We used Arnica gel and pills on our competition horses as it is very mild and not a banned substance when competing. As horses didn't talk I have no idea if it worked or not but made us feel better. I tried it on a very badly bruised foot co of being trodden on by a horse, less than useless, Whisky on the other hand and plenty of it worked wonders. I'll stick with the 40% proof for pain relief.
Old wives tail I'm afraid. Oil in the tail pipe would require the engine to have been running a goodly few minutes before the exhaust was hot enough to heat the (mythical) oil up to the point that it caused smoking. Now if you took the downpipe off and shoved it up the exhaust manifold it would work quite quickly. If you want to try and pull a stunt like this brake fluid is better. Time for shameful admission on my part now. About ten years ago I went to look at a 205 diesel with a friend that he was interested in buying that was cheap as it had a problem with poor starting (glow plugs according to the advert). When we got there I knew the seller and he was a thoroughly odious turd of a human being. Whilst I was looking around it he went indoors for the paperwork so it was out with the tin of WD-40 which was liberally blasted down a breather hole in the inlet manifold. Turd features insisted that he was the only one who knew how to start it so in he got, turned the key and the engine locked up We bought it for scrap value, towed it away and we got lucky as we got away with turning the engine over by hand with the (genuinely knackered surprisingly) glow plugs out to get the WD out of the cylinders. Dead naughty but he deserved it. I would never use Easy Start on a petrol engine even though it is marketed as suitable. The pistons in a petrol engine are far less robust and Easy Start can cause catastrophic piston failure.
Touch wood , I can't remember having a starting problem on a car for well over 20 years ( failed battery apart ) Mainly due to electronic ignitions I think . Gone are the days when trying to start my first car , Anglia 105E , on a cold misty morning . Just so much choke , clutch in , light dab on the throttle... and the cranking engine seemed to be laughing at you !
Must admit I didn't know Easy Start was bad for petrol engines, I use it to start my strimmer which I know just needs a service to sort it properly but I never seem to find the time
Back in the 70s I remember my main problem, with a few cars, was not starting them, but turning them off. I had one Escort and you could almost get out and lock the door and it would still be trying to run.
