Cold Start a Cummins NT855 14 litre Generator at -7ºC

It's been a while since I did a video on this old generator. Let's see how it fires up in the cold 15 years on. If you like old engine starts, clag, Cold starts, old start cold starts this is for you.
Link to my first video and original cold start back in 2017/8
• Cold Starting a Cummin...

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Lots of interaction in the last few weeks. Where you lot come from?

[@SacksGarage]

I just like generic car and gun stuff, with a healthy dose of cold starts!

[@herpnderpn2484]

Watched the original starts years ago, this just now popped up.

[@saucycade123]

been getting my fill of large machinery startups on youtube lately. from the us, nyc area

[@penguins9645]

Over in Canada. Just popped up on my list. Generally like anything mechanical.

[@uxwbill]

The magic of the KZbin Algorithm brought me here. From Illinois USA.

[@BDaniely13173]

That starter is the real MVP

[@FrozenHaxor]

They are built different in those things. It can take 3 times that no sweat.

[@Grasshopper.80]

Honestly, the best diesel cold start video on the tube.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Thank you.

[@energiespecialist1615]

Please put some load on the old girl once a month.. Cold starting and too long no-load running will foul up the cilinders it helps with burning of the carbon build-up. She will start much better with less build-up ;-)

[@PeterMackett]

That exhaust leak needs fixing as it's pumping smoke into the building, the outside exhaust is huge!, looks like a bit of industrial chimney pipe.

[@pootispiker2866]

Spoiler alert, it will never be fixed

[@patriotcanuck6485]

It gives it more horsepower.

[@pootispiker2866]

@@patriotcanuck6485 bootleg EGR

[@pierreroulier2679]

In the first video, 15 years ago, the exhaust was already leaking.

[@Vulcan650Vampire]

Either you’re from California, or you work for OSHA. Because that little bit of smoke is not even noteworthy unless you’ve been brainwashed

[@ImExcalibastard]

That was the most satisfying cold start I have ever heard in my life. I really appreciate you sharing this!

[@SBT300]

This one is even better... watch?v=yPzubVpLYAc&pp=ygUUR2Vud3JhdG9yIGNvbGQgc3RhcnQ%3D

[@ostlandr]

My 1974 Pontiac Catalina with the Pontiac 400 cubic inch/6.55 literV8 engine and its very large two-barrel carburetor used to start like that in Winter. A few of the cylinders would start first, then more would eventually join the party. Never left me stranded in cold weather.

[@saluki417]

1:39 just like the vatican, an apprentice has been selected to journeyman

[@GeorgeEI7KO]

Lol... That's for greta...love it Simon

[@mikeymoynihan8395]

What a weird thing to say.

[@davidcat1455]

@@mikeymoynihan8395 It sure was.

[@6942O-n6n]

People still mad at a 16 year old girl for caring abt the environment

[@perryrush6563]

Best line!

[@perryrush6563]

​@@6942O-n6n she's 21 (as of 2024)

[@mikey380sx]

Loved the video from 15 years back, love this one. See you in another 15 years! haha

[@GeorgeChristofi]

Lovely motor. It might be old but I bet its very low hours! Sounds lovely.

[@SoddingaboutSi]

About 700 I think.

[@adamgreen356]

I think the starter has more run hours on it than the engine!

[@RosaBeha]

I'm amazed every time that the batteries are able to continuously supply the starter with power for 45 seconds. And that the starter does not burst into flames. With slightly weaker batteries, there would be no emergency power here, not even after 82 seconds. It's reassuring to know you have such a monster by your side. :-)

[@michelwazouskey4799]

old style starters were designed to start older style engines

[@IanHotson]

Why does everybody whine and cry about the starter motor how delicate do you think they are? The starters fine

[@joshb124]

Probably has a pair or two of 8D batteries. Tons of capacity.

[@RosaBeha]

@@michelwazouskey4799 Once a time, also this parts were new.

[@goawaygoawaynow]

@@RosaBeha Yes, but as explained in the video, this engine does not have any cold-start starting aids (preheating, glow-plugs). Regardless of how new it is, a cold start especially in cold weather will always take a lot of cranking - the only way to get the engine up to temp is through cranking it. So the starter and batteries are sized to sustain prolonged cranking.

[@no-damn-alias]

A small spray of start ya bastard will increase start up speed a lot

[@bryanmaxwell7332]

Bless you good Sir…I have this same engine here in the USA…a quick shot of starting /Ether …and she fires right up since 1985 when dad bought the truck new…❤❤

[@alexandrecarvalho8624]

This is amazing how a Cummins diesel generator still starts very well in cold weather, even after 15 years stopped! I hope you share this video on another platforms such as Instagram.

[@peterc2150]

Thought the batteries were going to give out before it started! Can it run the whole factory or just the essential kit? Good to see it back in acton. Regards Peter

[@SoddingaboutSi]

All the factory provided we cut back on some high powered equipment.

[@mentalmidget1960]

Gotta love the sound of a 14ltr Cummins.. will really sing once its under load, Bet your not on Gretas Christmas card list now!

[@mariebcfhs9491]

When running it sounds like a pretty decent truck engine. Music to my ears

[@davidv1289]

Has it been that long ago? I'll have to go back and watch the original - great stuff! During my working days all of our facilities had back-up generators that had to start AND transfer within 15 seconds. Needless to say, they all had immersion heaters to keep the engine block at 100 degrees F. My favorite was a 219 KVA plant with a Detroit Diesel 12V92 engine - 12 cylinders, 92 cubic inch displacement per cylinder, twin blowers (a two stroke) and twin turbos. Regards, David

[@ostlandr]

The office building I worked in had a backup generator. The buildiing had a backup battery unit for the whole building if you can imagine. It was supposed to carry the load until the generator started and spun up. Unbeknownst to anyone, one of the two battery banks had failed. When the power went out (as it often did, as development had outgrown the grid on that road) the surviving bank tried to take the whole load- and promptly exploded. It took FOREVER for management to decide that we were allowed to leave. So we sat around in the dark.

[@jhsevs]

@@ostlandrwhy did you work there?

[@icenijohn2]

The State of California facility where I worked has three Detroit quad-turbo 12V149 generator sets to supply power to the entire facility if/when Edison power went off. They were tested every week, and they always sounded magnificent. They could run up to governor (1800 RPM) and take the load immediately, thanks to their coolant being always kept hot. Interestingly, they produced very little visible smoke either at startup or at full power, just like a good two-stroke should. My bus has a 6V92TAC, the baby brother of the 149s, and after a complete engine rebuild last year it now runs with no visible exhaust smoke and it doesn't slobber any oil from the airbox drains. With an unmuffled stainless exhaust it frightens old people and makes babies cry, especially when I use the Jakes. Yeah!

[@villavine10]

Omg that thumbnail sent my brain somewhere else

[@dustinlanphear422]

Good ole old start cold start, greetings from the USA, happy holidays to you

[@nofider1]

Brings back memories from my old marine engineering days..... Have a good Christmas Simon. Take care. :-)

[@Codeeze]

Brilliant! Genuinely amazed to see this getting fired up again. Superb!

[@alphataurusii]

I love the diesel pollution, the smell and the smoke 👍😋🤣

[@wilbobagins]

Thumbnail looks like the World Trade Centre

[@duggy788]

great sound im very surprised it hasn't got a sump or coolant heater can't be good for it going to full load stone cold .

[@MC-Racing]

Old video from 15 years ago, it started exactly the same, so i dont suppose it hurts it too bad :-)

[@REWYRED]

Phenomenal! Same as it was 15 years ago! How come there is no block heater installed? Would surely provide a more reliable start especially seeing it's a backup power supply

[@monkehbitch]

Probably because our winters aren't that cold (for long). One big crank every so often just proves it can when needed, Think this -7 cold snap is once in a blue moon for us!

[@RTBNL]

And that’s for Gretha 😂

[@DSTARDITI]

Wish I had one of those badboys in my garage, that cold start would cause some fun with the neighbours!

[@Radiocruncher]

What a monster Simon. Was it just a test run or did you have to use it? Love the smoke plumes 😁

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Just a test run to ensure it would start if needed.

[@FrozenHaxor]

🤙 Eat your heart out Greta!

[@andrewscott2986]

From Russia with love

[@narfer]

Sure some nice cold knock! Quite a few years ago we had to start up an emergency generator on an old Ferry. 4 guys to hump up a dozen 8D batteries. Not sure what they built those old Cummins starters of. But wow. After sitting for a few years after two 30 Sec hits with the starter we had lights!

[@bharatkumarjoshi1596]

I saw that original 15 years ago, nice then and nice now, too. Back then I had the same made by Cummins India and we still use it.

[@SweeneyTTodd]

Old smokie ! Wow that took a bit of waking up! Great stuff Simon Best regards Shaun

[@rexoliver7780]

Your genset must have a really tough start motor and batteries. The exhaust leak needs to be repaired so it doesn’t asphyxiate people or start a fire. Very nice unit! Glad it still works!

[@tujuprojects]

My thoughts exactly.

[@homer5103]

@@tujuprojectshave an original thought

[@benbohannon]

Asphyxiation is part of the fun!

[@misters2837]

I don't know why you say not to stop, and "lose the heat"...the 1940's Detroit 2-Cycle Diesels, in the operators manual, they tell you to do exactly that, and allow the cylinder or two that are on compression to hold that warm air inside them...Then try again, if you watch cold starts of Detroits after that pause, they almost always kick off right away. - I realize with six cylinders and 4 strokes, you only have half as much heat to deal with...But I have found even modern (1960's) 4-stroke diesels to "heat soak" like that as well ... Like our Perkins 354 in our tractor.

[@laurieh]

This reacted just like the other generator vid with over 1M views does...wonder if its the same kind of generator.

[@rebel.mma.youtube]

Does it matter there are leaks? was that intake or exhaust?...right on fire up. 🔥

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Thats the exhaust leaking. Not ideal but will have no effect on engine.

[@rebel.mma.youtube]

@@SoddingaboutSi yes sorry I traced the system when pauses video

[@ShainAndrews]

Why would the intake smoke... Think instead of using emojis.

[@liamhargreaves7135]

What sort of building needs this?

[@mariebcfhs9491]

Flight of the bumblebee❌️ Start of the diesel generator ✅️

[@cageordie]

And that's for Greta? At least you are breathing plenty of exhaust in that room, so that's for you too. Cutting off your nose to spite your face. I love diesels, my current one has 225,000 miles on it, but if it was belching unburned fuel I'd fix it. By the way, you have an exhaust leak. Having said that, I love the way these crawl into life, until there's enough exhaust energy to spin up the turbocharger. Once the inlet pressure rises the whole thing bursts into life. Driving a turbo diesel is all about the turbo, until that is happy nothing much is happening.

[@MC-Racing]

just went and rewatched you old video a few weeks ago. the old girl starts up exactly the same 15 years later. thanks for this new video :-)

[@oldtimer2192]

FYI, when these backup gensets are started, typically the building manager would call the local fire department to advise them, as many people driving home and seeing all that smoke WILL call 000 or 911 to advise of a building fire!

[@JimBronson]

At 1500ish rpm this must be 50 hz not 60. American generators usually run at 1200 or 1800. The old 2 strokes were great for generators because 1800 was a very natural RPM for them.

[@jclgaming34]

the injector noise is earporn oml

[@mic790]

Звук просто шикарный!! А выхлоп внутрь не круто совсем. Надышаться можно.

[@DT-ge8gd]

When you keep cranking like that, are you not worried that you will burn out your starter motor? They aren't designed to be constantly cranked like that I'm sure. That poor thing !! Just asking.

[@Mientras_Tanto]

Is it normal to have that amount of white smoke in cold start? I'm new to working on a nt855 big cam and the first time timing one. And in cold start it blows white smoke till it gets 90F water temperature

[@Piasek-lr8gr]

Plak. Tylko Plak uratowałby akumulatory i rozrusznik od tych męk😂

[@neiltheplayer]

What a sin, it's so hard on these engine to start without block heaters, oil pan heaters, etc. This engine would have started in less than 5 seconds had those tools been in place. 855 is a reliable engine but when you need it most it will probably fail due to lack of knowledge and lack of attention. Just sayin'

[@radar0099]

If that battery isn't perfect it won't start. You might toast the starter motor for trying so long. It would be easy to install a coolant heater. With the coolant temp kept at around 150 deg F, it'll start right up. A warm diesel is a happy diesel.

[@briansmyla8696]

Every standby generator that I've worked on has had a block heater attached that maintains the coolant temperature at around 160 degrees F, so that the generator will immediately start and be able to come online at full load within 10 seconds.

[@amongust69]

that was one big minty how dare you

[@bentheguru4986]

Block heater and grid-plate would be my moves but after cleaning up the messy genny room and sealing the exhaust leaks.

[@Uneedhelp91]

I just watched the 15 year old video, it had a leak then. If it hasn't been fixed in 15years it probably won't be.

[@bentheguru4986]

@@Uneedhelp91 Video is only a year old.

[@Kromaatikse]

A very close cousin of this engine is used in quite a lot of trains. By turning it on its side and rearranging the cooling system somewhat, it can fit under the chassis of a carriage along with a hydraulic transmission. The sound is very similar too.

[@RailcarFerrostaal]

Bolivian Ferrostaal railcars had these engines as you mention.

[@sonconmas]

Awesome bit of kit, such a sound! What building is this in out of curiosity, comms exchange?

[@charlesfuglie2491]

Those engines always like the starting fluid when it goes cold out. I start that same engine in tractors before when it only been 10°F not anyway close to a plug in.

[@Tsufu_No.16]

セルモーターの駆動時間の長さが凄い。 焼けないで回るものなんですね。 The driving time of the starter motor is amazing. I was surprised that it turned around without getting burnt.

[@anandarochisha]

Get a diesel fired coolant heater on there..warm it up for even 15 minutes if that works..an Espar or Webasto. Boiler system in my house has a backup webasto dbw2010 for it. 12V, diesel..just in case. It was -49c with windchill a week and a half ago..Saskatoon, 🇨🇦

[@herbieschwartz9246]

That engine was not very happy waking up from a below zero nap.

[@bmwfanz]

Im sorry but ngl, the thumbnail looks abit like the twin towers.

[@derekblobinson735]

Glanced at thumbnail and thought it was twin towers up in smoke, nice truck tho

[@IEatChickenAlmostDaily]

The queen/king wouldn't wouldn't want you to pollute.

[@ozielsolis1]

At a quick glance I thought the thumbnail was 9/11 😬

[@nuts5388]

This thumbnail, when looked at on a dark screen looks like 9/11

[@kathrynwhitby9799]

looks similar to BT stuff. What was the crown label on the panel?

[@Smooththatsme]

That starter must have been glowing red by the time the engine fired off

[@saintfrombeyond529]

Now put it in my truck

[@hartsfire5706]

i do remember the first video of this old girl. she sounds a bit unhappy and yet this old girl will run for 50 more years easy.

[@kellywilson8440]

Stick a burning rag next to the air intake next time while cranking it over !

[@Moocowthegreat]

That is one amazing machine

[@JaedenRobinson-bv3fd]

It sounds like a semi a little...

[@TheDefpom]

Frequency is a bit high there…

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Yes it's just been serviced too. Governor is set to run too fast.

[@Not_Kev06]

Am I the only one that thought this was a 9/11 vid from the thumbnail alone?! 💀

[@SoddingaboutSi]

No. Loads have said the same.

[@14768]

Good to see the exhaust leak from the original video is still there.

[@ImExcalibastard]

Oh yeah! Wouldnt be surprised if it seals itself up once it gets up to operating temp 😆

[@893R6-w8t]

I just woke up, the thumbnail looked like it was a video on 9/11 😅

[@SoddingaboutSi]

Your not the first to say that. Think I will change it.

[@MrBusy427]

That’s about right

[@bellytripper-nh8ox]

TRY THIS WITH A TESLA!!

[@andypreston1524]

Superb. Greta loved the smell of all that cold damp smoke. I want one of these 👍👍👍

[@ShainAndrews]

Who?

[@andypreston1524]

@@ShainAndrews Greta Thunberg...........................

[@bubba1984]

Very nice, I bet it will sing just like this even 50 years from now, wait some of the comments referenced a UK make, are you in the US? I would think so judging by the near perfect 50Hz motor speed (few over to compensate for loading)

[@scannerman72]

Brilliant :)

[@fellpower]

boring, because generators gets heated all the time, and start instant....

[@benmorley9877]

Cracking engine the 855 or n14 they live and love to work hard.. we've 2 that we use for recycling plastic... won't be swapping then for anything electric😂

[@Bluedino6996]

Beautiful

[@RailcarFerrostaal]

The sheer sound of Bolivian Ferrostaal railcars motored by cummins diesel engines

[@josh8344]

🤣🤣🤣🤣 if you got the starter to cope, that’s a great method with a great engine. Id still recommend a bit of fluid to get her chugging. Lol

[@danishnative9555]

Lot of cranking before waking up. Ever done load testing on the beast? We were able to remote start our gens (diesel & propane) located on mountain peaks for Bcast FM using RF remote controls. Very important in winter!

[@SOU6900]

Had fun playing with 855s in high school. Too bad we never got to fire one up.

[@icelineman]

Some kind of pre heater or starting fluid injector would really be a big help.

[@LuisTeixeira]

In the event of a power outage and the generator having to go online at that temperature, is there enough battery power to keep the starter going for so long?

[@MD-Yuh]

E - eco!

[@Geeves8612]

Wow that was a a struggle. Thankfully the ones out of the station i work at in nw UK start a bit easier!

[@W12_D2]

Engine preheat would be better if the engine had to do as much ;)

[@Johnny64ism]

Next time try preheating the engine first u may find she will start much quicker

[@drozcompany4132]

I dunno what it is, but this video sounds amazing on headphones!

[@ChuckWood]

Gotta charge up the Tesla

[@KarlGetts]

Cummins engine purrs like a CAT

[@fordfarming7700]

855 cubic inches btw 💪🏻🇺🇸

[@daanski82]

She is purring like a kitten

[@volvoman177]

How gently he wound up ❤