[Vwdiesel] Stock head gasket on 1.6TD, 2 hole or 3 hole?

[James Hansen]

>   What little I've seen of truck or farm non glow starting systems did indeed 
> 
> have a bottle that looked just like a propane bottle but one I do remember 
> farily clearly said ether, starting fluid or such on it.  That's why I've 
> always 
> wondered about the "DON'T USE STARTING FLUID" rule. 

That rule is bunk.
you DO have to have a functional brain installed, and not wash down the 
general area with the stuff however. A little goes a long ways. Even 
worse is the ether injection bottles like have been described, which are 
not propane, and are very clearly labelled as containing diethyl ether. 
  I'm glad Terry doesn't dispense medication :-)  They run off a push 
button on the dash that runs a solenoid... most tractors use this system 
now.  There are a couple designs of these, some are built to hold a 
regular ether can, some are for industrial where the can may get whacked 
and burst (loaders, skidders, etc)- so you can get ether in the steel 
bottle like you buy propane for your handheld plumber's style torch- it 
is much more robust.  IIRC the connections are slightly different so 
that nobody uses an ether bottle on a torch and makes a flamethrower.


  It seems that if
> you use ONLY A DAB it doesn't do damage since there are systems that 
> used it on factory setups.  Now if you go using a bunch, with glow plugs or 
> when it's not needed then certainly you're asking for it.
>   Am I actually remembering things wrong???  I was sure those systems 
> used ether instead of propane.  Propane isn't all that vapory at -30, in fact 
> 
> I believe it's pretty darn liquid in the open at just below that!

really depends on the blend and it's area of intended use.  In colder 
climates, it has been blended with a higher vapor pressure so as to have 
sufficient poop to work up to -30.  I know folks that have a light bulb 
on their outdoor propane tank right by the outlet for when it gets 
colder than -30, so the tank makes enough pressure to get fuel to the 
house for the furnace.  After -25, you have to have the light on just to 
get enough heat into the tank to keep the furnace going.

As to ether,best way is to be cranking the engine while adding a tiny 
shot, which is the logic behind the dash mounted switch.  I know on the 
bigger stuff with low compression, on cool mornings it really helps get 
all cylinders to light up and not have to idle coughing and snorting and 
pushing raw fuel out the stack until they get going by themselves.

For our tiny cars, if needed, best way is to have a rag in front of the 
intake, and to spray the rag and run around to hit the starter.  Therer 
is a big difference in ether requirements betweeen an 18:1 compression 
16litre Cummins, and a 23:1 1.6 litre volks.

I have tried propane as a starting aid, and in the cold, it puts out the 
fire and locks worse than ether.
-James


>      Loren
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