1988 beretta help

Ok guys this is weird. This is my fathers car and I cant seem to help him. Now his car is a 2.8L with high mileage. If he lets it sit it will not start, but if he sprays ether into the air cleaner the car will fire and start. Now if he shuts it off, he has to restart it every 2 hours or the problem returns. He took it to a local garage and the guy had it for a month and all he could come up with was the ether thing. Does anyone have any ideas whatsoever as to what the problem is. I appreciate any feedback...

First I would do a compression check on all the cylinders...second step would be is to check the fuel pressure when its cold and see if there is enough pressure....if you notice the cylinders compression is low when its cold and will not start there is your problem......alot of times an engine will fire up off of ether and run because of the quick burn rate of ether and once its moving that fast it will run not great but so so....until it warms up and everything expands,,,,on a second thought your fuel pump may be weak or you have a plugged up filter allowing just enough gas for it to run leanly...let me know what you find.

Thanx I will tell this to my father to see if it helps. Thanx alot.

First I would do a compression check on all the cylinders...second step would be is to check the fuel pressure when its cold and see if there is enough pressure....if you notice the cylinders compression is low when its cold and will not start there is your problem......alot of times an engine will fire up off of ether and run because of the quick burn rate of ether and once its moving that fast it will run not great but so so....until it warms up and everything expands,,,,on a second thought your fuel pump may be weak or you have a plugged up filter allowing just enough gas for it to run leanly...let me know what you find.


Well it seems that the fuel pump and filter were the problem. He said so far so good. Thanx alot if it acts up again he's gonna check the compression on the cylinders. Thanx again!!