De Soto Frank Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 Finally got a day off yesterday, so the wife and I spent the day continuing to dig-out the cars from their Valentine's Day wintry entombment. ( I am in Scranton, which is still struggling to dig itself free of the "big-storm" that dumped 16 inches of snow & 4 inches of sleet between Tues 2/13 and Wed 2/14) Finally got to the '41 De Soto, which has not be started since New Years... We ran out of room to pile snow on the tree-lawn, so we had to pile "bunkers" of snow/sleet on the street side of the cars... I went down the driver's side of the De Soto, clearing a path about a foot wide, got the snow off the hood, managed to squeeze in the door, and switched on the ignition and tried the starter... the motor barely turned, sounding like the crankcase was full of molasses... I needed to pick up some starting fluid, so I went back to shovelling. Finally, around 5 PM, I got a chance to run out for some starting fluid, and pulled the truck up to the De Soto, figuring I was going to need a hot-shot... The only jumper cables I could put my hands on were my Mom's, which have the contacts set in clunky molded plastic handles, and would not grab the side-terminals on my truck battery no matter how I tried... So, I gave up on the hot-shot, pulled the top off the oil-bath air-cleaner, gave it a few blasts of ether, then got behind the wheel and stepped on the starter... The engine was barely turning over, and I figured that this would be a lost cause, but the engine began to crank a little faster, then started trying to fire, and finally coughed to life... Frankly, I was just a little surprised... but, anyway, there you have it... stock six-volt sits for a month and a half, outdoors, in below-freezing temps, and still manages to start off the six-volt battery ( a $25 "blem", at that !)... I'm sure I would not have gotten it started w/o the ether... I let her run at fast idle for about fifteen minutes, than coaxed it out of its snow-cave and made a quick trip around the block, then back in its hole till nicer weather/ roads. I'm looking forward to a day that does not involve a shovel or ice-chipper.... Frank McMullen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1just4don Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 The saying is-In Nebraska if you dont like the weather wait 2 hours and it will change. It changed big time 4 times last Friday. NOW the warmer weather is here , water is running everywhere,,,new rivers and streams down the middle of roads. IF spring is really here and calander says near March 1, we get some of these,,,bad storms may blow thru,,but snow doesnt last so long!! Typically we get MORE snow in March than all other months combined,,,yikes,,,I hope NOT this year!!! Good job on getting the 6v to crank and start. Can you park them on the other side of the street and 'wait' for the street department to 'clean' a spot back on your side??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Coatney Posted February 20, 2007 Report Share Posted February 20, 2007 What gives Frank; If you drove your car every so often you would not need starting fluid:D How many miles now? Well over a hundred grand:confused: Good job! Why is it that starting fluid brings engines to life and puts people to sleep??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatS.... Posted February 21, 2007 Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Finally got a day off yesterday, so the wife and I spent the day continuing to dig-out the cars from their Valentine's Day wintry entombment.( I am in Scranton, which is still struggling to dig itself free of the "big-storm" that dumped 16 inches of snow & 4 inches of sleet between Tues 2/13 and Wed 2/14) Finally got to the '41 De Soto, which has not be started since New Years... We ran out of room to pile snow on the tree-lawn, so we had to pile "bunkers" of snow/sleet on the street side of the cars... I went down the driver's side of the De Soto, clearing a path about a foot wide, got the snow off the hood, managed to squeeze in the door, and switched on the ignition and tried the starter... the motor barely turned, sounding like the crankcase was full of molasses... I needed to pick up some starting fluid, so I went back to shovelling. Finally, around 5 PM, I got a chance to run out for some starting fluid, and pulled the truck up to the De Soto, figuring I was going to need a hot-shot... The only jumper cables I could put my hands on were my Mom's, which have the contacts set in clunky molded plastic handles, and would not grab the side-terminals on my truck battery no matter how I tried... So, I gave up on the hot-shot, pulled the top off the oil-bath air-cleaner, gave it a few blasts of ether, then got behind the wheel and stepped on the starter... The engine was barely turning over, and I figured that this would be a lost cause, but the engine began to crank a little faster, then started trying to fire, and finally coughed to life... Frankly, I was just a little surprised... but, anyway, there you have it... stock six-volt sits for a month and a half, outdoors, in below-freezing temps, and still manages to start off the six-volt battery ( a $25 "blem", at that !)... I'm sure I would not have gotten it started w/o the ether... I let her run at fast idle for about fifteen minutes, than coaxed it out of its snow-cave and made a quick trip around the block, then back in its hole till nicer weather/ roads. I'm looking forward to a day that does not involve a shovel or ice-chipper.... Frank McMullen Frank, you should have called the dealer!!! Isn't it still under warranty?? (glad the old girl decided to co-operate and start) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
De Soto Frank Posted February 21, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2007 Don, The De Soto is now showing 103,000 miles... Yes ether is amazing stuff... but be careful, I think it has some ugly side-effects: "mange" rust around side mouldings , and it causes rear door skins to rust-out at the bottom... If carbs wouldn't go dry after sitting for three days, due to modern gasolines, I might not have needed the ether... I never used the stuff until I was in my early 30's... which made for about 14 years of six-volt driving w/o the magic start-'em juice... ( but I can't imaging life w/o it now... don't need it often, but when I do... ) I would have been driving the old bucket at least once a week, but NE Penna went "salt-happy" with the Car-B-Gone just after Christmas, and we never got a warm-up w/ cleansing rain, so I would not drive the car in such a threatening environment. Pat, Oh, you said three very bad words - "Call the Dealer" My wife has a 2000 neue Beetle, and it goes to the dealer for all its service... I'm trying to find out just where the De Soto agency was in Scranton... the bldg might not even be there any more... This Valentine's Day Storm ( as the media are calling it) is more than a little embarassing, in that NE PA was paralyzed for at least three days, and many smaller towns ( including Wilkes-Barre & Scranton) are STILL trying to get all the streets open, let alone huge piles of snow removed... we used to be able to deal with snow, when I first moved up here in '85... Frank McMullen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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