Ruggerini starting and glow plugs

[albertaphil]

As I put together my superdream with a ruggerini md151 I'm staring at the glow plug sticking out of the intake manifold. It isnt hooked up right now and wondering if I will need to bother. I don't have much experience with the engine but any playing I have done in the shop says the engine starts easily

But starting at ten degrees in the shop isn't the same as a frosty morning outside. What other experience have you all had on this regard with your ruggerinis?

I am not using the Honda starter solenoid for starting now so I think I could it as a relay to run the glow plug couldn't I?

[alexanderfoti]

The relay should be powerfull enough to handle the glow plugs.

I'm not familiar with the md151. If it's indirect injection then you should use them as it will be difficult to start when it's really cold without.

[coachgeo]

IMHO always use glow plugs if it has them OEM. The diesel engine is a heat/compression engine. If it has glow plugs then the manufacture has determined heat added at startup is necessary for true clean combustion at startup (most possible complete combustion at cold startup). It may start w/out Glow plugs; just not cleanly (not full combustion). Start up is hardest on the engine. Unburnt fuel from not clean/full combustion causes long term ill effects though maybe not felt in short term.

If you've started it for sometime without glowplugs then after getting your glow plugs hooked up and tested to be working properly; I would take large measure to clean the engine before next oil change- Run fuel cleaners (my favorite is Lubra Molly diesel purge). Would even consider following someone's temporary method of water mist into combustion space for cleaning. Do a net search and choose a menthod your comfortable with after reading up on it. This is to clean the pistons and rings as best you can w/out taking the engine apart.

Then change all your oil.

[Diesel Dave]

I'd say you will definitely need the glow plug and yes the old starter solenoid would be perfect.

As Rugs are basically twin cylinder Lombardini's and I have lots of experience starting mine in winter usually involving WD40 and a lot of sweat; so I'd choose the glow plug route every time.

[albertaphil]

Ok then, how long should I heat the glow plug? Are these 10 second plugs or 1 minute plugs? Also, should I put a fuse In the wire from the solenoid to the glow plug? There wasn't one in the starter circuit, but all automatic glow systems on cars have some form of fuse protection...

[sbrumby]

I think you will find the md151 is a direct injection engine and under normal conditions would not need extra heat. I would suspect what you have is not a glowplug you would see in an indirect engine as in one per cylinder that heats the air in the injection area which is not the piston area. I would suspect what you have in the manifold is a preburner that needs electric and diesel. These are fitted to many tractors to help start in cold climats. When you activevate the power it heats a coil and also opens a valve that lets in diesel which then burns as it contacts the hot coil. So its like a fire in the manifold. Years ago trucks were started with a burning newspaper down the air intake.

[albertaphil]

The md151 is indeed a direct injection engine and as such has no precombustion chamber in which to put a glow plug in the normal sense.
[attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1395622570629.jpg[/attachment]

[attachment=-1]uploadfromtaptalk1395622610445.jpg[/attachment]

As the pics show, it looks like a normal glow plug of the style my old vw's had, but it is in the air intake, with no fuel injector. So I guess it is just a simple intake air heater.

Sorry my pics are sideways...this is a very technomological doowhacky.

Sam, I take it your md191 doesn't have one of these things.

[albertaphil]

Hmmm. There aren't any pics, are there? That means I will have to try to sit down at an actual computer, which is something I don't do very often anymore.