any tricks to starting without glowplugs?

[riceatingrabbit]

glow plugs are shot.....

cant even get anything by jumping them straight to the battery...


any of you guys have any tricks?

[arb]

SPEED !!!!  If you can roll it down a good hill, or pull it behind another car, you will be able to start it w/o GP. Depending on your trans (you _do_ have a manual?) you might try 3rd or 4th. The thing is to spin the engine to about 1500 rpm and it will start :-) If you have an auto-slop, no way I know of that is w/o risk. Starting fluid might start it (Worked for me once) but it is hard on the engine and this is sure to get some harsh remarks about never using starting fluid on our IDI.

You might want to pimp your GP rather than trouble-shooting your problem (testing each GP in the process of pimping.)

[riceatingrabbit]

ya that would probably work...


I am currently sitting with no additional car to use...


I wore down my battery by cranking on it and right now I'm waiting for it to charge and waiting for it to get hotter outside..

[arb]

ya that would probably work...


I am currently sitting with no additional car to use...


I wore down my battery by cranking on it and right now I'm waiting for it to charge and waiting for it to get hotter outside..

If you have a propaine torch you might heat up the intake manifold - the aluminum might transfer enough heat to the intake air - that might work.

[MouseGTD]

i used easy start on mine a couple of times, it tells you not to use glow plugs on the can and fired it straight up.

[turbosuzi]

If you are going to use starting fluid make sure you disconnect the glow plug feed just to be sure they dont come on while cranking. I know you said that the plugs werent working but being safe is better than replacing pistons and a head. I have heard of using a gas soaked rag over the intake while cranking but it takes 2 people. I have also heard of using a blow dryer in the intake to get hot air in there while cranking. I havent tried either but they sound reasonable. I would prefer hot air to combustable gasoline in the engine bay.

[ilikevwdiesel]

dump a big pot of boiling water right on the injectors you'll degrease your head at the same time...   mmmmmhoohoohoohahahahahahaha

[smutts]

dump a big pot of boiling water right on the injectors

One to remember methinks

[maxfax]

Just went though this myself..  At about 40F I was able to crank it a bit (gets some fuel in the cyls I guess), let it rest a few seconds, then floorboard the pedal and crank it again till it fired..   But I also have a conglomeration that yields me 23:1 compression...

Rolling start or heating up the intake would be the best options..   At worse case as mentioned disconnect the gp's and give it a VERY VERY VERY little shot of some sort of starting fluid (WD woudl probably be better)..   Basically I spray it across the air intake and let it woft in there...

[Rabbit TD]

I've often wondered what would be a little easier on the engine and still work other than ether, starting fluid or whatever you want to call it.  I've heard of the gas rag trick, the use of propane in the air filter intake, WD-40 and I've even used Brake-Kleen before.  I think the hot air in the intake sounds safest if you have a long enough cord and a big hair dryer or heat gun.  What have some of the rest of you tried in the past?

[riceatingrabbit]

well, I ended up getting it started.... it took a fresh battery and my nieghbors car jump starting it to get it to crank with enouph speed... and at that point it was about 85 degrees out


I picked up some new glow plugs today and I'll probably put them in tomorrow..

fun fun fun!!!

[rabbitman]

I've heard hairspray works but that might be just like ether.

Maybe blow propane in the intake........

[macka]

I've heard hairspray works but that might be just like ether.

Maybe blow propane in the intake........

I've used PB blaster, wd40, release-all, and was told by an old vw diesel mech not to use ether unless it was at least -30*C. In Cyprus the Finn Con and Dan Con guys swore by propane.

[Rabbit on Roids]

get a heat gun and a remote starter button. im talking a heat gun tho, not a hair dryer. blow the hot air in the intake. then you basically have an intake air heater instead of glowplugs. i tried using ether on my rabbit a couple times with no GP's, but it would still fight the starter. my audi will not start unless you give it ether tho. honestly, if your car wont fight the starter with ether, i would just use the smallest shot of it i could get away with. because its not going to crack the head or blow the headgasket from cranking on the starter. ether breaks heads and blows gaskets when used EXCESSIVELY. i use a tiny shot on my engines. basically as long as it takes me to push the button all the way down and let it up. just a light ppssssst and you should fire right up. just hit the key as soon as you get it ethered, dont even let the GP controller cycle on.

[Rabbit TD]

I've heard hairspray works but that might be just like ether.

Maybe blow propane in the intake........

  Ha -Ha, I never heard about the hair spray method.  I'll add that one to my list too.  I'm sure whatever spray we use other than ether it is the propellant in the can that gives us the starting boost.  I bet a can of black spray paint would work too, at least it will blend in with the soot coming out the tail-pipe