Cold Weather , Diesel wont start

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Brian w. Hall

Brian w. Hall

Well-known member
Joined
May 21, 2007
Posts
93
Location
USA
Hey everyone, its been a while since I've been on but had a urgent question. I'm in Charlotte, NC right now. The tempature is low 30's id say. My Monaco Dynasty wont start. It starts up for a second but then dies. Is it because of the cold weather? What can I do to get this thing home?
 
Plug in the engine heater.  Open the rear engine doors and look for a 110 volt receptacle and an electrical cord hanging near it with a plug on the cord end.  If your generator will start and run, do that and plug into the receptacle.  If the generator will not start and continue running, you will have to run an extension cord from shore power to the plug on the cord.  Leave it on about 20-minutes and it should start and run.  Disconnect the heater plug and be on your way.

Rex 01 Monaco Diplomat
 
You said it did start but it quickly died after it started.

I have seen fuel problems (Diesel can gel if it gets cold enough) when this happens, fuel can SLOWLY make it through the filter

However once the engine starts the fuel that is past the filter is quickly exhausted and fuel can not pass the filter fast enough to replenish the engine.    This is related to "Gas Line Freeze-up" in gassers.. I've had that too.

The chemicals to treat it are different though.

One solution is to warm the fuel, best way is to warm the engine as above by running the gen-set  IF, that is, it does not do the same thing

If the gen-set does the same exact thing,  Then fuel issues are all but diagnosed and chemical treatment is indicated.
 
rex, thanks for the info. I looked in the back and saw 2 wall outlet AC inputs. No chord hanging just 2 female ac outlets. Do I plug a chord in there? My generator is on right now but its in the front of the bus. Are you saying get an extension chord , plug it into an outlet inside my RV and run it to the back into those 2 inputs? thanks for the help

brian
 
thanks, I got it running finally. but am concerned that the not starting is another symptom to something esle. My question now is... if i start to drive this thing am I running any other risks of things going wrong? I just got it back from cummins 2 days ago saying everything was good. they checked out the fuel lines etc. so do we think im safe to start driving?

brian
 
If you have a problem with fuel gelling you need to get a new fuel filter and a bottle of power service anti gel, fill the new filter before installing & put the rest in the fuel tank. Once you get it started ,let it set and run so warm fuel will return to the fuel tank. If you have straight #2 fuel you need to add #1 so you have a winter mix( if temps are around freezing)
 
The Truck Stops like Flying J suppliers blend in antigelling addatives during the cold months.  But it sure wouldn't hurt to ad some antigel stuff as a preventative measure since the engine was not wanting to start.
 
Also when it's cool out, use your disel engine heater to preheat it so the diesel fuel will ignite more easily.  Your Monaco Dynasty should have one of these, probably a switch on the dashboard.  Yours may be labeled "engine heat."  This does have to be plugged in at the rear before it will work.

ArdraF
 
I have a Freightliner chassis and a trick Freightliner uses is to cycle the ignition 2-3 times to let the inlet preheater work a little longer.
 
Jeff Cousins said:
I have a Freightliner chassis and a trick Freightliner uses is to cycle the ignition 2-3 times to let the inlet preheater work a little longer.
Click to expand...

We do the same if we didn't have the engine heater on when we should have.
 
I would not be concerned about driving it - your problem was almost surely related to the cold temps. Low temperature affects both the fuel itself (gel-ing) and the ability of the engine compression to generate enough heat to keep the combustion cycle going. Later model diesels have block heaters and inlet pre-heaters to alleviate that sort of problem. I would expect a Dynasty to have both of those features, but a call to Monaco would give you the best answer.
 
Thank you everyone for the info. I made it home safely and looks like I'll be staying in warm tempatures for the rest of the winter but I am checking about the engine heater for future cold days. thanks

Brian

96 Dynasty
 
Your Dynasty most likely does have an engine heater so maybe one of the members with a Dynasty will be able to help you locate the switch or a call to Monaco would do.  When you start the engine is there an indication that lights up after you turn the ignition key to on that says WAIT?  This would be when the intake heaters are working to heat the intake and only after the WAIT indication goes out should the starter be engaged.  Sometimes in the cooler temps it helps to turn the ignition off when the wait goes out then back on again causing the heaters to become active again.

Glad you made it home safely.
 
Brian,

Look in the rear engine bay. If you see a power cord and plug, that will be for the block heater. There should also be a duplex receptacle back there to plug it into.
 
Brian,

Just for future reference, if you get your generator running, it will be providing power to the 110-volt receptacle in the back by the engine compartment.  You would plug the cord from the engine heater into that rear 110-volt receptacle.  If the generator would not start either, then you would need an extension cord from a shore power source and plug the engine heater into the extension cord.  Now that you are home, you need to find that engine heater in the event you need it sometime.  If you can't locate it, call Monaco Tech Support and they should be able to give you the location.

Glad you got home OK,

Rex 01 Diplomat
 
If you have a cummins engine in your rig... then you have the block heather allready installed at the factory. It is located on the left side of the engine right behind the oil filter bracket, below the exhaust manifold. The power cord may not be there because, it may be an optional item. It is on the doge ram cummins diesels. 
 
I think the Dynasty should have it.  If you call Monaco be sure to have your coach number in hand because they track each coach that way and you will get better and faster service if you have it.

ArdraF
 
Don't know if anyone mentioned it but if you haven't been draining the fuel filter maybe ice has formed in it.
 
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