Rick Dec
Registered User
Bill Hewit from Powerstrokehelp.com recommends using break clean. I have tried this and it works great.
Best starting aid?
- Thread starter IDI_Journeyman
- Start date
raydav
Full Access Member
The current Walmart starting fluid is Heptane, Ether and Liquified Petroleum Gas.
In 2008, on a cross country trip, I was chasing injector O ring leaks. We pulled into a rest stop, I worked with a leaking O ring, and then could not start. I tried to start for six hours. Then a guy came along with a can of brake cleaner. That worked. He also had model airplane stuff which included nitro. Don't know what that might have done. We drove from that rest stop to Walmart. Never again.
I have been using Walmart fluid ever since. In both the previous and current engines when it is warm it starts instantly. Cold is another mater. Yes, I have played with plugs and controllers.
Now a confession. For about a decade I have had a can plumbed into the intake bonnet. The can is in a bicycle bottle rack and supported on the floor. I have good control on the amount. The shortest spray possible is the difference between starting and grinding the starter. When I installed this engine I killed a starter the first time I tried to start.
In 2008, on a cross country trip, I was chasing injector O ring leaks. We pulled into a rest stop, I worked with a leaking O ring, and then could not start. I tried to start for six hours. Then a guy came along with a can of brake cleaner. That worked. He also had model airplane stuff which included nitro. Don't know what that might have done. We drove from that rest stop to Walmart. Never again.
I have been using Walmart fluid ever since. In both the previous and current engines when it is warm it starts instantly. Cold is another mater. Yes, I have played with plugs and controllers.
Now a confession. For about a decade I have had a can plumbed into the intake bonnet. The can is in a bicycle bottle rack and supported on the floor. I have good control on the amount. The shortest spray possible is the difference between starting and grinding the starter. When I installed this engine I killed a starter the first time I tried to start.
Rabbycacker
Registered User
Great tip for the remote ether can using a bicycle bottle holder. Have been wanting to put one on my 89 E350 7.3L IDI Box truck but the excavator ether kits are expensive and you have to buy their cans to fit in the canister.
Have never heard of the gasoline rag, gas spray bottle or the brake clean before reading this post. Will try the gasoline tomorrow as mine has several issues and requires a squirt every start. Might add a little ATF to the gas for some lubrication as I have always worried about washing the cylinder walls with the start fluid. Don't think I'll try the brake clean though, seems like it would be as bad or maybe worse on the cylinder walls as the start fluid vaporizes faster than the brake clean but what do I know, I'm just a guy way up here in Alaska trying to eek out a living.
I have though, started my rigs hundreds of times primarily with Walmart start fluid as the preferred brand. Not only the least expensive but the ingredients I think are the least harmful and still get the job done. You can also seat a tire bead with it where some of the other brands don't seem to want to light off as well.
Less is more with start fluid. I never spray directly into the manifold, very easy to overload it and lock it up. Always at least set the breather on the intake and spray into the hose at the inlet end not at the hose to breather connection. I disconnect my hose from the core support wall and reroute the hose so that the end sets on top of the battery in my vans. We are way up North so not too critical for cold air induction. Have also cut a small hole about 1" diameter in the intake hose near core support wall on my F series to spray into. The idea is to spray onto the inside wall of the hose to allow the liquid to vaporize off the wall and even out the dose. With some practice spraying into the end of the hose you can control the flow from the can to the amount needed for the conditions.
A permanent jumper from the S terminal of the starter relay on the fire wall with an alligator clip on the battery end will allow one person to crank the engine and spray at the same time. Clamp the alligator clip to the battery strap or some other non conductive piece and the jumper will always be there when needed.
To start the engine, turn the key on, don't worry about the glow plugs they won't cause any harm even if on while spraying, remove the clip from it's resting place and simply touch it to the positive post of the battery to trigger the relay while spraying into the hose. When done reconnect the clip to the strap. Everybody that works for me is trained to do this and we have never had a problem with sparks, fires or any other problems.
With the E Series you can reach into the Injection Pump fairly easy to add throttle by hand when needed but not so handy with the F Series.
Wheel chocks, Mico Brake Locks, make sure in Park/Neutral, Common Sense etc all helpful in preventing accidentally running over yourself or others, smashing stuff like garage doors, neighbors cars, Fido the Dog and the subsequent legal ramifications.
Don't Blame Me For Your Incompetence.
Realistically, you shouldn't have listened to me in the first place.
P.S.
I doubt that anyone here is worried about anything anyone has to say about Nancy Pelosi as I have never met a Snow Flake Liberal that knows anything about dirty smelly diesels other than that they want to ban them and have us all riding bicycles or electric mopeds.
Have never heard of the gasoline rag, gas spray bottle or the brake clean before reading this post. Will try the gasoline tomorrow as mine has several issues and requires a squirt every start. Might add a little ATF to the gas for some lubrication as I have always worried about washing the cylinder walls with the start fluid. Don't think I'll try the brake clean though, seems like it would be as bad or maybe worse on the cylinder walls as the start fluid vaporizes faster than the brake clean but what do I know, I'm just a guy way up here in Alaska trying to eek out a living.
I have though, started my rigs hundreds of times primarily with Walmart start fluid as the preferred brand. Not only the least expensive but the ingredients I think are the least harmful and still get the job done. You can also seat a tire bead with it where some of the other brands don't seem to want to light off as well.
Less is more with start fluid. I never spray directly into the manifold, very easy to overload it and lock it up. Always at least set the breather on the intake and spray into the hose at the inlet end not at the hose to breather connection. I disconnect my hose from the core support wall and reroute the hose so that the end sets on top of the battery in my vans. We are way up North so not too critical for cold air induction. Have also cut a small hole about 1" diameter in the intake hose near core support wall on my F series to spray into. The idea is to spray onto the inside wall of the hose to allow the liquid to vaporize off the wall and even out the dose. With some practice spraying into the end of the hose you can control the flow from the can to the amount needed for the conditions.
A permanent jumper from the S terminal of the starter relay on the fire wall with an alligator clip on the battery end will allow one person to crank the engine and spray at the same time. Clamp the alligator clip to the battery strap or some other non conductive piece and the jumper will always be there when needed.
To start the engine, turn the key on, don't worry about the glow plugs they won't cause any harm even if on while spraying, remove the clip from it's resting place and simply touch it to the positive post of the battery to trigger the relay while spraying into the hose. When done reconnect the clip to the strap. Everybody that works for me is trained to do this and we have never had a problem with sparks, fires or any other problems.
With the E Series you can reach into the Injection Pump fairly easy to add throttle by hand when needed but not so handy with the F Series.
Wheel chocks, Mico Brake Locks, make sure in Park/Neutral, Common Sense etc all helpful in preventing accidentally running over yourself or others, smashing stuff like garage doors, neighbors cars, Fido the Dog and the subsequent legal ramifications.
Don't Blame Me For Your Incompetence.
Realistically, you shouldn't have listened to me in the first place.
P.S.
I doubt that anyone here is worried about anything anyone has to say about Nancy Pelosi as I have never met a Snow Flake Liberal that knows anything about dirty smelly diesels other than that they want to ban them and have us all riding bicycles or electric mopeds.
Similar threads
