[brownbear]

Originally Posted by Big Blue 84BJ60

ngk-y147t (10.5v) are hardy plugs and would work in a 2h
it might draw alittle more amperage bieng 10.5 vs 8.5 volts thats the only down side i could think of

i have a 3b super glow and when i swiched to manual glow (botched glow timmer) the plugs i pulled out were 6 volts and then replaced them with 10.5 volt plugs (and manual switch) the only problem i encountered was i blew a fuseable link i just replaced it with a 60 amp fuse no problems been 2 years now

it helps to bypass the resistor on the intake.

[magnus_heydoc]

Yeah man definitely check the glow plugs are getting power. Mine failed "all at once" just like you and I found a short on one of the big blade connectors.
Aaron

[lostmarbles]

Originally Posted by magnus_heydoc

Yeah man definitely check the glow plugs are getting power. Mine failed "all at once" just like you and I found a short on one of the big blade connectors.
Aaron

I'm just pottering around using the search function looking for historical information on:

• why glow controllers may fail to glow
• how you become a "glowplug serial killer".

If you're still out there magnus_heydoc - Can you tell me what you meant by "a short on one of the big blade connectors".

(Greg is still toasting glow plugs so your reply may be useful to us.)

[veggieguy]

Originally Posted by GregFrench

My glowplugs are all bad, so to start it I have been spraying starter fluid in the air intake when it is cold. I found some glowplugs, but am short on cash right now. Will it hurt anything to keep using starter fluid until I can save up the cash?

Best thing I've found is brake clean. The best kind is one that contains petroleum distillates (the same stuff used as a injector cleaner additive) such as Kleen Flo. It doesn't produce the scary knock that ether does and it burns longer in the comb. chamber which helps starting.

[magnus_heydoc]

You guys were looking for details about my GP failure and I used the word 'short' which was not appropriate.
More accurately the big connector from the battery to the bus bar on the inside has two large blades that connect to two females. One of the big blades came appart from the connector itself making a bad connection. Thereby the whole GP system didn't get any juice. The GPs themselves were fine. (since then I've burnt out one or more of my GPs just b/c they are almost 7 yrs. old.........I've been starting on a squirt of ether each am.)
I see a few comments on ether danger and I think if you use alot it really makes a racket and would appear to hard on the motor but if you use only a very small amount and your intake is physically far plumbing wise from the combustion it hardly sounds any different than a regular start. My rig is turbo now so there is more intake plumbing and the intake filter is an open air type K&N and not a canister. I think what happens is only very very little of the ether vapor actually gets ignited. It start just fine, cold, white smokey but not the massive racket like it was gonna fly apart like it used to the rare occasion I used ether on the old stock set-up. The message here is just use a very minimal amount of ether.
I've mentioned this before and it seems like several members agree but a manual GP system with a wilson switch and bigger V GPs seeems to work very well and last a long time. The super glow seems to be problematic as it gets older. Just what I believe but all may not agree.
I hope this helps.

[amaurer]

Originally Posted by mac

I've used the Ether Bunny on a 3B myself and it is quite a racket coupled with copious amounts of white smoke. I was in a campground and wasn't able to plug in my Cruiser. With all of my plugs burned out, ether was my only option. My fellow campers were less than pleased... not quite the same as campfire smoke.

The real danger in using ether is if your glow plugs are in anyway functioning they will cause the ether to ignite when you don't want it to, i.e., at a point other than compression/ignition. A misplaced explosion of ether as a piston is coming to the top can do some serious damage- say, broken crank, etc..

I'm late to the party but wanted to add - even if you skip the "Glow", a 3B is wired to turn the plugs on with the starter anyway, so perhaps think twice before using ether on a 3B that has its glow plugs still connected.

It may be that its only a problem if they're burning hot from a long glow cycle, however I think the conservative position would be to say that its only "safe" to use ether when the plugs are all burnt out, or all disconnected.