire those old kubotas hate the cold

So did you figure out the problem? I've got the same thing going on lots of smoke and no fire with mine . it's getting fuel it's almost like it's out of time. It fires like it's going to start but just not quite.

I think diesel can be affected if it is stored outside in extreme cold weather.Maybe leaving a can full overnight in a heated room would help.I can remember watching truck drivers lighting fires under their fuel tanks in winter to preheat the fuel.I'm not all that knowledgeable about diesel engines,seems a bit like witchcraft to me!.

she wants to run,Harvey pull the injectors to confirm they spray .I had a four cyl diesel had been sitting for a few yrs when I tried to start it it smoked but no start then finally started for a sec until the injection pump housing cracked could not handle the back pressure from the gummed up injectors

Try adjusting the values

Yes hook up the glow plugs.

20 seconds of glow should fire up lovely thiese engines are indirect injection and need heat unless fully warmed up unlike a direct injection engine that will only need heat when extremely cold below zero

Warm Her Up a little more She Will Go! She is a Old Engine! And Will Need some Heat or a LOT of Cranking.

Hello

Mo power Harv......Ed is on key....go juice toooo/...

Do not use any type of starting fluid! Kubota engine use pre combustion chambers in the cylinder heads. Unless you're looking to scrap that engine, glow the plugs.

and fix that starter drive,that isnt helping.....

your rings are shot. you need new rings. you dont have enough compression

very nice try.

Them little Diesel engines are something else, they don’t put out much HP but they put out a lot of torque, because of the long stroke. I saw a show where a guy had put a little 3 cylinder diesel in a pickup truck, with just one small turbo and he got like 110 hp and 396 or 398 ft lbs of torque, I think it was a engine that came out of a forklift.

i see the big boy charger... i got one that PPG used here. interesting on the block warmer thats not a dip stick which i use. its chuchin

you expect it to start without powering the heater plugs !!!!!!!..... why were they fitted to the engine. ???....let you work it out !