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Bought some Ether...

AH64ID

By AH64ID
in 3rd Generation Dodge

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AH64ID

AH64ID

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For years I have been thinking I should have a can of ether in the truck just because. I have never had a starting issue, but spend a lot of time off the beaten path in the truck. I had never done it, and was talking to my dad about it (he has an 06) and he told me a story from back in the late 80's. He had a '84 6.2 burb, and they were 70 miles from pavement hunting it the glow plugs went out, wouldn't start. He towed it behind another rig on 70 miles of forest service roads to town, one small shot of ether and he was up and running. He was so pissed that he has always had a can of ether in his diesel trucks, and has never needed it again..Well, for $2.99 I couldn't argue with him and bought my first can. Hopefully it never needs to be used.

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cummins2k

cummins2k

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Almost all the manufactures of diesel engines forbid the use of ether with a diesel equipped with electrical starting aides. This means glow plugs, heater grids, etc. If you have ever heard the story of the ether dependent diesel you should be able to grasp the concept. Engines don't truly ever become dependent on a chemical. Rather when ether is used the glow plugs can cause the ether to fire prematurely. This is somewhat similar to overly advanced timing on a gasoline engine. They call it detonation. Basically it can cause damage to the piston rings, lands, cylinder walls, valves, etc. This occurs because the piston is still trying to come up the cylinder and at the same time the combustion of ether is trying to push it back down. Since there are five other cylinders also doing their thing this is impossible so the pressure must go somewhere. I am willing to bet that if an ether dependent diesel engine was ever truly tested you would see a dramatic drop in compression on one or more cylinders. Dis-assembly would reveal internal damage.On the Cummins engine you are not equipped with glow plugs so this likely wouldn't happen. Rather you would end up creating a small bomb out of your intake manifold. Bringing a whole new meaning to the term detonation.Like everyone has said...create a switch harness to kill power to the grid relay or completely disconnect the relay in the event you want to use ether. Better yet just make sure your grid heaters are functioning and don't use ether at all.

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AH64ID

AH64ID

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Correct! Ether is pretty flammable.. I like to joke, no spark, no compression, no oxygen.. just BOOM!All the old engines that used it didn't have glow plugs or grid heaters. If I did have to use it I would be disconnecting the grid heater (probably pull the relay, as it's the easiest) and then inject the ether thru one of the 1/4" NPT ports on my intake horn. This is one of those "have it and never need it, vs need it and not have it" things! Ether is pretty hard on rings, cylinder walls and probably why engine mfgrs went to electric starting aids. While I am not willing to test it at -20°, I am curious how well these motors would start without a grid heater or chemical aide. My dad's old 3406 didn't have any aids and started as soon as you pushed the start button, and it has lower compression than our ISB's.

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