noticed Denny t has a cool spacer to get rid of grid heaters...

on that note, has anyone heard of a good ether injection cold start kit?

I think this would be the best setup for us who still have to fight the cold.

thanks everyone...

Justin

 

Why not simply open up what you have and not bother with either (get it? either )

The grid heaters are not a bad thing to have. They can be easily modified by porting them just as Denny does with his. It'll just have the grids in it.

That way you don't have to mess with the spray and have better breathing too.

 

ha, pun intended...

Ive never heard of porting the grid heaters... where do I learn more?

id like to use ether just because its so simple and helps preserve my charging system.

only problem I can forsee is the unfortunate event someone else may need to start and drive my truck.

 

Other than deleting the actual heaters, Denny and others have basically hogged out the remaining spacer to pretty-much match the standard gasket. No weird mojo.

A properly sized and maintained battery is not harmed by the load presented by the heaters. And by properly sized, I mean that which dodge recommends, 1025 CCA if I'm not mistaken.

 

The outfit that makes the cold start ether kits is called KB . The actual unit is called Dieselmatic. They work real good.

 

Mine has started fine at -6 without heaters, i cant really see any advantage of switching, the grid heaters work fine.

 

ether is bad for a diesel it drys out the cylinder walls

 

yes ether is bad for diesel if u hav 2 1000 CCA bats u will be fine in JUST about any -temp

 

ok.. Call me crazy.. But isnt this how you spell either instead of ether?? Have seen them both lately and kinda driving me nuts.. So let's set the record straight!!

 

It's spelled ether. (ethoxyethane)

 

While not quite as convenient as in-cab push-button ether, I have installed a simple ether port in the intake of each of my engines.

Before my modification, the only way to get ether into the intake was to loosen a band-clamp, slide off a boot, and spray it into the intake; then, once the engine started, all of this had to be put back together.

This was aggravating, time consuming, and un-safe if the truck was hanging out in the road.


I removed the intake cross-over(non-I/C), or left-side-elbow(I/C), picked an easily accessible, yet out of the way spot, drilled a 5/8" hole, and inserted a TUBELESS FLUID-FILL TRACTOR TIRE VALVE in this hole from the inside out.

I removed/dis-carded the standard size Schraeder valve-housing and replaced it with a large-bore valve-cap.

I carefully blow-gunned all the drill-shavings out of the tube and re-installed.


Now, if I need to use ether, all I have to do is remove the cap and spray it directly into the intake; no tools necessary and takes only a second.


I put a couple spare caps in each vehicle, in case one gets lost in the grass/gravel.



If one frequents agricultural junk-yards, most all International-Harvester diesel tractors came factory-equipped with push-button ether and everything needed can be robbed from one of these.


The ether button was right beside the starter button and switch-key.

 

I always use WD-40 for starting instead of Ether.

WD-40 contains primarily Stoddard Solvent and Mineral Oil and is much safer to use and it lubricates the cylinder walls, while Ether will wash them down.

When I had my 6.2 I would use it to start the engine if the pump lost prime when I switched between the 2 fuel tanks.

I made an injector that was triggered from inside the cab.

I also used it to start my MEP-003 military genset, even if it was sprayed directly into the air heaters it would not flash.

Best when injected post turbo.

You can still use your Ether to anesthetize yourself.

I had a truck driver friend in the late 70’s who was robbed and his tractor stolen when someone knocked him out with his own Ether Starting Fluid sprayed into his sleeper.

Jim

 

I used to always use WD-40, instead of ether, until a few years ago, when they changed the WD-40 formula on account of it being so volatile.

The last few times I tried starting with WD-40, I might as well have used tap-water, as it would not even try to fire; put away the WD-40 and try the ether and the engine would start.


When I inquired, I was informed that whatever used to be in WD-40 that was so flamable had been replaced with something that was much less volatile.


This could be a regional thing and the WD-40 available in your area may still be the good stuff.



Honestly, for the split micro-second that the ether is actually in the cylinder, I can't see it doing any harm; the next piston-cycle is all things back to normal.




I guess a person could spray a mixture of both in there.

 

thanks...

I know that if its used correctly, ether wont hurt anything, been used since internal combustion engines were invented.

I looked at that KB system, seems like they are mostly for HUGE diesels... 20l up to 200l of displacement...

so a tractor junkyard might be a good place to start, i didnt think of that.

thanks all

 

I learned an interesting thing about ether this weekend.

If you want to use it to try to start a stubborn diesel at 3 degrees, you need to store your ether someplace warm.

Ol' Butterscotch wasn't wanting to fire Saturday morning (3 degrees and she has no block heater). So I figured I'd unplug the glow plug harness and shoot some ether in the intake. Did that, got in and cranked for about 30 seconds (she was hooked up to the running Dodge). Not even a clatter. I looked in the intake hose and there's still a puddle of ether in it, it was too cold to vaporize and start the engine. So I dumped out the intake hose, plugged in the GP harness, and cranked the bat snot out of 'er until she ran. In hindsight I should have popped the crankcase vent hose off the air filter and shot the ether in there, but it was really cold and I wasn't thinking clearly.