At my work we have a '97 F800 flatbed with a 12V cummins in it.

The hood was up the other day and I happened to notice a sticker on the air filter housing that says:

"NOTICE!
This unit is equipped with a KB Dieselmatic Automatic Starting Fluid Injection System
DO NOT ADD ETHER OR USE AEROSOL CANS"

WTF is an Automatic Starting Fluid Injection System and howcome we've never had to refill it?

I figured the engine just had a grid heater like most 12V cummins. I do know that it doesn't have a wait to start light, and on most days that are above freezing you can turn the key to the notch before start for about 5 seconds and it will fire right up. It doesn't even have a block heater, but it still starts fairly well on cold days (just runs rough for a little while).

 

There should be a canister of starting fluid on a bracket someplace in the engine compartment. It looks kind of like the small tank for map gas. There is a line that runs to the intake, a temp sensor on the block.

When the temp is low enough when you start the truck it will automatically give a shot of either. The ones I had on my semi's were a manual push button. When the tank is empty you loosen the clamp, unscrew the tank and replace with a new one.

 

Like he said, look around the engine area and you will see a can, probably empty if no one has changed it. The Do Not Add or Spray is because you can lock the engine applying to much starting fluid.

 

The one I had on my old company truck looked about the same size as the refrigerant dessicant canister. It was on the other side of the engine, though, and painted orange.

-blaine

 

Ohhhhhhh....I bet that's what the one empty round bracket in the engine compartment used to have in it then.