Ether Damage?

[OldIron82]

I'll cut to the chase. Truck will not start without ether period. I absolutely needed it for a job today there was no way around it. After a 20 min lunch break at Wendys I came back outside and cranked that pig flat to the floor for almost 30 sec and it just would not light. Almost 130,000 on everything I suppose the entire fuel delivery system is shot and air leaks hideously. Unfortunately since it was already heat soaked the ether lit far to advanced and it knocked horribly. About a half hour later on my way home it now has a loud upper end tick. It sounds like on the driver side of the engine and honestly sounds the loudest coming out of the air cleaner. So did I do this, or is this just a coincidence? I'm guessing these idi's have hydraulic lifters, could one of them have given up the ship?

I'm not a complete imbecile I truly hate using the funny juice but I am VERY busy and I DO NOT have the time to do injection pump, injectors, and return line replacements and all that other crap until winter. Unfortunately now I may have to find the time to swap in that first gen 6.9 with the turbo that I bought a few months ago anyway.

So now a tech question. Why is the almighty, powerful, thermodynamically efficient unrelenting juggernaut known as the Diesel engine such a finicky, temperamental cry baby ***** when it comes to air in the system? If these injection pumps have thousands of psi why doesn't the air come blasting out of the injector and the engine light a few seconds later? When you crack the injectors the fuel goes flying so why can't it purge itself? I'll be willing to venture a guess that the air compresses just like when there is air in a hydraulic brake system and that possibly makes it hard to purge through the injector orifices? Please someone educate me here. I have never had a injector apart, old school or HEUI's so I hope if I knew how they work (I know the heui's in my DT466E are a entirely different animal ) I could better understand why they can't self purge.

Thank you everyone. Heading to bed annoyed and disgusted. Tomorrow is a different day.

OI82

 

[jwalterus]

I'll cut to the chase. Truck will not start without ether period.

not fuel, your GPs aren't working..........

 

[Waystro]

Is the sound your hearing like a thump?
mine did the same thing needless to say it's sitting on a stand right now GlowPlug came in contact with the piston.

 

[OLDBULL8]

IP's are made to pump liquid, namely diesel fuel, not air. One little half second spritz of ether is enough to start a diesel anymore than that, who knows what can happen. Next time, jump the starter relay across the two large terminals and press in on the filter Schrader valve to purge the air. Replace the short rubber hose at the lift pump, they get cracked and air gets in, fuel, drains back to tank, that's the most common air intrusion place. Get yourself a remote start push button and leave it hooked up to the start relay on the fender until you get things straightened out.
Schrader valve/tire valve is the one on the left in pic, the right side is a air purge if you have one on your filter.

 

[Hydro-idi]

Sounds like you may have done some damage.
Glow plugs don't have much to do with it when it had been running 20 minutes prior to stopping for lunch. These engines will light off without the plugs when engine is warm. Now....if you didn't unplug glow plugs prior to using ether, doing that can cause all sorts of headaches.
IMO, this is a combination of problems. Injection system is due for a replacement & sounds like you already know about possible air leaks in system.
I can understand your frustration because a heat soaked IP & air leaks make it very difficult to light off a diesel. Grabbing the can of ether will almost always get er going. Unfortunately, it might be a safe bet to pull heads off when doing this job. A consistent ticking noise after an ether blast is a problem that will need to be found & fixed. I bet a glow plug tip exploded off into a cylinder or 2 & did some damage to valves.

 

[OldIron82]

Blown up glow plug tips are you serious!!!!!!!!????????? Omg I am going to have a psycho-billy freak out if physically damaged this engine with a can of crack! I do not need this right now!
How is that even possible? The engine was already hot I seriously doubt the plugs would have lit even if I did let them which I did not because I turn right past them to start and don't even give them the chance!
Ok, assuming they are damaged would the test light test confirm if one has grenaded? The previous owner installed a new GP controller and GP's and they all work properly. Well, w.o.r.k.e.d...

 

[chris142]

I rarely use my plugs if its warm out or its still hot.20 minutes and it should have started right up

 

[sassyrel]

the reason it wouldn't start hot,,ip's nearly dead... if you would have went,,and got about a qt of tepid water. [just off of cold] it would have tightened the tolerances,,enough to start...its a trick,,talked of long ago,,when some of us were much younger..........

 

[OldIron82]

Sure wish I knew that before this happened. That's a really genius trick.

 

[riotwarrior]

Read faq and start here and tech section thoroughly