The effects of ether (starting fluid) on my diesel..???
 

What kinds of effects , long or short term , does ether starting fluid have on my engine in my 79 300cd non turbo ? I've got an automatic ether shot system and have been contemplating install . I've had problems in the past with hard starts and a shot of ether always started her right up , even eliminating glow plug wait times . This system would even elinate getting out and opening the hood , to give it a shot .:confused: :fork_off:

Blowing the headgasket, blowing a prechamber out of the head, bending a rod, cracking a piston, backfiring into the intake, and fire.

Ether is like crack. Once it's used, it's addicted for life.

Just upgrade the loop style glowplugs to the pencil type. Using ether in an engine with glowplugs is like playing Russian roulette. It may work a few times, but it only takes one bad event to turn an engine into scrap metal.

Put on your flame suit!! Do a quick search here about ether starting and you will steer clear of that idea.

You would be better off correcting any problems rather than relying on the damaging effects of ether.

There's two distinct camps on this one.

The first camp will strongly discourage you from using ether. The claim is as mentioned above.........the potential for all kinds of damage. While the claim is true, the evidence of such damage to members of the forum is limited, at best.

The second camp will state that when ether is used judiciously and sprayed for two seconds while the engine is cranking, just to provide the means to light it off, no damage can possibly occur.

There..........now I've saved you from reading further..........all the remaining posts will fall into one of the two previous categories.

In reality, both categories are probably correct.

ok
 

Ok so this is what I'll do then...I'll use it regularly until my engine blows through my hood one day...Then I'll kick myself for life saying I knew better and why did I do it ?
Still lost on this one..

Camp #1 will be chuckling.........what a dumb _____ ........we told him so........

Camp #2 will probably suggest that you dumped 1/3 can in there...........

In other words, ether is a band-aid with the potential to make things worse.

Fix the glowplugs, use the block heater, adjust your valves, replace your fuel filters, check for fuel leaks, and throw away the ether.

I killed a lawn mower with ether. It lost compression after a couple of seasons, the cylinder walls were scored bad. Ether removes the lubricating qualities of oil so the rings wear hard on the cylinder walls.
Now, try something else, WD40. Don't laugh, an old timer I know taught me that as they use it in his garage when a diesel is hard to start after all its a light lubricating fluid with some aromatics in it so less damaging but still for the long haul fix that engine whatever is ailing it and stoip using any starting fluid, unless you want to kill it slowly.

This forum is good at helping folks "fix" their car. They are inherently fixable, especially with this issue.
You can update your glow plugs easier than installing some type of ether injection system better suited for a tractor without glow plugs.....

Fix the car properly
 

Easy for me to say it since I'm not paying for, or having to fix it, but my typical mode of operation, is to fix the car properly and be done with it. If you're having to use starter fluid .... somethin' ain't right. So fix it.

Short story for you as to why I think that way....

Years ago I had a 1979 Plymouth Volare 2 door coupe. Cool car for its day. Bought it used; it had a dent in the driver's side door. Too cheap to have it fixed, I drove that car for 2 years ... with a dent in the door. One day, I wanted to sell it, so I thought I should make it look good, so I had it fixed. And sold it. It dawned on me, 2 years too late, that had I fixed it right up front when I first bought it, it would have cost me the same amount of money, except I would have enjoyed a better looking car. I fixed it for the next person. Never again. I fix the stuff to make it right, and when I sell it, it's worth more anyways since everything works. It's sort of an investment, not an expense.

Jeff 1991 300d, 100k

Ok , I was planning on getting everything done very soon anyways , I didn't realize it could have such drastic effect on the thing though . I won't be using ether anymore . I will use the wd40 , but only the next time I move the car to bring it to the Mercedes shop . I can do all my own work but I'm on the road all the time , and really don't have time these days .

Since my vehicle was made for the military, specificially the Indian military which operates on the coldest terrain on earth that is Siachen glaciers at -50C, an emergency Ether start system is standard, its enclosed in a breakable capsule, however it comes with a written warning, only use it during severe emergency, probably when your vehicle has been sitting overnight and the enemy starts shelling and you have to hustle, so I am sure ether is not a good idea at all.

Heed The Warning !!
 

Well , if they're making such a big deal about it , I'd really better heed to the warning . Like I said I had no idea it would be so bad for it ..Just hope that I haven't already caused damage .

I use ether regularly on my ford E350, but only AFTER the glow plug relay has kicked off. If you spray the either into the motor and hit the starter, the glow plugs could blow the head apart. Then again, the glow plugs on that thing dont work anyway, and changing them with those van cabs is a PITA, but I still never use it on the benz.

I must agree, as not to use the ether. I run a Detroit Diesel (No GP's) in a bus, and every one says not to use ether. It has to be plugged in, or preheated.
I do agree with Truckinik, as I have used WD-40, as exception, to get a MB running which had a leak in the IP gsakets. Getting that corrected. But I keep a can of WD-40 in each Benz. A friend who operated construction equipment showed me the trick. That CAT equip. cost alot more than my MB.