I don't buy that "cylinder wash" idea, you don't lose enough compression to stop engine starting unless motor already dead enough you shouldn't be working on it. Anybody here ever worked on 2 strokes? They run with almost no oil on cylinder walls at all. Take a well running one apart immediately after running it and tell me how much oil is on the rings or piston. Hardly anything, the lube is more gas than oil. Complicating things more is the fact that those motors have almost half the compression ratio to begin with that a 4 stroke does. Yet they start all day long just fine. What really happens is that excess gas wets down everything, all carbon and chamber surfaces. Plug too, starts shorting across the electrode porcelain and voltage drops like a rock. Extra volatile component of the fuel then throws off starting F/A ratio to where doesn't want to start easily. Ether, or starting fluid, will start a motor in this condition because it will light off with no compression and hardly any spark voltage. A plug shorting across porcelain will still light it off. There used to be this old woman lived next door, she was always flooding out her 350 chevy V-8, then would come over. "Please, can you get my car started?", you know the type. After several times I got pissed and refused to come to door when she knocked. After 2 days she got someone to come out and repair it, they gave up after a while and told her she needed new motor. I gave in when saw how unhappy she was, had pets at another home, they would starve. Realized previous guy had been pouring fuel in intake to crank, motor wouldn't even give a pop. Plugs totally wet, black. Pulled them and HEI cap/coil, wires, so wouldn't blow myself to smithereens. Whirled engine over a bunch, liquid fuel ejecting out of spark plug holes, what a joke. Wonder it didn't lock up and bend a rod. Blasted out remainder with portable airtank. Let the whole mess sit for an hour in the Texas sun to evap the fuel. Degreased the same plugs with acetone and filed on tips to make sharp new spots, regapped. Put all back together, shot a little ether in the carb, car cranked up in like 5 seconds. Ran like pure crap until got some temp in motor, and burned plugs a little cleaner, then it ran better and better, was idling pretty much right in 5 minutes of time. You can't get any more cylinder wash than that engine had, jack, and it still got up and running. They just get super
y when you wet everything down. Now don't think I'm a champion of ether, because I'm not. I try to avoid using the stuff, however, it can be a VERY handy tool if you DON"T OVERUSE IT. All it's for is to provide the initial hit to get motor up and running for no more than 2-3 seconds. Use more than that amount, 1-2 second shot from the can, and you are ASKING FOR IT. If fuel system working, that short time enough to pump fuel from a mechanical fuel pump to engine, carb or FI will be working by then. Had a friend who rebuilt a Pontiac V-8 in a wagon, drove up to his shop seconds after he had blown up the new engine. Smoke still drifting out of all the holes in engine sides and pan. He used starting fluid to crank it, it would just pop a little before that. Ether at least got motor running for a few seconds at a time, he knew it had some type of a fuel problem but couldn't find it. Meanwhile kept using bigger and bigger shots of starting fluid thinking "It's almost running, a little more'll do it". He was leaning under hood when it blew, someone else cranking it for him. Wonder he didn't get really hurt, the noise wrecked his hearing for a month. Explosion broke 6 of 8 rods and all went through block/pan in various places. Later investigation showed fuel pump eccentric on camshaft nose was not tight, flopping loose, leading to just a little, erratic fuel supply. That's why wouldn't start in first place. Ether users beware, it can bite you HARD.
