Long, smokey warmup period. Ok?

[Jim]

I have a BDH Cletrac and it's cold blooded, in my opinion. Takes ether to start it (probably needs rebuilding) and it smokes like a chiminey for a while, but after that, it doesn't smoke much and the engine developes reasonable power. Is that normal? Where can I get glowplugs? Will that really help it get going? Thanks.  Jim

[cletracboy]

My experience with my BD is limited but similar. Check the timing adjuster on the drive coupling though as mine slipped and it ran very smokey and was a real pain to start.  All the information I have is that they do smoke while the engine is cold, and sound un-smooth, but this should settle down when it warms up and work.  Instead of ether you could try draining the radiator and filling it with warm water, its a pain but works well, and also add some heat to the intake manifold, a burning rag, blow torch or I use an electric heat gun (DIY, paint stripping thing).  For glow plugs try Landis Zimmerman or Jerry Biro you'll find there details in the suppliers part of this site, don't hear them mentioned much though, my BD is a '51 and doesn't have the holes for heaters.

[Blake Malkamaki]

Jim, it's normal.

Even when new, most of these diesels needed ether to start when cold. They even have a canister for using ether pellets, that would feed it into the intake. I don't know if the pellets are available anymore, but the cans work fine.

Just make sure your engine is turning over and smoking (so you know it's getting fuel) before you give it a short quick shot of ether. And don't stop turning the engine over until you know all the ether has been drawn into the engine and out.

The idle stumble is normal on some. I believe more with the Roosa Master pump. It smooths out under load and will not hurt anything. A muffler helps smooth them out.

Blake