Does starting fluid hurt a diesel ?? Some of my brother in laws John Deere Diesel stuff has a factory installed system to apply ether ??
Bill
Not all diesels have glow plugs, the older industrial and big truck diesels in particular, some of these came with 'cold starting' feature, which is basically a can of ether plumbed into the intake, so you could give it a shot to start...thats no problem if used in moderation.
On a glow plug equipped engine you could easily cause a internal explosion, or at least a external rapidly accelerating fire twards your face!
Glow plugs are just that...they glow red hot when they are on. If an intake valve is open at the time you spray in, and the glow plugs are on....Well, there ya go! Instant fire.
If you HAVE to start a glow plug diesel with starting fluid, either disconnect the large power wire that feeds the glow plugs at the soliniod, or at least turn the key on and wait for the glow plugs to finish cycling (which could be several minutes)
Excessive use of starting fluid in any engine can easily cause cracked pistons and even heads among other things.
As stated, its a 99, so it should be a Powerstroke, and he said it starts fine cold, so I would rule out the glow plugs anyway, any diesel should start fine when warm without glow plugs.