Please assist...weird starting issues with diesel Blazer

a small burst of starting fluid (just a one sec. spray any more you'll blow the engine)

What does that accomplish? I blew an engine before doing that and would rather figure this out if possible. Do you know what it might be? Does the glow plug switch sound like the culprit? Thanks for the suggestion though. Anyone else have ideas?

Try N.A.P.A. or the diesel depot. Charles

It accomplishes nothing except causing damage that you don't want. Never use starting fluid on a diesel.

This is very obviously the glow plug contoller. The problem with bypassing the controller is that you need a switch (or solenoid set up) that can handle the high amperage that the plugs require. However I would not recommend that.

On the other hand, the local Chevy dealer won't have much in the way of parts availability for a truck this old but I do know that the glow plug controller is still available aftermarket. Time to hit the internet.

Cheers - Jonathan

Yes by all means and maybe Advanced Auto too as someone will have the proper parts for it as it is not that old and you do not really want to bypass it. You really want to get this fixed before you burn out the starter from excessive cranking because it will not be cheap to replace.

There is nothing wrong with using starting fluid with a diesel if it is done properly as I have done it for many years. People that have problems use too much of it as it should be used sparingly but I have started some diesels in pretty cold weather with it. The trick is to start cranking the engine over then to give it small shots until is fires up. Lots of contruction equipmant and farm tractors have starting fluid ports or injection systems accessed from in the cab or operators area. NEVER apply ether then crank with a diesel!

In this case her though since he has a glow plugs, he should fix the control circuit for them and since the newer 6.5 TD is a spin off of the 6.2 he should be able to either find the part he needs or a suitable sub (switch/timer) that can be made to work in his application in the after market. The 6.2 was used up to about 92 also.

Heavy Deisels (such as equpiment & farm engines, and heavy trucks), you can use starting fluid on.

Light Diesels the only "safe" starting fluid is something like WD-40. I had to use WD-40 to start a old 80's Diesel buick century. I also used it on the olds diesels put in GM full size cars. Charles

Here are a couple of links -- you'll want the '85 and up glow controller for

6.2L ($93 > >

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WD-40.

Not so, it is quite safe as long as you know how to use it because I have used it on small 3cyl diesels on up including a 6.2 once at 25 below (with success) , tractors of various sizes, loader, dozer, big trucks and what have you. There is no danger if it is done correctly. I would never use WD40 to start a diesel in cold weather. Starting fliud is the method of choice and again you start cranking engine while giving short bursts of less than a second at several second intervals until it lights. The danger with a deisel is some start squirting then crank and keep squirting non stop until it lights but by then the air clearer and intake system is loaded with starting fluid from constant spraying and it can get nasty when it lights off. The worst diesel I have ever started was the old IH D150?s and D170?s. The were a strange setup were they ran on 4 cyl below 1000 RPM to save fuel and all 8 above that. If engine was not heated, even with either they were nasty to start because the 4 cylinders did not have enough power to overcome cold thick oil to rev up enough to past 1000 RPM for about 30 seconds or more and you had to keep giving it bursts until it finally fully caught and then could idle on its own . IH did not make that engine long.

Only if you use too much. Diesel dentonate all the time when they run and that is how they run and why they are so noisy too. To those that are slow learner I say again, it is how you use starting fluid with a diesel that makes it safe to use because it will not hurt a thing if done correctly. People that damage engines with it, load them up with too much of it while trying to start it. A very large motor will tolerate larger amount of it thna a small one and unlike a gas engine which has throttle plate to limit air intake too a diesel do not have that and if you load it up with to much ether, there is nothing to stop it from all getting in there are once. Also 6.2 and 6.5?s have prechambers in them to add cold weather starting and noise control too. THis design does not respond well to turbo charging so it does nt see much use today but it is higher compression than a direct injection diesel and generaly runs about 21 to 23 to 1 on a pre chamber engineand about 16 to 18 to one on a direct injection one. The DI engine will be pretty gutless without a turbo and have poor throttle responce while the pre chamber engine with run better without turbo and still have good throttle response. Prechamber also give engine a bit wider usable RPM range than a DI engine. THe 6.5 had turbos but they were low boost because high boost does not play well on a prechambered engine and I always thought that the 6.5 ran pretty nice for a oil burner too.

Sorry SnoMan, but diesel fuel does not detonate in a normal

4-stroke diesel cycle. When the cylinder is, for all intents and purposes, at the top of the compression stroke (compressing ONLY air), the air is at a high enough temperature to ignite diesel fuel which is exactly what occurs when it is injected as an atomized spray at extremely high pressure into the combustion chamber. It DOES NOT detonate. As diesel fuel continues to be injected into the combustion chamber, it continues to ignite.

Again, the GM 6.2 & 6.5 diesel owner's manuals specifically state "never" to use starting fluid. The glow cycle will ignite the ether-air mixture causing cylinder "firing" out of sequence as in simultaneously. Detonation will damage a diesel engine. Repeated simultaneous cylinder firing in a diesel engine can be catastrophic.

Glad you know how to properly use ether starting fluids. Not recommended for the novice or untrained: use ether-based starting fluid at your own risk. Never had to use starting fluid on our 300D MB, 6.2NA Sub and 6.5TD Tahoe. Never plan on using it.

Regards, Franko

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