Somewhere in Vacaville, there's a diesel dying from starting fluid abuse
 

In a parking lot at lunch today.

Old dude: "What year is that?"

Me: "It's a '63."

Dude: "I've got an '01 S430."

Me: "Oh, that's a nice car."

Dude: "Ya, it's got everything. My brother just picked up a '79."

Me: "A Mercedes? What model, a 280CE?" (just taking a stab at it)

Dude: "A diesel"

Me: "A 300 or 240?"

Dude: "I don't know. The body is really straight, the paint is nice and the interior is good. The only thing wrong is my brother has to use starting fluid to start it."

Me: GASP! "That's the worst thing you can do to a diesel engine! Tell your brother to stop doing that right now."

Dude: "Well the thingy, er uh the starting. . ."

Me: "The glow plug system?"

Dude: "Ya, the glow plug system doesn't work and they want $500 to fix it."

Me: "Really? The glow plug system is dead simple, it shouldn't cost that much to fix it."

Dude: "Well, there's something wrong with the uh, thingy in the uh. . .thing."

(Does he mean the relay?)

Me: "Tell your brother to stop using starting fluid."

Dude: "Well, he just got it."

Me: "It is going to destroy the rings."

(The best part)
Dude: "Well, my brother's a mechanic, he doesn't mind replacing rings."

Me: ?

Dude: "Ya, that S430 is really nice, have a good one."

If it wasn't so sad it may actually be funny!

Danny

You might be able to pick that up soon for cheap as a donor body needing a engine.

That's enough to make me cry! A couple of years ago I tore an Olds 5.7 diesel apart that was hit with ether. Man what a mess. When it ignited it blew the main bearing caps and cracked the crank.

I doubt it would take ehter to nessecarily blow an Olds Diesel, but it sure would have sped that process along.
Get this, my dad has a 78 Olds Cutllass Diesel and it is still on the road. Only has 80 K miles. He is not willing to drive it much, keeps after me to use it for a week just to keep it running. I have been putting him off, had a Chev pickup with the Rocket Olds warmed over diesel blow on me once, don't want that mess again.

There was an ebay car last week that I was considering buying for the engine for my 240D. Considering until his description indicated that it only ran after using starting fluid. I almost sent him an email but if he kills it it just raised the value of our cars... :D

In my part of the country when we use starting fluid we use the expression, "Hit her with ether." It probably came from the days before aerosol starting fluid when you went to the drugstore and bought ether straight and put a little bit on a shop rag and held it to your air intake on the old farm tractors. Pretty potent stuff.

A mercedes diesel is the only thing I have ever found that I couldnt start with a can of ether. Its not really bad for an engine as long as you dont over use it, hell tractors have a spot on the engine for mounting it and a button in the cab for those cold mornings.

You got that right. :D


I went through 2 cans of ether on the 240D (Just to get it in place for work) before I pulled the engine. It made a hell of a racket but it never ran one turn on it's own power.