Using brake clean as starting fluid?

[68-500]

I guess its a pet peave of mine. It greatly annoys me that most of the you tube revive and drive videos they use brake clean for starting fluid. Im not positive but i was told the exhaust is toxic and never do it indoors. That and starting fluid is cheap, brake clean is pricey. What do you guys think?

 

[hemi71x]

Never thought about it, in all the years that i professionally wrenched on cars and trucks.
What difference would it make anyway?
Exhaust that comes out of the tailpipe isn't any good for you anyway.

 

[eldubb440]

used it on my lawn mower just the other day....... 2 pulls after flailing like a retard and I was mowing

 

[Cranky]

Some brake clean isn't flammable but the flammable stuff works if you don't have any starting fluid handy.

 

[69a100]

I used a shot of Gumout last week to get the lawn mower going after a winter hibernation. You gotta use what you got on hand!

 

[Carcinogen]

Burning brake cleaner might create Phosgene gas, there are warnings about using brake cleaner on metal you are going to weld.

Arc Welding 101: Cleaning material with brake cleaner before welding
"Many warnings are found on the chemicals that we use every day. Often I simply assume that if it’s sold over the counter surely it must be safe, but that’s just not the case this time. The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for a can of brake cleaner reads:

“Do not use this product near open flames, welding operations, or excessive heat. Vapors may decompose to harmful or fatal corrosive gases such as hydrogen chloride and possibly phosgene.”

This can be debilitating or even deadly to the welder or those around him or her. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), phosgene is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides. It does not occur naturally and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. It is poisonous at room temperature and can cause coughing, burning in the throat and eyes, blurred vision, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and pulmonary edema. Some of the more serious effects can show up 48 hours after exposure, and those include difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, and heart failure. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are reported permanent side effects of phosgene exposure. In other words, if it doesn’t kill you, it’s going to alter your health significantly."

 

[Mackman]

I sometimes use silicone spray.

 

[Cranky]

Burning brake cleaner might create Phosgene gas, there are warnings about using brake cleaner on metal you are going to weld.

Arc Welding 101: Cleaning material with brake cleaner before welding
"Many warnings are found on the chemicals that we use every day. Often I simply assume that if it’s sold over the counter surely it must be safe, but that’s just not the case this time. The Safety Data Sheet (SDS) for a can of brake cleaner reads:

“Do not use this product near open flames, welding operations, or excessive heat. Vapors may decompose to harmful or fatal corrosive gases such as hydrogen chloride and possibly phosgene.”

This can be debilitating or even deadly to the welder or those around him or her. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), phosgene is an industrial chemical used to make plastics and pesticides. It does not occur naturally and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. It is poisonous at room temperature and can cause coughing, burning in the throat and eyes, blurred vision, shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and pulmonary edema. Some of the more serious effects can show up 48 hours after exposure, and those include difficulty breathing, low blood pressure, and heart failure. Chronic bronchitis and emphysema are reported permanent side effects of phosgene exposure. In other words, if it doesn’t kill you, it’s going to alter your health significantly."

I have the Super Tech (ChinaMart) and it's flammable but the cans says it leaves no residue. It's made in the U.S. but there's no content list. Nailed a wasp with it the other day that was on the storm door glass in my shop and it didn't leave any tell tale sign on the glass. Dang wasp spray does and bad too. Used the brake clean because it was handy.....and way cheaper than the wasp spray. Down side to the brake clean is that it doesn't work as good as the wasp spray longer range which is more than two feet.

 

[69a100]

Im not positive but i was told the exhaust is toxic and never do it indoors. What do you guys think?

Mom always said that "A wise man is never sure, but a fool is always positive"!
I'm not positive either, but I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to have a running engine in an enclosed garage because exhaust gas is toxic by itself, regardless of the fluid used. That's what I think!

 

[KiwiKid72]

This works for me. It (almost) takes the cussing out of trying to start troublesome engines.

 

[Photon440]

I use the red Brakleen which is mostly tetrachloroethylene which won't burn.

 

[Cranky]

This works for me. It (almost) takes the cussing out of trying to start troublesome engines.

View attachment 1443063

I use the red Brakleen which is mostly tetrachloroethylene which won't burn.
View attachment 1443069

I like the flammable stuff because I have fun with it. It's also hell on wasp nests!! Burn baby burn!! Hate them dayam things.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Some brake clean isn't flammable but the flammable stuff works if you don't have any starting fluid handy.

But the good stuff is.

 

[eldubb440]

I take these ******** down with brake clean

 

[Cranky]

But the good stuff is.

Oh I've done that more than a few times!! It's even better if you point the can up at about 45 degrees lit

 

[Photon440]

But the good stuff is.

That red can I showed (nonflammable) is a far better cleaner than the kind that burns.

Oddly enough, it is labelled "Not for sale or use in U.S.A." Even though it is made in the U.S.A. This is not the same formula as the American "Meets VOC regulations in all 50 states" red cans that you guys get.

 

[Ron_M]

Young 20 something that cleans my furnace told a story that when he first went out on solo jobs he cleaned an oil burner with a GENEROUS amount of brakekleen and reassembled. When he fired up the furnace, he got a rude awakening and so did the older homeowner who happened to be watching over his shoulder!

The stories he tells, he's a trip!

 

[68-500]

Well I was at NAPA today. I stand corrected on the the brake clean costing more. Regular starting fluid is equal and premium starting fluid is $2 more than brake clean.
I’ll continue to use starting fluid for starting and brake cleaner for cleaning. As far as killing wasps ill leave that to wasp killer. I know it sounds ridiculous.

 

[gkent]

The nice thing about starting fluid is you only have to spray it within a couple feet of the culprit engine for it to be effective!

Here's a little story about starting fluid ...

Back in the winter of '72 a buddy was swapping a 340 4 speed into his 273 auto Barracuda. Everything's in and we're trying to fire it up for the first time. Its freezing cold out and we're doing this in a sealed borrowed garage. At the time most of us didn't know **** about motors. So we're cranking this thing and spraying the starting fluid to it but its just not starting. In frustration my buddy pretty much empties the can into the motor then hits the key. Well the floor of the shop exploded to about knee high in a single flash. Luckily ether is heavier than air !!! As it turns out, we'd left a fitting out of the back of the intake so the damn thing was just sucking air the whole time.

 

[SlinktRR]

I have been known to use chlorinated carb cleaner/brake cleaner for killing yellowjackets too, with extreme prejudice...but in a well ventilated area away from anyone other than myself taking the exposure risk and no wasp killer close at hand. Using it as starting fluid i'd have to be desperate, like on the side of road and that's all I had to get the damn thing started desperate. Combustion byproducts are bad enough from straight hydrocarbons never mind adding chlorinated compounds to the mix!