[AT] O/T GM diesel question

[charles bridges]

I think the reason for not using ether and glow plugs at the same time is
because the ether will fire way before the piston gets to the top.  Danger
of broken or bent rod and kind of stuff.  If I can't get a tractor started
using the glow plugs, I give the glow plugs plenty of time to cool down
before resorting to ether.
Charles
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <HaliganBar at aol.com>
To: <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 12:56 AM
Subject: Re: [AT] O/T GM diesel question


> In a message dated 11/30/04 9:42:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
> DAVIESW739 at aol.com writes:
>
> << Karl why would you use ether if you have glow  plugs and if the glow
plugs
>  don't work so you need to use ether then whats the  differance.  >>
>
>
> Walt,
>
> In your scenario you are probably correct...provided that all of the glow
> plugs are shot then using ether couldn't hurt anything. However, If just a
couple
> aren't working properly, which could cause hard starting, then using ether
> would at the least burn up the remaining good glow plugs. At the worst, I
guess
> you could run the risk of igniting the ether with the good glow plugs.
>
> Speaking of ether....what is the proper amount of ether to use for
starting?
> I rarely need to use ether for starting. However, years ago, we used cases
of
> it for starting diesel equipment when I was stationed in North Dakota. On
the
> Alert Pad our 16 ground power units were stored outside. We used to
> practically soak the air cleaners on the Hobart generator sets to get them
started in
> the winter. The ones that we couldn't get started with the ether(usually
about
> half of them) would get hauled back to the AGE shop to get warmed up and
have
> the batteries recharged (we cranked them til there was nothing left). I'm
> guessing that our starting methods didn't do anything to help the
longevity of the
> engines or the batteries. Ultimately we found that letting the generator
sets
> run at idle overnight used only a quarter tank of fuel and insured that
all of
> them would work in the morning.
>
> Ironically, the single cylinder diesels on the flightline heaters were the
> easiest to start in the cold. They were the only piece of flightline
equipment
> that didn't have a block heater( I think they were air-cooled) or an easy
place
> to spray ether. Instead, they had a small bulb syringe (kinda like a small
> turkey baster) that also doubled as the oil fill cap. It allowed you to
draw up
> a small amount of oil from the crankcase. You then opened a spring-loaded
> valve and squirted the oil into a port in the head. I can't ever remember
a heater
> not starting if you followed this procedure.
>
> So how much ether is the proper amount?
>
> Regards,
> Karl
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