Oil & Fuel Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

schmalts · Mar 21, 2005

Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

Anyone know who has that plastic return hose? It looks like a heat to shrink type. I want to plumb in my manifold heater and need a little hose to do so. For those of you who have one already hooked up, how long do you hold the power on for this thing???
Also need to find the actual fitting that goes on the heater itself if anyone knows, let me know.

greg_g · Mar 21, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

Nothing wrong with using regular fuel hose, that's what I plumbed my Yanmar with. Heating duration will be proportionate to ambient temp, something you'll have to learn yourself with time.

Got the heating element itself from a John Deere dealer. But that's only cuz Yanmar makes their CUTs. But if you go to them with the thread count and diameter, maybe you'll get lucky.

//greg//

bluechip · Mar 21, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

We have some return hoses in stock, I think you will need a banjo fitting with two hose barbs to put on the closes injector to the thermostarter, then a piece of line to reacy over and wire to the ignition switch if not already done. We have not had a KM here on a cool day yet to try out the new thermostarters.

greg_g · Mar 21, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

( I think you will need a banjo fitting with two hose barbs to put on the closes injector to the thermostarter, )
Chip, can you explain how this thing works? I can't quite feature getting fuel from an injector to the thermostarter - because you don't get fuel to the injector without cranking the starter. I thought the idea of a preheater was to get things warmed up BEFORE you start cranking.

On the Yanmar there was a dedicated fuel reservior - held maybe two ounces. It was connected by standard fuel line to the heater coil. The coil was then wired to a PreHeat button - separate from the ignition. Starting procedure involved turning the ignition to ON, which provided power to the PreHeat button. The button was depressed for X number of seconds, depending upon how cold it was. Contrary to what you may think, no fuel was heated - only the air in the intake. Once the ignition was switched from ON to START, the vacuum created by the intake stroke then sucked fuel from the reservior through the heater where it mixed with the preheated air in the intake manifold. The warm air/fuel mixture was then introduced to the cylinders. It took some gymnastics, but I managed to use compression release with this process too.

( We have not had a KM here on a cool day yet to try out the new thermostarters. )
I know the KMs with direct injection are easier to start from the git-go. But I can attest that ThermoStart took a tremendous load off the Yanmar starter and battery. I used it faithfully 12 months of the year, at a minimum when starting a cold engine the first time each day. Sounds to me like an inexpensive way to save some wear and tear on a KAMA too.

//greg//

Paddy · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

Is this preheater standard on all KAMA 454s? I live in the cold region and use my tractor quite a bit to move snow. For now the garage is home but, would like to have a preheat if it's there and needing a hook up.

Patrick

greg_g · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

( Is this preheater standard on all KAMA 454s? )

The preheater I described was the ThermoStart on my Yanmar. My KM454 came with no preheater of any kind. In fact, since I already installed a pair of Wolverine oil pan heaters, I haven't even bothered to see if my KAMA intake is fitted for the preheater.

There are more cold-start details in my response to your private message

//greg//

bluechip · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

8 months ago we asked if preheaters were available and were told no, not needed, not available, then on the last order, they showed up on the tractors... I do not recall there being provision for adding it to existing units.

schmalts · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

Gregg, the thing needs no fuel pressure, only gravity. It should be in the return line and whatever fuel is in the line should be enough to make enough flame long enough to warm the manifold is my guess.
BTW, my tractor was in between chips order LOL... It came with a pre-heater installed.. but not plumbed or wired, just there . I was looking at it one day and though "what the heck is that ?" didnt take long to figure out what it was.
Chip, i was thinking i could just tee into one of the existing return lines and only need the threaded fitting that goes onto the heater, and a barbed TEE. What do you think?

bluechip · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

I won't have the fitting for the thermostater itself, on the new ones they have two barbs coming off one of the banjoe fittings on the injector return line nearest the thermostarter. Your idea should work, a "T" fitting over to the "unit".

greg_g · Mar 22, 2005

Re: Kama 554 fuel return hoses, anyone know where to

( Gregg, the thing needs no fuel pressure, only gravity. It should be in the return line and whatever fuel is in the line should be enough to make enough flame long enough to warm the manifold is my guess)

I don't think you understood my question. I asked Chip how fuel would get from an injector backwards to the preheater without cranking the engine. But now you're talking about tapping into the return line. Not the same thing at all.

That then begs another question. Since the return line is designed to route excess fuel back into the tank, what's to guarantee that there'll be any fuel IN that top return line on a cold engine?

And if this preheater is installed in the intake manifold, I don't think "flame" is the right descriptive. Since I basically had to rebuild the ThermoStart on my Yanmar, it didn't take long to figure out how it worked. But if the KAMA system doesn't function like the the Yanmar system I described above, it looks like I'm just gonna have to see one for myself to figure it out.

//greg//