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Spraying starting fluid on a diesel is how you crack a piston, stop doing it
Had a guy bring in a 6.7 Cummins last month that wouldn't fire when it was cold. He told me straight up he'd been hosing it with ether every morning for two weeks because his uncle swore by it. Pulled the head and found two cracked ring lands and a melted piston crown. That's a $4,800 mistake that started with a $6 can. Here's the thing people keep getting wrong: ether ignites way too early in a diesel because you're already at 17 to 1 compression, so it fires before the piston hits top dead center and slams the rod and bearings. If your glow plugs or grid heater are shot, fix those instead. On a cold morning, a block heater and good batteries will start almost anything. What are you guys seeing out there, is ether still common in your shops or did most folks finally quit?
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angela19124d ago
Spraying starting fluid on a diesel is how you crack a piston" is the truest thing I've read all week. Had a guy last winter with an old 7.3 that he swore needed a sniff of ether every time it dropped below freezing, and by the time he brought it to me it was knocking so loud you could hear it from the parking lot. Compression test showed two dead holes, and when we tore it down the tops of those pistons looked like someone took a hammer to them. He kept saying his dad did it for years on the farm, but those old tractors had way lower compression and no grid heater to worry about. Fix the cold start system the right way and save yourself the engine, it's really that simple.
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