I have a small adjustable wrench. But the I lines are so tight I have concerns of breaking one off if I use force on the wrench.....(All this for such a simple thing...) I've changed dozens of spin ons before and never had such a hassle starting up. I've had to prime the pump manually but then it turns over.
Gotta be a reason for this other than air...What about straight ATF in the filter to begin with? It started up, when I first put it on; then it stalled right out, and hasn't turned over since. I've pumped liike 200 times and cranked it with the key until the battery drained charged it up and cranked again....

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

That's not going to happen either.

If you want to fix a M/B properly, you're going to need some tools.

When you are pumping the primer pump, can you hear the IP pressure relief valve opening? It will make a "Pfft, pfft" sound near the end of each pump stroke.

Maddening, isn't it!

__________________
Jimmy L.
'05 Acura TL 6MT
2001 ML430 My Spare

Gone:
'95 E300 188K "Batmobile" Texas Unfriendly Black
'85 300TD 235K "The Wagon" Texas Friendly White
'80 240D 154K "China" Scar engine installed
'81 300TD 240K "Smash"
'80 240D 230K "The Squash"
'81 240D 293K"Scar" Rear ended harder than Elton John

No pfft pffft....

__________________
'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."

Can you see fuel in the plastic fuel filter? If so, I would suggest bleeding the system again. Best bet is to loosen the return line fitting on the top of the filter housing (not the filter center bolt) then pump until you get fuel without bubbles from that fitting, then tighten the fitting while continuing to pump. Pump until you can hear the relief valve opening.

Also, do you still have the original primer pump, with the white knob that has to be unscrewed before use?

This issue and it turned out to be the seal ring on top of the spin on housing. I was able to get started after replacing the filter, but it was difficult. After driving it around a little I saw fuel was leaking from around that bolt. I was unable to tighten it enough to make it stop. I replaced with the copper seal ring, no more leaks or hard starts.

__________________
Sonny


86 190D N/A 2.5L Auto 265k "Ruby" -Sold-
79 300D 242k "Condi" my first -sold- RIP
2013 chevy sonic hatchback - had to for work

We've had bad luck around here with that bleeping copper seal ring, so I have gone the High-temp-ugly-silicon-route (works great! )

Check out our two cars silicon, this is the '83, mine looks similar but isn't quite as messy:

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)