We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the
drugs began to take hold. I remember andrew
saying something like:

Andrew Mawson wrote:

Be wary of Easystart - the land on the piston above the top ring can
be broken by the excess pressure, which leads to 'Easystart
addiction'. The now reduced compression means engine will only start
with Easystart. It's ok in VERY small quantities.

I agree with that, it's more to do with easystart having a high cetane
rating, it readily detonates and so used heavily can cause this damage.

It's excessive use (as in, too much each application) that can cause the
problem. The detonation rattle from too much ether points up to it being
not a good thing to overdo it. Unfortunately, too many ****nuggets out
there don't read instructions or have much nous, so happily douse their
intakes with loads of it, leading to the bad rep of ether starting cans
and gave rise to the 'addicted' notion.

I avoid using it if possible, preferring the burning rag method, but
that's often difficult in today's engine bays, and if just enough ether
is used the engine will happily start without too much trauma.