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[Video] Why does it take so long for this Class 50 to start up when cold? (www.youtube.com)

submitted 6 months ago by blackn1ght to c/rail

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It seems to take nearly 10 minutes to get started. What's actually happening? Are the pistons literally unable to move in the cylinders until the engine is warm enough?

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[–] blackn1ght 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah I follow F1 which is what I used to guess that the engine isn't warmed up enough. But the difference is that an F1 engine is warmed up then started, where as this engine is starting from cold.

What I find confusing though is that it sounds like one or two cylinders are working, albeit slowly, but not the rest. I'd have thought if one or two could work, they all could. Not unless they all are working but has to turn at a really low rpm to prevent damaging the engine.

[–] desentizised@lemm.ee 2 points 6 months ago

Someone in the youtube comments said so about an old diesel sounding like crap when only 2 out of 16 are firing. Must be something to it then. Maybe they can set it up so that its always a different 2 cylinders that do the heavy lifting (to even out the wear) while the others just sit there generating heat through friction. These engines must be massive and you can't exactly roll them into a garage to loop the oil every time you need to start them up.