Finally stopped using starter fluid on cold winter mornings after watching my neighbor blow a piston ring

I used to be the guy who would hit every cold 7.3 Powerstroke with a shot of ether. Quick fix, right? Last February up in the UP, my neighbor had his 2000 F-350 refuse to start at 20 below. He took a 5 second blast to the intake and it fired up but sounded wrong. Two weeks later he was pulling the heads. Cracked a piston ring on startup. The ether washed the oil off the cylinder walls and the piston scuffed. He ended up spending $3400 on a rebuild. Now I only use a block heater and let the glow plugs do their job. Took me 12 years and watching someone else's engine grenade to learn that lesson. Any of you guys had bad luck with starting fluid on common rail engines?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliviabennett18d ago

Gotta wonder how much of that was the ether and how much was just a tired engine that was ready to blow anyway. Seems like people blame starting fluid for everything when their high mileage diesel finally gives up.

the_uma18d ago

Olivia, you hit on something there with "people blame starting fluid for everything." It reminds me of how folks treat almost anything that goes wrong. If a car battery dies, they blame the headlights left on, not the five year old battery. If a water heater leaks, they blame the last plumber, not the rusted tank. We all do it, reaching for the easy explanation instead of looking at the real wear and tear. It's like we want to believe everything would be fine if not for one little mistake, when really things just get old and tired.