Only starts with Ether

[DFrank]

My buddy's '03 won't start. It turns over super fast, as if the cyliders are empty. If he gives it a shot of ether, it fires right up and runs perfectly, or damn near. No problem pulling two sleds up the pass doing 70 mph.



He has replaced the lift pump, but hasn't used any pressure gauges to check where fuel may be restricted.



What else should he try? Seems like a filter bad enough to cause this would cause significant power loss.



Thanks,

Dave

 

[DFrank]

Thanks Andres. Sounds reasonable.

 

[steved]

The last I read of this, new injectors were the owner's fix...

 

[Kday]

I think he meant a new one from Cummins, not trying to warranty a 7 y/o truck.

 

[JWadford]

injectors are most likely it, you said it runs fine once it is started

 

[BILLVO]

He is looking for serious trouble starting it with ether unless he has unhooked the grid heaters... ... ... ... ... Ether and hot electric grids are not a wise choice. I have seen aftercoolers and airfilters blown up and off as well as other bad things. I saw one have a flashback through the intake and then it lit the vapor of the battery on fire and it went from bad to worse from there. I saw an older GM V-8 diesel with the heads blown clean off the block due to ether overload... ... ... ...

 

[BILLVO]

That's why you disconnect the system at the air horn and spray the ether into the intake horn where it will do some good. Only takes a tiny amount. Spraying it into the air filter housing is asking for trouble.

FYI they are mounted under the intake horn so to not have a dangerous situation you would still have to disconnect the grid circuit or remove the intake horn and the grids completely to spray it into the intake port itself.



My point is... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... NO ETHER UNLESS THE GRID RELAY IS REMOVED TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE DISABLED!!!!!!!!

 

[JWadford]

i watched a guy blow his powerstroke intake off without even cranking the engine, as soon as he turned the key the glow pluggs said kabooom and parts went flying and i fell on the ground laughing.

 

[Curious Dave]

I knew a guy that did that with his nitrous on his old 396. Hot wired the switch and was playing with it while chatting. Tried starting it and KABOOM! Broke the hell out of the intake and the carb was trashed. Volatile liquid explosives can be fun for bystanders.

Let us know what your buddy finds out about the starting issue. Sounds routine... But if it isn't I am sure we would all love to learn something new.

 

[Newf Limo]

The heater grid is about the last place air travels before it gets into the cylinders, no? By the time you turn the key on, screw around with disconnecting at the air horn etc. you have likely missed the cycle and the grids have cooled down. If the person at the key were to shut the key off and cylce it back on again, you would now have a hot grid again. I think that would be a bad time to be spraying ether in there, especially if you have a lot of facial hair. Seems like you could simulate this by spraying ether in a toaster with the toaster off, then again with the toaster on. Be sure to video it though. :-laf

 

[Newf Limo]

I just remember using ether to start a 20k Cat fork lift when stationed in So. Weymouth MA, (years ago). I would shoot it in the intake, then climb up on the seat (quickly) and fire it up. That rig had glow plugs and not pre-heat grid. I guess if you have one person cranking and one person spraying it would be different. A one man job though, it is going to sit before it gets pulled in, hence the toaster.



Just a thought.