Starting fluid question

[Hammermechanicman]

 

[bertsmobile1]

So some one comes in with an engine that won't start and you find a hole in the piston
He says it won't even start on starter fluid
So do you attribute the hole to the use of starting fluid or do you think the hole was the reason it would not start in the first place and diagnose preignition from overheating ?
You don't stand there with 2 cans of starting fluid madly squirting it down the carb till the engine hydro locks but other people do
In 11 years I have had 2 engines with holed pistons
Immediate assumption
plug causing pre-igniton
Repair
Replaced piston & rings , honed bore , replaced the timing key & magneto coil.
Engine is still running
Why did it fail, don't know & don't care unless it is a warranty problem .

 

[sgkent]

this thread falls under the agree with me or go away syndrome, aka I know more than you do. Totally par for the course in this day and age. For the records, gasoline burns. Ether explodes. There is a difference but it will fall on deaf ears. I am out.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

this thread falls under the agree with me or go away syndrome, aka I know more than you do. Totally par for the course in this day and age. For the records, gasoline burns. Ether explodes. There is a difference but it will fall on deaf ears. I am out.

Just looking for a first hand experience.
What is the stoichometric ratio that makes ether explode?
The speed of deflagration between gasoline and ether is not that different. You only get so many oxygen molocules in the cylinder.

 

[hlw49]

Not buying it. A "Some guy said" i have heard tons of stories but have never seen a first hand damaged engine

I am not a some guy said. Been doing this 46 years. I won't take the chance will use my gumout carb cleaner.

 

[Hammermechanicman]

Carb cleaner works. Just looking for a first hand experience. When i was in high school i saw my neighbor literally blow the air cleaner off his 327 impala with starting fluid when it was below zero one morning. Then he got it started and it ran fine.

Scub needs a to go with the

 

[Scrubcadet10]

 

[rdedrick]

It can damage diesels with their higher compression if you use too much. The thing it will do is wash down the cylinder walls if you use a lot of regularly. A lawn mowing job I do the owner has a Husqvarna mower in the shed he would like me to use once in a while. It is fairly new and he said it needed starting fluid to start. I checked the choke by hand and it fired right up. I adjusted the cable so it won't need that starting fluid again. Looking it up online it appears many of them from the factory exhibited this problem. Like Star Tech said it should run on the fuel it was designed for.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Starting fluid is basically either + a volatile propellent
So unless the product has more information on the can than "propellent hydrocarbon " working out the flame propogation rate & stoichometric ratio is a touch difficult
The video was interesting but you might note that my previous post mentioned that it would not be a problem for low compression side valve engines & he used a low compression side valve engine .
When either is used in model engines it generally has caster oil added at some where between 50:1 & 100:1 depending upon the actual engine and a lot of them are actually diesel , or compression ignitions if you prefer but they run at around 30:1 compression ratios
I am sure that you have heard an engine knock quite badly when running on starting fluid being sprayed down a carb and we know what knocking CAN do to an engine
I don't use power tools standing on wet grass with wet hands because I CAN get an electric shock if I am unlucky .
And technically there is no difference between combustion & an explosion
The former happens in an unconfines space while the latter is exactly the same process happening in a confined space so the heat & pressure can not escape

 

[Hammermechanicman]

I had a guy tell me that starting fluid would blow up an engine. I disconnected the fuel pump on a briggs OHV twin and gave him a can and told him to try and blow it up. He used the whole can and couldn't blow it up.
Been a fun thread pursuing an urban legend. What's next? Does a mower run "better" on premium vs regular?