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I have a 1987 F250 w/ 6.9 Diesel. It is a hard starter after sitting over night. I am familiar w/ tractor engines and we use ether to start them would it damage the engine if i use ether/starting fluid to get it going. I was even toying w/ the idea of putting an ether injector assembly near the intake. Is this a good idea, any suggestions?
Also I am having a problem w/ the electrical system. The altenator is good and it is giving off a charge. The battery is brand new. But the charge isn't getting to the battery is it possible that the voltage regulator is hooked up wrong? Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks
Kirk
Personally I would skip the ether idea and check out the glow plug system. I had problems with my truck starting for quite a while.After 3 sets of glow plugs I wised up and got some good advice here I replaced the glow plugs and put in a switch to by-pass the control unit. I haven't had problem since. Some one on here had a link to a diagram on how to do the by-pass. If I find it I'll post it. As for your electrical system I'll have to pass on that. Good Luck!
IF you want to use ether you MUST!!!!!!!!!!!! DISCONECT THE GLOW PLUGS FIRST.
The previous owner bypassed the heater thru a push-button toggle switch. So doesn't that mean that the glow plugs would be turned off unless I press the button.
Kirk
Bought 1988 f250 - 280,000 plus miles at auction runs good but hard to start. Previous owner "showed" me trick to start it - ether. Pop the hood and just give it a shot down the air snorkel run back to the cab and crank it - it works but it started real abruptly and I read all the advice to never use starting fluid on this engine. My brother-in-law. who wrenches on tractors everyday told me a better way to start engines with ether is to crank the engine and then spray ether into the air cleaner while cranking. the idea is to let the engine pull in a little ether with each air charge into the engine cylinders instead of one cylinder getting a huge shot of ether. What I did was disconnect the glow plug feed on the back of the block (though I think all the glow plugs are shot anyway) then I put a push button under the hood that puts power to the starter relay. Now when starting a cold engine I turn the key on, pop the hood, crank the engine and give it a small shot of starting fluid while cranking and it works like a charm and starts a lot easier .
You need to Check and make sure your controller is wired up correctly and all your glow plugs are serviceable. You could also have a faulty voltage regulator.