Old timer told me to never use ether on a glow plug engine, I learned why the hard way

Back in February I was out in Loveland helping a buddy with his old 7.3 Powerstroke that wouldn't start in the cold. This retired fleet mechanic walks over, sees me about to grab the ether can, and he shakes his head, says 'son, you'll blow the glow plugs right out the head if you do that.' I thought he was being dramatic but I listened anyway. Well three weeks later my cousin tried starting his identical truck with ether and it blew a glow plug clean through the intake manifold. Has anyone else seen this happen or was that just a freak thing with his engine?

3 comments

3 Comments

quinna891mo ago

Respectfully I think that was just a freak thing, used ether on glow plugs for years without issue.

stone.lisa1mo ago

Switched to a low dose can of ether starter fluid myself after reading a tip from an old diesel mechanic, never had an issue since. He said the key is short bursts, like one second max, and let the glow plugs cool down first if they've been cycling. Might be worth trying a different brand or technique before swearing off ether completely.

jennifer8331mo ago

@quinna89 I've seen it happen a few times on the old 7.3s. The ether pre-ignites and puts way too much pressure on those brittle 90s glow plugs.