Arrrrrrggggg.......I killed my glow plugs

[greythorn3]

hehehe! congrats on the son!

 

[Diesel JD]

Yeah congrats on the little one. You'll learn how it is to be thought of as a hero, such is a dad to his little one. Go luck with the move as well.

 

[tractorman86]

congrats on the boy !!! what part of NM? i'm kinda excited there is someone else in the south West with me now.

 

[cleithau]

I just got to Albuquerque, the old Ford made it slow and steady across the country with no problems. A lot of oil but no problems, no that I'm out of that freezing cold I can fix my oil cooler leak. Almost 2.5 gallons of oil went into the old beast with almost 1500 lbs in the bed and 6000 lbs in tow. But she made it and made it happily. Sure wish I had a turbo when I was going up the hills though.

No speedometer, no tach, one barely functional rear fuel gauge. Just a triple set of aftermarket temp, oil psi and volt gauges.

 

[Cheaper Jeeper]

....Going to New Mexico and hopefully getting a job as a diesel tech so with the new job I'll still have more money after the baby than we have now....

Spoken like a first-time father-to-be
Unless the new job pays about double what you're making now, and the cost of living New Mexico is the same or less than where you're at now, you'll never have "more money after the baby comes"

You'll soon learn that with kids, every time you think you have an "extra" $5 in your pocket, they need something that costs $6. It is an unwritten law of the universe. That isn't to say they aren't worth it, but just to break it to you that the little buggers are expensive - probably more so than you ever realized...

My block heater isn't hooked up and my batteries are due for replacement, so this winter my truck was a little hard to start when the temps got down low. So I used a little ether. Fortunately I only had to start it a few times like that (it doesn't get or stay that cold here very much or very often).

There are 3 secrets to using ether without damage.
1) NO using the glowplugs - you already knew that
2) use it sparingly - about 1 or 2 half second "blasts" and
3) don't use it until the engine is cranking.
This last one is a little tricky if you don't have a helper.

What I did is took one of those remote pushbutton starter switch deals (just a pushbutton switch mounted in a handle with two leads coming off it and ending in alligator clips) and hooked it up across the two small terminals of the starter relay mounted inside the passenger fender under the hood. To start it I'd turn the key to the run position, get out there with the hood up and the can of ether in my right hand, operate the pushbutton remote starter switch with my left hand to start it cranking and then give 'er a short blast (sometimes it would take two blasts) of the ether.

Started right up every time that way - without a lot of rattling or drama.

 

[84TD]

Could you elaborate on this some more? What are the benifets of 12v GP's and where is a place to buy them or what model/application are they made for?

I have used ether only once on my truck. No glow plugs, a tiny snort in the intake from a mechanic friend while I was cranking. The IH IDIs can handle it if used very carefully. Again a slight mist NOT a flood! With the glow plugs it is pretty understandable that you panicked under those conditions. Remember it really should only be a quick 6-8 second burn. The reason being they are 6V plugs form a 12V source. The real fix is 12V glow plugs or step down the voltage at the harness to 6V. That is a tall order for a man on a budget though. It still should have started right up, so you probably have some air leaks or already had a dead plug or two or three.