Did dealer tech work for 3 decades.
A $5 can of starting fluid has destroyed a lot of expensive engines. Some were just rods, some were just pistons, some had the cylinders scored up so badly from broken rings that they couldn't be salvaged on any kind of budget (resleeving required), some had the rods bent so badly that they hit the block and knocked chunks out of the cylinder walls, seen a twisted crankshaft, a cracked crankshaft (my Mom's mower...), lifted head on a V1503 I believe it was, you get the idea. SVL95, spritzed it with ether because they ran it out of fuel and ate up the engine. Any idea what an engine R&R is on an SVL95? Just a hint, it's 5 figures....
It only takes one time. Had a MX5100 show up at the home shop. Friend owned it. Said it was getting to where it'd die in the field and he'd have to hit it with starting fluid to get it to start back up. I found a wasp in the fuel bowl which was restricting fuel flow, engine would die under a load because of that. Cleaned it out and it ran fine. Flow test was fine. He came got it and one afternoon we met up for lunch after church, he mentioned that his tractor was getting harder and harder to start and said he noticed a little bit of smoke under a load. Asked me if I could have a look at it, knowing that I don't do big jobs like overhauls. Wellllll.....4 ring lands broke, when I pulled the pistons out the rings fell out in pieces, as well as the ring lands themselves. Also all 4 rods bent. Cylinders mic'd within spec and no scratching at all, thankfully. I put 4 new rods and 4 new piston/ring assemblies in and buttoned it up. Kind of an expensive job but it's done, and I'm not going to do it again. Next time he can pay the kubota dealer $10 grand, I don't have the motivation to do it anymore.
possibly had a problem and hitting it with the starting fluid just made more problems. I'd put a compression gauge on it right away and see what it says before going any further, but that's just what "I" would do-yall can do whatever you want, it's your equipment and your choice.