Don’t try this at home

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RonP

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Was watching an episode of American Pickers where Mike was going to buy a old 60’s VW beetle. Mike put the choke on and pumped the accelerator to prime it. The engine cranked but did not start. The owner who also restores cars told Mike to NOT pump it again since it may wet foul the plugs. The owner left and returned with a BBQ grill gas bottle with a hose. He shoved the hose in the air cleaner and cracked the valve while Mike cranked. The engine started and ran. The owner explained this is the technique he uses on an engine that has not run in a long time. It makes sense to use propane instead of risk flooding the engine with more gas. I get the concept since propane would not wet foul the plugs and I know gas engines can run on propane when properly setup. Love the idea but seems really dangerous. Evidently the owner has used this technique many times and either got lucky or knows from experience how much propane to flow into the air cleaner. Anyone ever heard of this technique?
 
Propane has a more forgiving range of air/fuel mixtures than gasoline; it's over 3:1 in open air, and goes higher under compression.
I've done this with a two-cylinder tractor engine, rather difficult to get quite right, no carb installed at all! I don't think it's any more dangerous than a flamethrower.
 
Ken,

Thanks for the reply and info. Now I know there are at least 2 people on the planet more “manly” than me! My technique to bring to life antique motorcycles I learned from my Grandfather and passed down to my boys. Pull the plugs and clean them, dribble some gas into the cylinder, replace the plug and try again. Very tedious especially with a kick start motorcycle but in my comfort zone. Would love to try the propane technique but love counting to to 10 on my fingers. Thanks again for the reply.
 
RonP said:
Ken,

Thanks for the reply and info. Now I know there are at least 2 people on the planet more “manly” than me! My technique to bring to life antique motorcycles I learned from my Grandfather and passed down to my boys. Pull the plugs and clean them, dribble some gas into the cylinder, replace the plug and try again. Very tedious especially with a kick start motorcycle but in my comfort zone. Would love to try the propane technique but love counting to to 10 on my fingers. Thanks again for the reply.
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I believe that it is much safer than gasoline to use for this sort of thing.
 
Sounds a lot like using diesel starting fluid. Some people say it's just fine. I wouldn't do it, but again I'm a chicken at times.
 
Albany Tom said:
Sounds a lot like using diesel starting fluid. Some people say it's just fine. I wouldn't do it, but again I'm a chicken at times.
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There's a separate formulation for diesel? I'm only familiar with the gasoline version.
 
asicer said:
There's a separate formulation for diesel? I'm only familiar with the gasoline version.
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I don't actually know. It was always described to me as diesel starting fluid, and that it's more or less ether in a spray can.
 
Gasoline to propane is one of the simplest conversions. Just about all it is is a regulator and and adjustable micro-valve. Propane is naturally anti-knock, so it is really safe to use propane to start an engine.
 
Interesting - that’s new to me. We used to have an old 88 (or 89?) BMW M3 (with the S14 motor) that didn’t like start in extreme cold. We’d pull off the vacuum hose to the intake manifold and spray some ether in there. Worked like a charm!
 
Back in the day WD40 could be used in a pinch for starting fluid. They used propane as the propellent. However with the new cars and all the sensors the oil side of WD40 tends to wreak havoc with them.
 
Bell206 said:
Back in the day WD40 could be used in a pinch for starting fluid. They used propane as the propellent. However with the new cars and all the sensors the oil side of WD40 tends to wreak havoc with them.
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I have done that also. Last time was to get a riding mower going that had been sitting for a few years.
 
Lysol used to be mostly alcohol with a propane propellant. Worked great for the James Bond lighter/hairspray trick, or so I'm told. Burns way cleaner than wd-40. If you try that, don't let the flame front get back to the nozzle...
 
Albany Tom said:
I don't actually know. It was always described to me as diesel starting fluid, and that it's more or less ether in a spray can.
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Spraying Ether in a diesel I think is different, since essentially you don't have control over when it's going to fire and you're hoping that it'll fire at the right spot. It's known to not be great for diesels but sometimes it's what you need to do to get it going. Spark ignition it's different, since it's still a spark-ignited fuel.

I haven't heard that technique before but there's no reason why it wouldn't work, and I don't see it as being inherently more or less dangerous than any other way.
 
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