Well, looks like the pump is fine. I'm getting fuel flow BOTH in and out of the spin-on filter when I crank the engine, yet with all injector lines cracked, I'm still seeing no fuel at the injectors after about 60sec total cranking.

What I'm wondering, at this point, is where can the fuel be going if not out the injector lines? There are no apparent leaks anywhere. I can't see any solution except "keep cranking" but then again, it seems to be doing nothing.

--Thanks!

--Matt

Hmm good point, the symptoms are very similar. The diaphragm must get old and fail under the added stress.


I guess if it has to fail, having it die in your driveway is a pretty good place.

Is your right foot mashed to the firewall when cranking?

If not, you'll crank till doomsday and it won't start.

Yeah as Brian said, keep cranking. Its the lesser of two evils at this point.

Yup, foot fully mashed. Guess we'll just keep at it, keep our fingers crossed / hope for the best / etc.

Thanks very much everyone, it's wonderful to get so much help. Perhaps one of these days I'll be as knowledgeable (though doubtful) and can give some back.

Thanks,

Matt

If the fuel pump is working and you're foot is mashed and all six injector lines are cracked.........fuel has got to come out of them........and soon.

Ok, I did the same thing with my 603, so after some failed attempts, I read the manual. It states you should crank with pedel depressed (doesn't say how much) for upto 1 minute in order to prime the pump. That of course assumes your fuel pump isn't fubar.

Car Is Running!!!
 

Well, fuel did finally come out of the injector lines this morning, but definitely not soon.

Here's what we did, hopefully others can benefit from this story.

We cracked all injector lines. It took maybe 60-90 seconds of cranking to get fuel to the first one (the one towards the windshield). After that, fuel slowly started coming to each injector, moving progressively towards the radiator. By slowly, I mean it took about 60 seconds of cranking to get each subsequent injector to expel fuel. At first, each would get wet, and then on the subsequent crank, would spew fuel.

Once we had fuel to each injector line (five spewing and one wet) we glowed the engine four times to preheat the engine a bit more, and it started after just a few seconds. Sputtered a bit, so I held it around 1000rpm until it warmed up.

So all told, it took a LOT LOT LOT of cranking to get it started. I guess the lessons learned are

1. Fill the new fuel filter ALL THE WAY with clean fuel.

2. Priming the lines can take a VERY long time. Don't lose hope. I do wonder if my pump is weak, and also whether the pumps run far more inefficiently when air is inside them.

3. Do connect a charger while you're trying to start. One battery is not enough to prime the engine. We put the charger on 50 Amps while cranking and left it on 10 Amps in between cranks.

4. Cracking the lines may help. I can't be sure of this, but what is certain is that you can visualize your progress, as each subsequent injector line fills with fuel. It is tremendously motivating to see each injector come on line and this kept me from giving up.

5. With the injector lines cracked, the pattern to watch for is fuel to come out first at the injector towards the windshield, and to move progressively forward with subsequent cranks.

6. Barely any fuel is pumped into the engine when the starter is running, relative to a 600 rpm idle. So it takes forever to prime the engine when you're cranking it.

And Finally: This forum is an invaluable resource. I would certainly have had the car towed without all your help!!!

--Thanks to All!!!!!!!!

--Matt

Good job.

They certainly can take awhile if the IP is full of air...........lesson to be learned..........IP does not like air.

Help is what we do here.

This is all very interesting. I replaced the spin on filter on my 603 and didn't put any fuel in the new one (I didn't want to reuse the potentially unfiltered old fuel, and didn't have any fresh diesel to use). It took what seemed then like a long time to restart, but probably no more than five cranking phases with a minute or so of starter cooldown between. Never had to charge the battery.
For that matter, I also ran it out of fuel on Saturday (didn't know my gauge was acting up until then) and it was no harder to restart.

Tip: Keep a can of Diesel Purge around for this purpose. Fill the new filter with Purge, and the re-start process should be painless. Filling with clean diesel is another option but most people don't have a pint of clean diesel just sitting around their garage, lol.

:cool:

There should be two cans sitting on my doorstep when I go home in 20 minutes. That, and I also keep a 5 gallon plastic can with me that I can fill when I need a little extra range. If I rig up something to hold it securely in the trunk I might just start keeping it full all the time in case I inadvertently run out again.

come on guys, gee whiz, the simple secret is to do this job right is ensure the engine is good and HOT. The filled fuel filter is a bonus, too.

We're talking diesel 101, combustion in a heat process, fuel delivery is high pressure process. A cold engine with air in the delivery system is about as dead a cold steam locomotive.

All this starter grinding is just wasting brush life. The aluminum head on this design dumps heat faster than 3 period french. Absent a strong battery, those poor glow plugs are woefully under powered to make up for the heat bled off by a cold head or engine, and air in the IP, even in the summer. Couple that with a weak battery and you're hole just gets deeper.

The book is clear in its stipulation of the testing process of glow plugs as a functioning plug that doesn't reach full operation temperature, which typically takes a full 15 seconds or more per the manual, dissipate heat to quickly as fuel spray enters the pre-chamber and do not provide design temperature preheat to the starting process.

I feel bad this fella's car sat in the the garage for 3 days not starting. Bleeding is much more effective from the top of the filter at the large mount nut. Holding the manual shutoff closed while a helper cranks is even a bigger bonus. This minimizes air from entering the IP and leaves the pump and injector lines in a full of fuel condition, mitigating starting issues. Cracking injector lines is asking for trouble. Each re-torque to the sealing balls in my experiences seem to require more and more torque to keep them dry and leak free, especially in higher mileage installation.

How exactly did you get the idea that nobody else here is intelligent enough to figure out diesel combustion but you? The problem is a simple one of not having fuel in the filters, and several people have pointed out the solution to that. What exactly did you add to the thread by bringing an arrogant, sarcastic attitude?

A hot engine and glow plugs will not make much of a difference in this case. Since it is summer and very warm in most areas of the country, most people could pull the glow plug strip fuse without an issue.

Some of us have been doing this diesel thing for quite awhile.;)