Using starting fluid to start a cold gas engine is the best way. It is vaporized & doesn't puddle up like gas or other liquids. It will not fire till the plug fires. Diesel is a different story. The diesel timing is by the injection of the fuel. If the fuel is already in the cylinder, most of the time it will fire prematurely & can cause serious engine damage. We used to start the big old Cummins engines all the time on either. Some even had either injection systems to use for cold starts. I have started the light duty engines on starting fluid disconnecting the glow plug circuit first. It is risky though. The stating fluid we get now is not as strong as the Either that was used years ago.
George
