[Vwdiesel] winter fronts

[Drew MacPherson]

On Sun, 16 Feb 2003, Harmon Seaver wrote:

>    When diesels came along? I think Rudolph Diesel built his first successful
> engine in 1896. 8-)

Smart alek... :)  I was referring to when diesels became readily available
and viable on the agricultrual and industrial scenes in the 40s and 50s.

>    Actually my garden tractor has the option of burning
> kerosene. You can get order a dual fuel tank and bigger jets for the carb, and
> also a different (lower compression) head. I've also read of people wrapping a
> copper fuel line around the exhaust manifold to heat up the fuel to lower the
> viscosity. A lot of older gas tractors had this option, it's still quite popular
> and widely used in Europe and the Third World. You have to start on gasoline,
> get the engine hot, then switch over -- and also switch back to gas before
> stopping.

Yes, the dual-fuel option (low grade (kerosene) and gasoline was an option
on most agricultural tractors in the 30s and 40s.  A few of our antiques
have it.

>     Did you ever check the thermostat? I'll be it was stuck wide-open, which is
> the normal fail-mode.
>

There was nothing wrong with the thermostat.  At -45 C the air in the
engine compartment was robbing heat from the block, and the thermostat
never had a chance to open.  The cardboard on the grille reduced the flow
of air through the engine compartment and helped the engine stay warmer.
Once the temps "warmed up" from a chilly -50 to a balmy -30C range (I was
on a round trip to North Bay, Ontario) the engine returned to normal
operating temperature.