starting fluid ruins glowplugs?

corelokt308win · Apr 14, 2005

I was getting a car inspected today and was talking with the mechanic about various mechanical problems I've had of late, and the Iseki glowplugs came up. He says starting fluid will ruin glowplugs, even after only one use. Is this so?

chatcher · Apr 14, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I was getting a car inspected today and was talking with the mechanic about various mechanical problems I've had of late, and the Iseki glowplugs came up. He says starting fluid will ruin glowplugs, even after only one use. Is this so? )</font>

I was under the impression the problem was more along the lines of spraying starting fluid on hot glow plugs will ruin YOUR day...

oliver28472 · Apr 16, 2005

Don't know about your brand but Mitsubishi and Satoh diesel engines will not tolerate starting fluid. The piston tops are too thin. They use glow plugs. You should go to satohparts.com and look at the pictures of an engine damaged by ether. I know that some engines will take ether. We used it all the time on our farm tractors when I was growing up. However, constant use of ether will cause your engine to become addicted to it. This is because the additional volatility of the ether eventually rounds off the top of the piston rings. I don't know about whether ether will damage the glow plugs. If it won't start using the glow plugs you may want to make sure the glow plugs are working like the should. May also want to consider a block heater.