Some diesel engines use ether to start. The 6.2 and 6.5 IDI engine is not one of them. GM put a nice warning sticker letting you know you may be replacing your 6.2/6.5 diesel engine if you use a starting aid. You have a 10+ HP starter, two batteries, 8 glow plugs, a glow plug controller, and optional block heater all dedicated to starting the cold blooded diesel.
What could possibly go wrong?
TheTruckStop.us members and supporting vendors are dedicated to help you answer just this question. If it isn't starting normally something is wrong that needs to be fixed. No need to put off fixing it and risk the engine damage while putting repairs off.
Unless it's a life and death emergency where 911 won't work and there are no strangers around to help you: avoid ether use. You make the ultimate decision as you are there and we can only second guess you.
If you wish to try it out disable the glow plugs (and/or grid heater on other diesels) first. These can light the ether off in the intake with the flame coming back to the can you are spraying from or shrapnel from the intake blowing up makes the emergency worse.
Unlike a gas engine that spark ignites the ether to sanely get going a diesel uses ether for heat. The ether explodes on the compression stroke attempting to drive the engine backwards, but, generates needed heat to light off the injected diesel fuel mist. At 21:1 compression ether exploding on the compression stroke is likely to cause problems with the light duty IDI we have.
As I am my own warranty station I only use ether on a 6.2 and 6.5 engine I feel I can and will replace. For example to start one that already has a hole in a piston to get it on the car trailer. The pics below are mostly from a single ignorantly abused 599 block 6.2 engine with the melted pics from another engine. Cheap scrap metal parts is why I have it.
First damage area is glow plugs. The working ones tend to overheat and break off. Not a NA show stopper as the engine can still run with the following damage. Turbo's hate debris like this...
Of course someone uses too much and pistons crack.
Habit forming use example of too much heat. Melted pistons.
Aside of the known rod bending... The reverse rotation ether explosion can blow the starter clean off the engine. I have broken the reduction gears in a starter myself. No Bondo or JB Weld won't fix this ruined block!
I do not have pictures of another failure mode: failed head bolts, stretched TTY bolts, stripped out head bolt threads, or known lifting of the head clean off the engine resulting in the minimum of head gasket failure from the ether explosions. Cylinders also can crack or shatter as the 5.7 Olds diesel was known for. I am sure I am lacking some other ether failures...
What could possibly go wrong?
TheTruckStop.us members and supporting vendors are dedicated to help you answer just this question. If it isn't starting normally something is wrong that needs to be fixed. No need to put off fixing it and risk the engine damage while putting repairs off.
Unless it's a life and death emergency where 911 won't work and there are no strangers around to help you: avoid ether use. You make the ultimate decision as you are there and we can only second guess you.
If you wish to try it out disable the glow plugs (and/or grid heater on other diesels) first. These can light the ether off in the intake with the flame coming back to the can you are spraying from or shrapnel from the intake blowing up makes the emergency worse.
Unlike a gas engine that spark ignites the ether to sanely get going a diesel uses ether for heat. The ether explodes on the compression stroke attempting to drive the engine backwards, but, generates needed heat to light off the injected diesel fuel mist. At 21:1 compression ether exploding on the compression stroke is likely to cause problems with the light duty IDI we have.
As I am my own warranty station I only use ether on a 6.2 and 6.5 engine I feel I can and will replace. For example to start one that already has a hole in a piston to get it on the car trailer. The pics below are mostly from a single ignorantly abused 599 block 6.2 engine with the melted pics from another engine. Cheap scrap metal parts is why I have it.
First damage area is glow plugs. The working ones tend to overheat and break off. Not a NA show stopper as the engine can still run with the following damage. Turbo's hate debris like this...
Of course someone uses too much and pistons crack.
Habit forming use example of too much heat. Melted pistons.
Aside of the known rod bending... The reverse rotation ether explosion can blow the starter clean off the engine. I have broken the reduction gears in a starter myself. No Bondo or JB Weld won't fix this ruined block!
I do not have pictures of another failure mode: failed head bolts, stretched TTY bolts, stripped out head bolt threads, or known lifting of the head clean off the engine resulting in the minimum of head gasket failure from the ether explosions. Cylinders also can crack or shatter as the 5.7 Olds diesel was known for. I am sure I am lacking some other ether failures...
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