The ignition switch on my M6800 shows a glow plug position just before starting to hold the key in to preheat the cylinders in cold weather. The problem is there is no detent or ability to hold the key in the preheat position. It goes directly to starting the engine.
I have only had the tractor since July so I have not ever tried to start it in cold weather, but this appears problematic to me. I have tried to hold the key on the glowplug position of the switch and cannot do so.
Anyone heard of this?
Thanks, Mike
Mike
I don't know if this relates to your tractor but you could briefly try it. Kubota provides a feature not in the owners' manuals but which dealers use often in cold weather.
This next scenario is just to illustrate for you where a regular owner might find it useful. Very cold outside and you have turned on your block heater for a few hours. Now the "controller, looking after your glow plug operation sees a warm engine from the block heater and decides glow plugs are not required. Your crank the engine and it begins inhaling -30F air. This is not conducive to a quick fire up.
If you have a shuttle shift, put it in forward and then turn the key as to crank the engine. It wont crank with the shuttle in gear but what does happen is that the glow plugs are manually turned on. Now when you crank, the engine fires immediately. There is no indication on the dash that anything is happening. My practice is to count to about 10 and then crank. Experiment a little to find the amount of glow plug time works best. Don't overdo it as you can damage them.
I went back into my files and found this from an earlier post. Two people posted it worked great for them.
Kubota glow plug operation
In very cold weather, with the block heater plugged in, the glow plug sensor will lock out the glow plugs as it senses a warm engine.
However, starting, in these circumstances can be rough and worrisome.
The trick is to put the shuttle shift lever in forward and turn the key to the start position.
You will hear a relay click on. I count to 10, put the shuttle back into the neutral position and start the engine.
Makes an amazing difference.
Dave M7040
