Cold weather starting issue

[Momac]

2 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

I am with Biz on this, some form of intake heater and probably furl tank, line and filter heaters as well. Arctic spec trucks may also have additional cold start aids like provision for the use of eater capsules.

The link definitely shows an air heater.

May an intake manifold heater correctly be described as a glow plug ?

It seems Volvo Penta think it can , among others.

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

Well, its a plug in that it screws in and out and an air heater definably glows when in use  but the terms glow plug & heater plug usually refer to the devices that fit into the pre-combustion chamber of an indirect injected diesel engine OR, these days, those devices that fit into the combustion chamber of small (car/light van) direct injected engines.

I have never heard a manifold or air heater called a glow plug as such before.

[Guest]

On 01/12/2017 at 17:29, Gareth E said:

My Vetus engine starts perfectly during the spring/ summer/autumn. I have an issue during the winter, when the temperature in the engine hole goes below about 10 degrees:

Basically, it fires straight away then for half a second or so tries to gain revs but doesn't manage it. It almost, but not quite, dies. It then barely turns over, regardless of how much throttle I give it. This near death goes for longer, the colder it is. This morning it was for best part of a minute. Eventually the revs will pick up and the engine runs normally.

Thinking this through, I can only guess it's something to do with the heater plugs. As far as I can tell the plugs are only activated before an attempt to start. There's a key position for this, an orange light comes on to confirm. I hold it here for 10-15 seconds before starting the engine. It seems that the plugs are then immediately shut down. I don't know a lot about engines but this doesn't seem to make sense. Shouldn't they stay on for a period?

Any thoughts about this, or other ideas what might be causing the issue? 

Our Vetus once behaved thus after we picked up some awful diesel. It was a cow to start and would not "pick up" easily as you describe. Fresh diesel from elsewhere cured the problem. Over the 14 years we have owned it, this is the only time it behaved thus, even when all four glow plugs were knackered it would start relatively easily.
If your glow plugs are knackered, unless you are rich, there are NGK equivalents available for about one eigth of the price. Also there is a relay on some vetus that control the plugs, and these can fail. If replacing the plugs it is worth replacing the relay.

[Momac]

18 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

I have never heard a manifold or air heater called a glow plug as such before.

Here are a few examples which refer to a manifold heater  as a type of glow plug  (in addition to the use of the term 'glow plug' being used by volvo penta).

https://pagltd.co.uk/product/11v-diesel-engine-glow-plug-fits-deutz-engine-code-khdf1l411d/

http://www.federalmogul.com/en-US/OE/Products/Pages/Product-Details.aspx?CategoryId=15&SubCategoryId=21&ProductId=360

http://www.mayhilltractors.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=260

https://www.headstractor.com.au/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1564

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glowplug