I'll give a brief synopsis here, as these events are probably interrelated.

Around Thanksgiving, I noticed my 1985 740 GLE turbodiesel was getting hard to start. With a jump it would go, and it would start on it own with a little difficulty, after setting for a few hours. Seemed like glow plug trouble ,so I replaced these around Xmas (thanks to this site I got VW replacements, less than half of the Volvo part price!). Subsequently, the engine would crank, but not "fire". I'm no diesel expert, but I checked my work and everything looked OK. Seemed like it was getting no fuel. Drained the fuel filter and even changed the oil. Finally, after about a week, I broke out the dreaded can of ether. With some literal gnashing of teeth (I did take it easy, though), the engine came to life. Ran well, never missed a lick. For a week I did the ether routine (just a spot, mind you) once a day to get it going. I could still hear a slight scrape in the starter gear as the motor came to life. But when starting it on a cold day some teeth snapped and and now the gears can't stay in engaged enough to crank the motor.

So my first question is, is the ring gear separate from the torque converter, or is it integral, anyone have an idea how much the pertinent parts run? Second, I'd like hear ideas on the hard starting. I suspect I got bad fuel as I'd filled just before the "non-firing" no fuel thing ocurred.

Thanks again,
Dennis