This may sound like a stupid question ... but me and my dad seem to disagree on the answer. Is it safe/ OK to use starter fluid on a multi-port fuel injected engine?

I do.

how would it be any more or less dangerous than using it on a carb'd engine? There's still the possibility for flare ups, etc.

Only thing I can think of is potential damage to the O2 sensor, the catalytic converter, or the injector tips (the tip that is exposed in the intake runner). I'm not saying it will damage these components, but they're the only things I can think of that aren't present on most if not all carbed engines.

IMO, if you're having to use that stuff, you have problems under the hood. My carbed 3.4 starts right up in the dead of winter....one pump of the gas and it fires. Same with my EFI car.

To the argument in this thread: If it is bad to use on EFI then explain exactly what it does that is bad. As far as safety, it's no more safe or dangerous in a carb than it is in EFI.

Dave

[This message has been edited by ditch (edited 12-10-2005).]

There maybe an issue with the oxygen sensor depending on the chemical compound used. Usually there is a warning where applicable when you should avoid use on vehicles with oxygen sensors which in this day and age is almost all of them so I think they would have made the necessary correction by now to make it safe for all. Those of you who have tried alcohol in a lawn more engine that wasn't designed to use it will be quite careful about these things. There may not be an oxygen sensor issue but there can certainly be a corrosion element. I was told by a Ford Tech that they often used alcohol to clean injectors but you had to becareful with it because it could ruin them.

That depends on when you last changed it. Starter fluid should be changed every 6000 miles. Its not only a lubricant, but also cools the starter and breaks down. On the subect of fluids, have you all switched to your winter headlight fluid yet? you wouldnt want to get stuck in the dark cause your headlights are frozen

And be sure to CHECK the old fluids for contaminates, my blinker fluid was just full of electrical shavings. I changed all the diode screens, hope that fixes it.

quote Originally posted by 86GT3.4DOHC: On the subect of fluids, have you all switched to your winter headlight fluid yet? you wouldnt want to get stuck in the dark cause your headlights are frozen

Good thing you brought this up because my headlight are bone dry, but I'll take care of that first thing in the morning.

I remember being cautioned by an old timer mechanic about using starter fluid to keep an engine running. Seems that a shot to fire it off isn't much of a problem, but in the days of mechanical fuel pumps, it took a while to pump the gas back to the engine after running out. Keeping the engine running with shots of starter fluid was an easy way.

He explained that the gasoline has a certain lubricating property. Starting fluid actually has none, and in addition wipes the oil from the cylinder walls if you use it to keep the engine running.

On a EFI engine you should really never need the stuff unless you have something not working correct. You should fix the problem and not rely on Starter Fluid to start your car. If you have fresh fuel and working system it should start no matter what. Unless you are in Alaska in winter

I think the old timer might be referring to what is now the difference between leaded and unleaded gas, If I recall correctly upon switching to unleaded gas cylinder wall wear started to increase and this was later remedied with a change in block casting chemical mixture. The lead apparently helped make higher compression engines less detonation proned as well. Unfortunately it was discovered that the leaded gas was very environmentally unfriendly, as well as oxygen sensor crippling, and took the route out along with the best bug killing agent I ever used in a bug spray; DDT, no twitch, no flap no heroic last stand, when it hit a bug the bug dropped dead in a hurry, then there was that thing with soft egg shells in birds of prey and now you have to buy a different can of bug spray for every kind of bug there is, talk about capitalism.

[This message has been edited by Joseph Upson (edited 12-11-2005).]

I guess starting fluid is good if youy have a fiero with fuel issues(at least getting it to run for a few seconds..)
But I find it will fry your Idle Air Control(the one on the bottom of the throttle body)

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quote Originally posted by fierofool: He explained that the gasoline has a certain lubricating property. Starting fluid actually has none, and in addition wipes the oil from the cylinder walls if you use it to keep the engine running.

I think that's an old wives tale. We've got engines running on ethanol now, and that's probably worse than ether.

The main concern that was relayed to me was the amount of starting fluid that you needed to get the engine to fire. Since you'd be spraying before the throttle plates, you'll be filling up the entire manifold area with starting fluid and if you end up with a backfire of some kind there is a good chance that all of that fluid will ignite and cause some damage to gaskets on the intake side. I've never had to use starting fluid on a fuel injected vehicle, so I've never tried it.

Mark

quote Originally posted by ryan.hess: I think that's an old wives tale. We've got engines running on ethanol now, and that's probably worse than ether.

But a stock production engine doesn't run on pure ethanol. When ethanol evaporates, it's not a flash evaporation. Ether evaporates very quickly, and leaves no residue. I think that's where he was coming from with the cleansing effect. Lead did have lubricating properties, most importantly for the valves. As lead was reduced in gasoline, valve problems started to occur in the old engines.

I've used a shot of ether into the intake when one of my Fieros quit, recently. Changed the module, and that didn't work, so I gave it a shot of ether to see if it was fuel related. Yep! Fuel pump had quit, so there is at least some use for ether in a Fiero. I agree, it should be used sparingly, and very cautiously.

quote Originally posted by fierofool: But a stock production engine doesn't run on pure ethanol.

Well, in parts of south america, where ethanol is 2x cheaper than gasoline, they do run production engines on pure ethanol. The oil film on the cylinder walls gets burned every cycle anyways, it's a moot point whether it's there for 3/4 cycles or 2/4 cycles.

In any case, we're not running an engine for 100,000 miles on ether. Nor 1 mile. I assume the original poster was asking whether it was okay to use it to test for fuel system problems, or to bypass the fuel system in the case of an engine swap where it's not plumbed up yet.... And the answer is YES. Just open the TB up a little bit, spray some in, and try to start it. You can get it to run continuously by just spritzing the TB every once and a while.

Nothing will be harmed unless it backfires while you're standing over it, then you might be missing a couple eyebrows.

In 35 years of professional automotive experience I've concluded that starter fluid poses absolutely no danger to an automobile engine. However, it's a different story with eyebrows.