Hey guys I am wondering if anyone else has trouble starting this engine in the colder weather. This will crank and spit and sputter and if I don't catch it right the first time it will refuse to start! IT IS A 1990 WHICH I BOUGHT NEW IN AN 1811 MODEL CUB. I LOVE THIS TRACTOR AND I USE IT FOR SNOW PLOWING IN THE WINTER. I wish I could figure out why it is so hard to start. Starts good in the summer. Thanks, Tom PS- I hope I posted this in the right section, if not please tell me where to ask these questions.
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Kohler M18S engine
- Thread starter Thomas
- Start date
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They are hard starters. You really need a top notch battery, starter and cabling between the two. The M18 gets it's ignition spark from the flywheel rotating past the magneto, and if it doesn't go past fast enough, the induction pulse that generates it will be weak (more of a gentle hill than the sharp peak).
Maple syrup fluid in the rear (from being cold) as well as thick cold oil make them crank harder, and this slows down the flywheel rotation speed enough to make the spark weak which makes them start hard. MTD sold a rear end disconnect which helps a little, at the expense of making the driveline weaker. Putting a booster on it might help. Keeping it warm would probably help even more.
Maple syrup fluid in the rear (from being cold) as well as thick cold oil make them crank harder, and this slows down the flywheel rotation speed enough to make the spark weak which makes them start hard. MTD sold a rear end disconnect which helps a little, at the expense of making the driveline weaker. Putting a booster on it might help. Keeping it warm would probably help even more.
Thank you very much. I am changing the oil to a lighter weight and I have a battery maintainer that I will put on it. I do keep it in the garage but I only it at about 50 degrees because of the cost of fuel to heat it. I will see how this works and will let you know, again thank you for you reply. Tom W.
The warmer the better. The rear end is probably a bigger drag than the engine oil. I bet if you give it a jump it'll start. Cold battery doesn't help either, and that first spin around is when it's going to have the most oompf to get it to turn. That's likely what you're experiencing. The KTs are better starters in the cold thanks to the ignition system being separate.
Yes you are right, this traCTOR HAS BEEN HARD TO START SINCE i BOUGHT IT NEW, BUT ONLY IN COLD WEATHER OF COURSE. WHOOPS, i guess I hit the caps lock. I will be letting you know soon, as I have the oil and filter here, but I tore the carb off to clean it too, and am waiting for the new gaskets. This gasoline today is JUNK !!
jstertz
Well-known member
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- Feb 27, 2009
- Messages
- 808
- displayname
- joshua donald stertz
If you have the choice to purchase premium non-ethanol fuel—do it! I have seen more problems with internal combustion carbureted engines linked to ethanol than I care to think about. Fuel injection systems seem to have less of a problem with it. However, leave some sit in the fuel system of a carbureted small engine for a few months and you have a mess...
There is a station about 20 miles from me that sells non-ethanol, but I don't know what grade it is so I will check that too, and again I thank you. bye for now.
Try a magnetic heater stuck in the underside of the differential to keep the fluid warm when you think/plan you will need the rig the next morning.
jwilkinson
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- James Wilkinson
1810 with a plow was my favorite snow mover. Starting was tricky in the cold. Amazing the difference a trouble light with an incandecent bulb can make. Put under the engine block. Heat rises. Put a blanket over top of engine. Good to 20 degrees or so in the shed. Give it 4 hours or so. If you have electric with a switch inside the house even better!
1811 will have an aluminum diff so unfortunately that won’t work. Same with the engine block on the m18. But it definitely helps on cast iron machines.
dramsey
Active member
You can also induce phase separation to remove the ethanol from the fuel. The expense of the loss in quantity is usually close to the expense of finding/buying non-ethanol fuel.
Wow, phase separation ?? What is that ?? You guys are so full of info ! I am glad I got back on here. I would like to know where I can buy this magnetic heater, I think that would work great for me cuz I keep this in a partially heated garage. I am headed out to the non ethanol station to get some for this tractor and it is also where I buy my fuel for the garage heater, thanks guys, your all great !!! oh, and when this project is finished I have another problem that I would like to address, but that comes after I am done with this one. Again I really enjoy all your input guys, God Bless you all ! Tom W.
I would think any farm store worth their salt would stock them, especially this time of year.
Thank you, I am going right past Tractor Supply, I will check there.
As I mentioned above, your transaxle housing is aluminum so magnetic heater won’t stick to it. Could maybe plop it on your oil filter?
The rear cover plate should be steel so the magnetic heater would stick to that.
Ok, I got the magnetic block warmer and put it on the cover plate on the rear of the tractor. I will see how this works in the morning. I did get the carb put back on and got her fired up. I would like to know if anyone knows if these M18S' engines like to run a little on the rich side, I think I read that somewhere, I am asking because I pulled the plugs out to look at them and they are a light tan, I think too lean, if anyone has an answer for this please let me know.
Which carb do you have? They were generally set up to run a bit lean from the factory. If you’ve got an adjustable carb on it just do the standard adjustment on it and it’ll be fine. If you have a fixed jet....only so much you can do unless you pick up an adjustable.
They did have an issue with one cylinder running a bit leaner than the other due to the fuel/air not getting blended evenly. There was a little kit they sold to go between the carb and the intake that was supposed to fix that.
I did replace the carb with an adjustable (both) jet one I got from "Isavetractors.com" so I could do that . It is running real good right now, just hope it starts good now. I will let you know. Thanks for everything to all of you that sent me answers. Tom
dramsey
Active member
Phase separation is the act of separating the ethanol from the gasoline. This is achieved by adding small amounts of water to the fuel, the water blends with the ethanol and gasoline floats on water thus separation. I use about 2 cups of water per gallon of fuel.
