Past Present and in Between in Pictures (Part 2)

Preventitive maintenance i think they call it.

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Behold, white smoke: they appear to have elected a new Pope!

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They have now !!!

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More petrol in the tank and more easy start in the intake might fire it up and clear that up a bit quicker.

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Needs a can of this.

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Nah! They get addicted to it. Dammit, I nearly got addicted to it! :rofl:

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I’ve heard that and wondered what it really is about.

Maybe some engines have a fault so they will not start readily from cold and so dope is used.
The fault develops and the dope camouflages the fault.
It isn’t the fault of the dope it is possibly a worsening fueling fault that goes undiagnosed, and unfixed, because the dope works around the fault?

I can still smell that unburnt diesel vapour from years ago.

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Can you also remember how it made your eyes sting?

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Yep. That too.
When I started we had about a dozen or maybe more trucks starting at 5 on a Monday morning. A mix of Gardner, Cummins and Leylands. After starting the engines you almost had to run with breath held to get to the tea room while the smoke cleared.

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When I was at Econofreight the big chief in Thornaby banned the use of Easystart, so the first time mine wouldn’t, in the wilds of Norfolk somewhere I called out BRS Rescue. They arrived and squirted Easystart into the beast and off I went.

The bill must have been enormous because a week or so later our Leicester depot manager said ‘you can use Easystart but disguise it as something else on your expenses’. :rofl:

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I still remember Victoria Coach Station back in the 70s (and Bristol late 70s), diesel fumes so thick you could chew it.

In Glasgow there was a busy bus terminus in a small street (Midland St) directly under Central Station. The street was only about 150 yards long and the railway bridge over it was about 80 yards wide. The bus stops were all directly under the bridge (presumably for cover during bad weather etc) but there was no ventilation other than if a wind blew through. Unfortunately this street was surround by high buildings so very little wind ever blew through. 4 or 5 buses, all with their engines running blowing out smoke, did not make it an appealing place to get a bus from. Add to that most people smoking in those days. Yeuch!!

That street must have been responsible for hundreds if not thousands of premature deaths.

Damn right, they do get addicted to it. When I woz but a yoof I was taught 'just give ‘em a slight whiff of ether’ (easy start). Just spraying it in willy nilly does more harm than good.

Spot on Grumpy, it can wreck pistons, holed or even the complete top broken off, thanks to predetonation.

We had a Weatherill loading shovel based on a Fordson Major, it stood outside in all weathers and in winter would only start with the air filter off and a lit rag held over the top of the intake.

I drove an F model Mack that had an air cleaner stuck up behind the cab, at the bottom it had a little metal cup into which i would put an ether capsule for cold weather starts. A spike in the cup would puncture the capsule and let the ether trickle into the intake. There’s a funny name for this system but I’ve forgotten it and no luck on google.

We had a Constructor 8 with a Cummins, had a Kysor pump fitted for a cold start.

I remember my dad had a F86 he would put a brick on the accelerator pedal walk around the near side and pull out a wire just above the front wheel and it started straight away.He had a Mandator bonnet up in the cab did something down the side of the engine and that fired up too straight away.That Volvo smoked a bit

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Almost a sackable offence to be caught with an ether can in the cab.

Cold start button on the pump rack? Would allow it to go past the governors.

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