Talk:Flame-start system

Notability
I don't think these warrant a stand-alone article. Nor do they belong as their entire section being in the top level article at diesel engine.

There is however reasonable scope for "cold starting diesel engines" as an article. There are several techniques involved, flame-start is a very minor part of this. We already have an article at glowplug.

Should this article be merged under glowplug? Easy, has good coherence.

Should an overall article be created (possibly absorbing glowplug as a section) for diesel engine cold starting? This could mention hot bulb engines, glowplugs, indirect injection diesel engines (and why they're better cold starters) and Ricardo's Comet combustion chamber with the hot ring. It could also go into fuel systems for cold weather too, such as anti-waxing additives, diesel fuel filter heaters and Russian winters with pre-heated fuel header tanks. Andy Dingley (talk) 10:33, 29 October 2014 (UTC)


 * If anyone is interested in these devices, "CAV Thermostart" would be a useful search target. They were used from the '60s onwards for some of the early generation direct injection commercial diesel engines, notably the Bedford TK 330 engine and also the Perkins P6. They're a single plug that fits in the inlet manifold with a wire to it and a small fuel pipe. The fuel is either methanol (the "Start Pilot" system) or diesel captured from injector leak-off, in a separate gravity fed tank behind the cab. Inside the plug is a heater coil and a heat-activated ball valve. Power up the plug and a small methanol flame inside the manifold pre-heats it and then (while the engine is turning) heats the inlet charge. This is different from glowplugs (in direct injection) that are usually stopped before cranking. One problem with them is that when the methanol ran out, drivers never checked this before starting and so the plug burned out almost immediately if used with no fuel. Very often they weren't repaired (no idea why, it was a simple enough system), drivers just switched to manual ether sprays. Andy Dingley (talk) 15:33, 29 October 2014 (UTC)

More Information

 * I found this article to be a stub of sorts. I looked around and found this article:
 * https://motor-roam.co.uk/ducato-cold-start-flame-start-system-explained
 * Hope this helps!

Eric Lotze (talk) 15:06, 21 September 2022 (UTC)