M50 will not start

[RobPatt]

choked on the exhaust side? maybe got something (had something) making a nice little next in your exhaust? 'least you're making some progress, hope not to damage something enroute though.... good luck. -Rob.

[Bellicose Right Winger]

I suspect the burn off cycle is the reason hot film MAF's were developed. Do any mfr's still use hot wire MAF's? Certainly you don't want any liquid to contact the hot wire/hot film. But starting fluid evaporates so rapidly you'd almost have to aim the stream at the sensor for this to happen. The air flow straightener further blocks a direct shot at the sensor.

Paul Shovestul

Keep in mind to that those hot wires are not supposed to burn off very much. If you soak them in starting fluid - you could create enough of a short that it screws up the MAF. Have seen guys with E39 528s that put cheapo cold air kits that suck water on torch the MAF sensors.

[Derek A.]

Did you drive it ? You need to get the car out on the road and run it at speed for a while. You also need to change the oil stat! There is a ton of fuel and god knows what else in the oil. Its possible that the idle control valve is seized up. Squirt a bunch of carb clean in it and try to get it freed up. Spray around the motor with carb clean - should help you find the vac leak.

[bjl4776]

I didnt drive it yet, im going to try to clean the ICV and then change the oil and filter, and then ill take it for a test drive on the highway. Is there any chance that I can harm anything driving this thing at speed at this point, or will it just get it cleaned out like Im guessing?

Oh and here is a link to my cardomain so you can check out the car you are helping get back on the road again...
http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/789296/1

[Bill R.]

trooper first started using maf hotwire sensors I destroyed one using ether, made a really nice fireball out the air clean and destroyed the filter also. After that i started searching the manufacturers info and found out that you aren't supposed to spray it into the air intake on maf equipped cars...Needless to say i found out the hard way and got to buy a maf for the trooper i was working on. And it definitely ignited it while cranking ,not during the burn off cycle.. I know the burn off cycle will ignite it easily since its glowing hot when burning off.

Interesting......MAF igniting ether is something I didn't consider. I guess I've been lucky. I had to resort to starting fluid to get my M50 running in 15F weather this weather. Had a serious flooding problem from not letting engine warm up on previous start.
Ether autoignites at 320F. Internet search says hot film MAF operates 170F above air temp and hot wire operates 212 above ambient, but I can't tell whose sensor this refers to. Hot wire sensors have a burn off cycle that likely exceeds 320F when engine is shut off. Do you believe our sensors operate higher then 320F?

http://www.wellsmfgcorp.com/counterp...erpoint3_2.pdf
http://www.performanceoiltechnology....ir_filters.htm

Paul Shovestul

[Bellicose Right Winger]

Bill, I guess we've all had our share fireballs out of carbs, singing hair and staining shorts, etc. Ether is real dangerous stuff. Based on your description, do you think there's any chance an intake backfire ignited the ether?

Cheers,
Paul Shovestul

trooper first started using maf hotwire sensors I destroyed one using ether, made a really nice fireball out the air clean and destroyed the filter also. After that i started searching the manufacturers info and found out that you aren't supposed to spray it into the air intake on maf equipped cars...Needless to say i found out the hard way and got to buy a maf for the trooper i was working on. And it definitely ignited it while cranking ,not during the burn off cycle.. I know the burn off cycle will ignite it easily since its glowing hot when burning off.