Possibly you have been explained at some point, if you have or have you driven a car with a diesel engine. “Waits for the witness of the heaters to turn off before starting the car“. The heaters facilitate the starting of a diesel engine, but they are mechanical items a both unknown, and their functioning seems at times black magic. Except when they degrade, and to start the diesel engine becomes a herculean task. We tell you how they work and why you should not start the engine before it is shut down of your witness.
How to operate the heaters of a diesel engine? Why are they necessary?
The heating element of the heaters reaches in moments temperatures of over 800 degrees celsius.
The heaters – also known as spark plugs of warming – are a few pieces of metal with the form of a cylinder. Its appearance is very similar to that of a spark plug of a gasoline engine, but instead of having an electrode at its tip, equipped with a heating element. A resistance, by which it is to pass current, resulting in an intense heating. The tip of the heater is located in the combustion chamber of the engine, and as is logical, all diesel engines have a glow plug per cylinder.
why diesel engines need heaters? Unlike a gasoline engine, the mixture of fuel and air is ignited by a spark, is ignited by compression. It supplies air and gas to the interior of the cylinder, and the pressure to which the mixture is subjected when the piston comes up – are four-stroke engines – raises your auto-ignition. When the ambient temperature is low and the engine is cold, heaters are essential to start our diesel engine.
The heaters only work before pulling the motor, but some are turned on for a few more seconds to facilitate combustion.
At the moment of contact you will have noticed that a witness yellow in the form of a spiral is turned on in your instrumentation. Are the heaters, which are heating for a few moments the combustion chambers of your engine. So, it is conducive to good start of the combustion of air and diesel fuel. It prevents also the production of smoke and other emissions to be nothing more turning on the engine. Its good condition is necessary for leaders to be effective, fast, and free of bad combustion.
How can I detect that my heaters are in a poor state?
I lived in an old Peugeot with a diesel engine that my family had for years. When the heaters started to fail – after a cold night – the engine started without a problem, but the idling was unstable during the first few seconds, and the exhaust pipe came out a dense white smoke. The combustion was not occurring properly in some of the cylinders of the engine, the mixture is ignited at the wrong time or not going on in some cycles. The half-minute all was back to normal.
Some heaters can last the life of the car, if they are of quality. His replacement is not an operation that is too expensive.
Was the first to notice. If the witness of the heaters are left on for a long time – more than 10 or 15 seconds – and is not a day of exceptionally cold weather, it is possible that the heaters may be worn-out. If we ignore the warnings that our car gives us, and we don’t replace the spark plugs warm up, we will be submitting to the starter motor and the battery of the car to a extra effort. A boot with the heaters in bad condition, it also subjects the motor to more wear during the first few seconds, because of the bad combustion.
why don’t you have your diesel engine without the power of the witness of the heaters?
Because it is the equivalent of starting the car with the heaters in a poor state or damaged. You will notice that the car costs you to boot, who protest during the early moments, especially if you already have a few years. The starter motor will be reduced its life, as the battery subjected to extra load. A gasoline engine can be turned on instantly, but a diesel engine need a few moments of preheating. Don’t do that rush damage to certain components of your engine. Are only a few seconds.