needs starting fluid to start.....

[GREASE FIRE]

Hello,
i am looking at a 1984 f250 around here, mostly because i want to take the drive train out and put in my step van but i may drive the truck for a while if it is not too bad. It has a lot of new parts but the owner says it won't start in cold weather unless the block heater is plugged in. Once it warms up it can shut down and start, and it supposedly starts in warm weather. It has new glow plugs, starter and glow plug relay but the guy still could not get it figured out, so he has been using starter fluid (which makes me wonder how much damage it caused). I think he said the glow plug light on the dash does not come on, so hopefully there is just a bad connection somewhere and the glow plugs are not getting power.

Or could it be something more serious than that? Anyone know? does the fact that he has been using starter fluid (and i don't think he said wd40 which is more mild) mean that he probably messed up the engine (6.9)?

any help appreciated!
thanks,
Paul

 

[Andylad13]

thats pretty much the whole deal. classic problem on your hands. glow plug related.

if everythings new (you didn't mention the plug controller) then it should be a simple fix somewhere like a connection broken.

there shouldn't be much damage starting it with starter fluid because the plugs dont seem to be working at all. fix that problem and it will be fine, should be simple. good luck!

 

[Diesel JD]

Ether in the hands of experience is not that bad on a 6.9/7.3. It sounds like he doesn't have any working glow plugs in there. They might be swollen up or busted off, that would be the bigger concern when you go to replace them. But as long as it doesn't knock or tick too bad as of now it probably doesn't have any tips buried in the motor. You'll just have to be real careful removing them. I would be fairly sure a glow plug fix will have that truck starting perfectly.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Ask Him what brand of glowplugs he installed. If they're not Motorcrafts. You might be in for some swolen tips. Unless they were never operational.