This D5G has a factory ether priming system that does not work at the moment. The line is cut and the canister is empty. It uses a Kompac "Premium Engine Priming Fuel" canister that has ether in it. A small plastic line should go to the intake manifold from the fitting that the ether canister screws into. I can't see any cable or button to release the ether into the system. Is this an automatic system that automatically releases ether every time that the machine starts? Or is there an activator that I am missing? Also, what do people think of these systems; how well do they work and are they necessary? I'm wondering whether to fix the broken line and buy a new canister of the priming fuel. Thanks for any info.
Machine S/N prefix and does it have an electronic engine..? On electronic engines the ether is controlled from the engine control and based on the coolant temperature. NOTE: Ether can be either activated or deactivated, if the latter you need Cat ET to activate it. If the temperature is low enough the ether system automatically injects small quantities of ether while the engine is cranking and continues to inject small doses until the engine idle RPM is stabilized. Far better than manual ether injection from a can IMO.
always wondered why machines had ether priming systems but ether is frowned upon?
I think the answer is that electronically controlled ether isn't likely to over cook an engine the way a spray can will.
Yair . . . Same here Mike L . Way back Allis Chalmers had a system where the ether came in tiny (expensive) little soda bomb type capsules . . . pull the lever and the engine wouldn't half light up with a rattle. Sounded bloody awful and I went back to my gasoline soaked rag under the intake caper. It seems much more benign than ether injected/dumped into the manifold. The electronically controlled ether sounds the goods . . . provided the controller doesn't take a hissy fit. Cheers.
The manifold injection system has two advantages over Jethro with a can. They only work while the engine is cranking, and they have a smaller orifice, so the cylinders shouldn't get a big enough slug to detonate. Scrub, Allis may have calibrated there system to work in the cold, and that could cause little too much power in moderate temps.
Yair . . . Gotcha Delmer . You blokes definition of "cold" is 'probly a whole different to ours. (big grin) Cheers.
I recall doing something on one of our machines that has the electronic engine using Cat ET and saw where the ECM actually logs how much ether the machine has used! As I recall the quantity was in some unreal unit of measurement like gallons!
From what I've seen personally of electronically-injected ether on Cats the "sniffs" that are injected as a result of the ECM commands are so small that the normal "bag of bolts" ether knock is almost undetectable. KSH, I remember that too. I think it now records in millilitres.
I played around with mine last winter. On my C9 D6R III the system is made by quickstart. Found the exact components online. Pulled the whole system apart and found it clogged with dust. The orifices are so small that any speck will plug it up. I couldn't diagnose whether I was getting electrical signal, but it did give a little squirt when I cranked with the line off. That said, the amount is so small it doesn't do much to aid starting.