The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

When my dexta was brougth to my place on a truck the driver told me it would be better to use WD40 to get it started, because that is petrolium based and not to use ether. Now I kknow using ether is bad, but has anybody any experence with using WD40 for this purpos?

Never heard of using wd40 to start an engine, just for loosening rusted nuts and bolts and the like. Does it say on the can, that you can use it for starting engines?

my son, and some of his tractor pulling friends have used deodorant spray (lynx etc) and its seemed to of done the trick.

Yes, some people use WD 40 as a starting aid and I have tried it on some construction equipment and it seemed to help a little. It says on the can "flammable" so it may have some benefit. Another old timer around here soaks a rag with gas and places it at the intake. The fumes from the evaporation of the gas helps in starting. He says it works every time. I have not tried it myself. Winter will soon be here and I will have to rebuild the starting aids on my new (1961) dexta so that I will not have to use any of the above. I figure the folks that designed and built the tractor were smarter than me; so I will use their methods. brownsmule

That's what I was thinking. If the wd40 is not made for it, then it would probably be just as effective to use fly spray. They all use liquid hydrocarbon as the propellant, which is basically just LPG (liquidified petroleum gas), which is what my car runs on.

Incidently, here in Australia, I have read that they have devised a way of using lpg as a fuel in modern diesel tractors - what they do is inject a little bit of lpg while running on diesel (very precisely of course), and it helps the deisel burn more efficiently, getting more power and uses something like 20% less diesel.

All,

Diesel is defined by it CETANE number (50). This number is an indication of the how good the fuel is "selfburning"

LPG,Gazoline, ... are defined by the OCTANE number. This number indicates the quality of burning due to the fuel/air mixture explosion if a spark is given, avoiding selfburning due to the compression pressure. The higher the Octane number, the higher the pressure it can resist prior to selfburning. LPG / Gasoline / Hairspray ! / WD40 ! / Ether ... these mixtures explode (burn more agressive) when they get a spark or flame.
So adding these, will cause the injected diesel to burn more agressive (real explosions) at the first explosion of the diesel and the additionally injected diesel will increase the temperature and pressure, causing the psiton rings to blow.

Folks,
keep all these "mixtures" out of your engine if you want to have fun with her. (unless you like to overhaul engines)

Hi Jos,
I did say the LPG/diesel mix is for modern diesel engines, and it is really happening.

For a summary look here:
http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/ne ... ersion.htm

and for more detail look here:
http://www.dieselgasaustralia.com.au/

(edit: Sorry Jos. I just reread your post, and realised you were saying don't use the sprays to start your engine )

Aldo,

no problem.

Technology is continously changing : look at the first 2 stroke diesel : injection pressure of 6 Bar (whow) where as now, the modern engines have an injection pressure of above > 1200 bar .. These modern tractors also use other oils thant our bue sweety : Multipurpose where we use straight oil etc...
But these engines are build to use these oils, or to work on these pressures. Our blue girl is build to other specs... not saying that they are inferiour or superiour, they are just different.

WD-40 is mostly kerosene, so it won't hurt the engine. It also doesn't doesn't do much for cold starting. It helps a little, if the engine will almost start on its own. I hate ether, and never use it, but I think that most of the damage is done by using too much. Some engines, Caterpillar for example, can be ordered from the factory with an ether starting system installed.

I know and don't plan of doing so; but, for questionable and useful information here goes: Y'all remember bout 30 years ago when VW came out with their first Diesels? Yep, I had one, not much power but very good mileage, about 45 mpg and diesel was cheap then. The owners manual indicated that for Cold Weather use is OK to start mixing Kerosene with each tank of Diesel up to 50% for the most extreme cold conditions. Never did because wasn't that cold here. Would just a small percent be adviseable in winter months for our Dexta's? I've never seen this in print for the Dexta or other Diesel's; so what do our Resident Mechanical folks advise on this for our "Blues". ie: Blue color tractors and "The Blues" for cold weather starting.
I used mine last week end; 30 degrees in the morning. Did not try to start, just hooked up the battery charger, opened the barn door so the sun could do it's thing, cranked right up after noon without any starting aids. I do need to buy a new glow plug, look into the wiring and fuel line to bring the starting system back to mfg specs.
Brownsmule
NC USA

The use of kerosene (paraffin) as an additive in diesel is common in cold weather conditions. If you buy diesel at a station in Norway during the wintertime you will actually get up to 40% kerosene pre-mixed by the oil company. The reason for this is that some of the oils in the diesel will form wax when it gets cold, these wax-solids will clog up your filters and the engine will eventually stop. The downside is that you loose a small amount of hp - rule of thumb is that if you run a diesel engine on only kerosene you will only get 90% performance. It is not recommended to go above 40% kerosene in the mixture as the kerosene is slightly "dryer" than the diesel.
Hope this clarifies a bit.

Yes; that would have my first concern that Kerosene would not have the lubricating properties as diesel and it might harm the pump etc. I know that years ago the US Army had multi-fuel engines that would run on a variety of fuels when properly mixed. I figure they were designed to perform in this manner where diesels were designed for diesel fuel only. Never hurts to explore what is appropriate for the wide spectrum of temperature that engines are expected to run in form extreme cold to desert heat. Here in the southern USA, a lot of folks add a small amount of diesel to their gas in the summer months to help with the vapor lock problem and it seems to help.

Cheer's