Perkins 4.154 Start Up Procedure and Old Fuel

[DennisDW]

Hi Friends,
I just got my 4.154 started after 13 years of sitting. I had to rewire the wiring harness connector due to a salt water bath and 13years of corrossion. I went wire to wire but have lost the connection to the glow plug relay and I can't find it on the instrument panel with a wire tracer. I am presuming that the normal start procedure is 1) Key to on, 2) Press glow plugs button for a few seconds and 3) while holding the glow plugs, press the start button.

The push button I presume to be glow plugs is not marked as such and if it actually does something else, that would be why I can't trace it.

The engine actually started quite easily with out the glow plugs energized. Maybe it was never hooked up.

I had posted a question about using 13 year old fuel and was concerned about it. As such, I drained out all the old fuel and put in new. The old stuff I have been running at a 1/3old to 2/3rds new ratio in my old diesel mercedes. I got to thinking about what could be wrong with old fuel and I decided darned little if it was clean and dry. I guess stabilizers and additives and cetane boosters could degrade but why would and engine that will run just fine on waste vegetable oil even care? Thoughts?

Yours,
Dennis

[Kettlewell]

You really shouldn't need glow plugs to start your engine until the temperature gets down below freezing, when most of us aren't boating. My Perkins 4.236 doesn't have glow plugs and I have had no issues starting down into the 40s.