Ether/Or

[Rocky]

How many times have I told you, when the engine starts for the first time after sitting all winter LET IT RUN for cryin out loud! No, no, no, I have to throttle her down and now she won't start again. So my question is, what can your pour down the throat of a 2-stroke to give her a little encouragement? Aside from gasoline made in the 21st century, of course. Ether might score the cylinder walls, right? How bout WD40? That burns well enough to use in a spud gun.

The old Johnson's ready for her 41st year of operation.

[ 03-23-2003, 02:21 PM: Message edited by: Rocky ]

[shadow99]

Rocky, pull the plug, is it wet? Does it smell like gas? If its wet, blow it off with compressed air. Squirt alittle lighter fluid (the ZIPPO type) down the cylinder (about a teaspn), put the plug back in, keep the choke open, give her 1/2 throttle and let her rip. If she revs then stalls, you have a fuel supply problem. As it runs if it sounds like its loading up (boggin' down), it may be running too rich or you may have varnished jets.

Rick

[TomRobb]

Yes, clean plugs & jets. Use new gas. Proper oil mix? Is the spark good? Try again. Ain't 2-strokes fun?

[Rocky]

She's runnin OK now, I guess I was really asking what can you use as a starting fluid. Lighter fluid, good idea. Did give her a little WD40 and she started, but that may be a nonsequitur.

[Ron Williamson]

Carb cleaner works well in small 4-strokes like my sawmill(ask how I know).
R

[shadow99]

A wise old man told me that "lighter-fluid" trick many years ago while struggling to start alittle 2 stroke, 2hp kicker. Just remember a little amount of lighter fluid in the cylinder, goes a long way . Add to much, and BOOM , sometimes it's the spark plug that blows out, really bad & the head pops off . Trust me I KNOW, been there, done that. Also don't try and use lighter fluid as a subsitute fuel, the piston(s) don't last very long, although it sounded great with lots of power for 8 minutes!

Rick

[Rocky]

Ya blew the head off? Holy smokes! Maybe you would know then, what would happen if I used vegetable oil instead of 2-cycle oil? Last time I tried to satisfy my curiosity this way I had to rebuild all the calipers on my car.

[shadow99]

Rocky, DO NOT use vegatable oil in your 2 stroke, yeah it will smell of "popcorn" while burning, but the flash point of the oil is far to low to handle the internal engine temps. It may last as long as my old 2hp kicker on lighter fuild fuel, 8-10 minutes max.
We used to use BAKERS AAA caster oil in our 2 stroke model airplane engines back in the '80's. You may remember this nasty substance, as the stuff used to induce vomiting . But its a bio-degradable, non-toxic stuff, that has the best lubricity. We would mix it with nitromethane (5-50%), and add an anti-foaming agent, & presto 2-stroke model engine fuel 65% cheaper than the pre-made stuff. The engines would idle at 5000rpm, and run up to 40,000rpm, the only residue was the unburn caster oil sludge.

Rick

[Rocky]

You mixed it with nitromethane? You sound like my brother, he's surprised he lived this long too. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Do I need to do that, or just toss in the castor oil? This old motor is just too damn oily, and the *(&^%$ bottom end's leakin again after all the work I did on it last summer.

[shadow99]

Rocky, sounds like your motor has many,many hours on it. Does your lower end leak at the prop shaft? Did you install a new seal? Does the vent screw have an O-ring on it, cause without it, it will leak all the time, no way to hold a seal in the gearcase.

Rick

[Rocky]

Not a lot of hours, just a lot of years. I did a rebuild last summer, should have replaced the whole casting but they get big bux for this old crap these days. The piece around the prop shaft is a mess but it's not leaking there. I just wish she'd stop running so nicely. Can't decide what to replace it with. The hull is only 650 pounds, do you think I'd get 20 mph with a 30?

[jleer]

How about in a Hercules Zenith carb? I tried a carb spray and and started but wouldn't keep going. I am thinking something is wrong with the carb. Is there anything you can spray into the throat of the carb that will works its way into the jets, and float/seat? Or is a complete tear down and cleaning necessary?

[Gordon Bartlett]

It's been awhile since I last saw it discussed, but WD-40 seemed to be the favored 2-stroke starting fluid amongst the old outboard crowd. It burns well enough and it is oily so it doesn't scour the oil out of the crank case. Remember, on a 2-stroke motor the fuel mix passes through the crank case on it's way to the intake port of the cylinder. That's the only oil the crank case components ever see. I have used it numerous times and it works great.