Cold starting aid

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

The last three mornings,I've had to use ether to start the Oliver 77. I've been shooting it in the top of the oil bath air cleaner,but it's a bear to get it up in the top of it under the hood,then it takes a lot of it to do any good going through the oil bath. This morning I took the tube off the carb and shot a little straight in the throat and it started right up. So to avoid having to do either one again,I drilled a hole in the tube and brazed one of those screw in valve stems from a rear tractor tube in to it. I took the core out so I can just shoot ether straight in to it.

Dad did the same thing to a 77 we used every day about 40 years ago,but he used a piece of copper tubing and cut a few threads in it so he could screw a valve cap on it. I had a whole drawer full of these valve stems here and figured that was the simpler way to go.

jeffcat · Dec 29, 2017

Hey, makes it look factory.

ADB-Ia · Dec 29, 2017

Good idea. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Mike M · Dec 29, 2017

I'm surprised you needed either to start a gas engine that is used every day ?
Even the most hated gas engine tractor in the world ( at least on YT ) our JD 4020 always started. Sometimes the colder the better it liked it.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

The 1600 starts good,but this one's getting weak I guess. If I crank on it too long,I end up having to get the jumper cables out. It's a whole bunch quicker to just give it a shot of ether and be done with it.
She's good down to near 0,but the last few mornings have been a little bit too much.

9001ron · Dec 29, 2017

The problem allways is farmers give too much either to engines. Spraying it in the air intake breather in top of the air cleaner gives it a chance to dissipate and gets thinned out by the time it gets sucked through the air cleaner . Too much either damages engines . It isn't going to go KLUNK when you do it though -- this is long term damage that will surface a long time afterwards -- like low compression -- using oil . Well I shouldn't say farmers are the worst for this -- SALES MEN are the worst . They want a tractor running by the time a client arrives -- they will spray so much in that they come back in with two frozen frost bit fingers and reeking of it .
What some people do when it is too hard to climb up on the hood of a tractor or worse yet a combine is to use an old garden hose . Tie it to the air intake stack in a manner that when you squirt either in the other end it is directed into the unders side of the air breather . In this manner you can crank the engine at the same time you are giving it either thus drawing it in .
With your set up squirting it in front of the carburetor --- why not try that using a can of WD-40 and see it that works -- if it docent then use the either very sparingly .
Course people are going to come on here saying I drown my tractor in eithr every day and it still runs . Well yes some tractors ar far worse for this type of damage than others . One you should NEVER use any kind of either on is the air cooled Deutz diesel. Having said that they had either assist on a few of the models but it went through such a small orface you couldent see the hole hardly .

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

I don't use it on any of my diesels,but on the lower compression gassers being drawn through the carb and mixed with gas,it's a little bit different story.

buickanddeere · Dec 29, 2017

Why fool around with ether when a block heater can be used. Less cold start wear too.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

Why fool around with a cord and waiting,when all I have to do is give it a quick shot of ether a few times every few years?

PaGlenn · Dec 29, 2017

I like where you sprayed the carb with some black goo to insulate it.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

You have to do what you have to do. LOL

sourgum · Dec 29, 2017

I found there is a difference in brands of ether also. I started using Pyroil brand and it takes about one fourth the spray amount as the ether from Napa to fire a cold engine.

rusty6 · Dec 29, 2017

I've never used ether on a tractor, gas or diesel, yet. DId have to use it on the CIH combine once or twice in a real cold fall harvest as they have no coolant heater. Otherwise, plug in the block heater and let it warm up nice and gradual. My old Perkins diesel started up just fine at -22F this morning after 2 and a half hours on the block heater. I think that is a lot easier on the engine than hitting it with high explosive ether. Just my opinion.

oydnar · Dec 29, 2017

I remember starting a campfire under an Oliver OC3 back in the day. We got it all warmed up before we even attempted to crank over the old 6v system

in-too-deep · Dec 29, 2017

Excellent! I wonder what the collector will say in 100 years when they find that. Probably mad that you messed up their tractor.

steve706 · Dec 29, 2017

I think your innovation looks great, blends in perfectly and is functionally logical, excellent idea. Nothing wrong with using ether, it?s your equipment to whatever you want.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

They can't be cursing me any more than I have the guy who scabbed up that Oliver 500. lol

Ozlander · Dec 29, 2017

Good job of brazing, didn't even burn the paint. LOL

Bill Brox · Dec 29, 2017

Totally agree with you. It is even possible to get a heater that sits on the lower radiator hose that does the same trick, only thing you have to be sure to have enough collant in it to make it circulate. Ether is nasty stuff for engines, they get addicted to it. The ether makes them start very hard, and that push the ring land between the top and second piston ring down so the top ring is not sealing well. Lower compression and it means being addicted to the stuff after using it for a while.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

When you've got it,flaunt it. lol

Traditional Farmer · Dec 29, 2017

What do you do when the nearest place to plug in is 3 miles away? Pretty expensive extension cord(LOL)

Gambles · Dec 29, 2017

Speaking of what a collector might say.....about 30 years ago, there was a local generator rebuilder that would take off the Delco/Autolite/or whatever tags on the generators and starters that they would rebuild and put on their own. So instead of you getting your Delco starter or generator back, you would get an Acme (okay, I changed their name) generator/starter and it would have their own name and numbers on the rivited tag. It really made a few customers angry, but I recently found a generator that had one of their rebuilds on it and I think I'm going to keep it on. A lot of the older customers who remember that name will get a kick out of it. Of course, they are long out of business.

showcrop · Dec 29, 2017

Not sure whether 9001ron is talking about ether or either that or something else, but anyway there is both judicious use of either and misuse of it. It is not a situation of always wrong. Can anyone who is strictly and totally against the use of ether explain why both Ford and Caterpillar as well as other manufacturers installed ether systems at the factory??????? Are you telling us that these manufacturers wanted their products to fail in just a few years??? Were they trying to run themselves out of business???

Bill Brox · Dec 29, 2017

My father had a Mercedes-Benz LA 1113B, (commercial truck), and it had an ether system mounted from the factory. A special thing where you mounted the spray can to fill up the system, and then it was a special way to use it. I guess if you use it as per an instruction from the factory, and the engine is built to withstand it, then it is ok. But, not all engines are made that strong. And not all people even has a factory instruction of how to use it. I have used it once in a while, but I have always been told that it widens the ring gap for the top ring.
I am not going to say that Caterpillar and other factories are wrong and should not have mounted it, but I do know that sometimes factories do things they maybe not should have done or recommended. Things that later have proven to be not such a good idea. What I really know for sure is that heating the engine up to a higher temperature is doing wonders for an engine, both lubricating, emissions and ease of start is benefiting from it.

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

You do know don't you,that I put it on a low compression gas tractor going through the carburetor and not shooting it straight in the intake above the carb,and only use it once in a great while in super cold weather when it won't vaporize very easy?

NIK OWEN · Dec 29, 2017

FOR EVEN SIMPLER, I JUST DRILLED 1/2 IN HOLE IN PIPE, THEN PLUG W/PLASTIC CAPLUG...BE BLESSED, GRATEFUL, PREPARED....

moresmoke · Dec 29, 2017

Quick couplers and 1/2 inch heater hose. Pull up with a nice warm pickup, hook up the hoses and let circulate for 20 minutes while having a cup of coffee. Start your engine, unhook the hoses and go to work. Always worked for the old loggers.

showcrop · Dec 29, 2017

(quoted from post at 19:22:29 12/29/17) Quick couplers and 1/2 inch heater hose. Pull up with a nice warm pickup, hook up the hoses and let circulate for 20 minutes while having a cup of coffee. Start your engine, unhook the hoses and go to work. Always worked for the old loggers.

As well as plenty of young ones.

SVcummins · Dec 29, 2017

Looks good I use ether from time to time I did blow up a chebby Diesel with it once even without the glow plugs it popped so hard i thought the heads were coming off the p.o had wired a manual glow plug controller into the system and powered it off the drivers side battery well I had pulled the driver side battery out for some reason next morning truck wouldn?t start hit it with a little ether it was a bad idea

rustred · Dec 29, 2017

you get the propane torch out, warm the pan and then stick the flame in the intake and let it sniff hot air, thats how you start a diesel in the bush.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 30, 2017

I haul hay from over 3 miles away with another tractor I need to get the loader tractor started and hay loaded not spend the day trying to start the tractor,been giving a gas AC 180
a shot of ether for over 20 years to get it fired up in real cold weather no sign of of any problem from it yet.

Oliver 500 Wa · Dec 30, 2017

The Oliver 500 diesels have a factory "ether system". There is a plastic knob on top the air intake hood. Unscrew it and there is a little piece of wire with a cotton ball on the end. Kind of like one of those jobbies in a can of plastic pipe glue. You dip that cotton ball in a bottle of ether and screw it back in place then crank the tractor.

Personally, I've never used it. It doesn't get too cold here but when it is below 30 and I need to use the tractor, I just use my hot air gun to blow hot air down the intake pipe. Seems to start a bit easier and that's a good thing for the old starter and battery.

4010tim · Dec 30, 2017

The wd-40 you get anymore isn't enough to start anything. Ether used with some common sense is not the end of the world. I prefer block heaters by far, but sometimes you are in a pinch and can't wait for that long, or are too far away from a power source.

Calvin Innes · Dec 30, 2017

Yes, I like your remedy to the Ether injection point. I had a Massey Super 90 (diesel)that had a factory installed Injection point right on the dashboard and direct to the intake about where you have put yours.
I also had an Oliver Super 77, also a diesel, that came from Larry Harsin out in Iowa that has a 5/8 inch hole in the left front nose piece. Simply give it a quick squirt and it is off and running....even this morning -12 degrees.
Yep, you have the simplest remedy. Cool beans!

Tx Jim · Dec 30, 2017

(quoted from post at 18:55:24 12/29/17)
Can anyone who is strictly and totally against the use of ether explain why both Ford and Caterpillar as well as other manufacturers installed ether systems at the factory???????

I'm not totally against either but only utilize it as a "last resort" when attempting to get an engine started. Factory either systems that I've seen have an ""orifice built into them"" that limit the amount of either that can enter intake manifold in a given amount of time. This is much better than spraying a large amount of either into an open intake or air cleaner.

rrlund · Dec 30, 2017

I don't think it's the actual WD-40 that aids in starting anyway. It's the propellant in the can. Spray paint would probably do the same thing.

1206SWMO · Dec 30, 2017

I have a cold blooded 1206 IH that I've used ether on for over 20 years..Its not started much in cold
weather but when it is I unscrew a small plug to the intake manifold and give it 2 short sprays...I then
count to 10 and hit the starter...It never rattles...Ether is OK if used in moderation....I've seen way too
many people use far too much ether and practically lock an engine up doing damage..A can of ether
lasts me forever..

rrlund · Dec 30, 2017

My 4040 had that factory ether set up on it. Like you said,there was a little tip on them that atomized the ether,but you could still shoot enough in to make them hammer a little bit. Those tractors really needed some kind of heater on them. That ether booster and the block heater was all it had. If it had a coil in the manifold to heat the air or something similar I think it would have made a huge difference.

rrlund · Dec 30, 2017

Ya,that's why I brazed that tube in there. LOL
When I'm ready to feed cattle in the morning and that thing's being stubborn because it's 12 below zero,I'm giving it a quick shot and getting on with my day,not sitting around for an hour waiting for things to warm up. Lots of good theories out there among people who don't have livestock,but then there's the real world.

buickanddeere · Dec 30, 2017

The rare exception . Most ether use is within sight of an electrical outlet.

rrlund · Dec 30, 2017

This one sits out in the hay barn most of the winter. I don't have electricity in there and wouldn't lay an extension cord across the hay even it I did.

showcrop · Dec 30, 2017

(quoted from post at 11:25:10 12/30/17)
The rare exception . Most ether use is within sight of an electrical outlet.

I'll give you that B&D. How far can you see an outlet 4 feet high on level ground before the curvature of the earth takes it out of sight?

ss55 · Dec 30, 2017

A shot of aerosol choke and carburetor cleaner works well for starting small engines coming out of storage. Would that also work for starting a larger gas engine with less damage than from using either?

buickanddeere · Dec 30, 2017

(quoted from post at 17:49:13 12/30/17)

(quoted from post at 11:25:10 12/30/17)
The rare exception . Most ether use is within sight of an electrical outlet.

Click to expand...

I'll give you that B&D. How far can you see an outlet 4 feet high on level ground before the curvature of the earth takes it out of sight?

A person of average height can see an electrical box mounted at 4’6” height from 5-1/2 miles away.

Cold starting aid

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