Yes. they're open at the injectors. When I've pulled the injectors before, I knew that the lines could have air trapped in them, so I loosened them one at a time with the car running to let the air escape. When I did that, fuel would spray out the line nuts and drip down the injectors. Now, nothing is coming out at all.

It's going to take a bit of cranking........depending on how long your cranked it with air in the secondary.

I have noticed that even though I use the hand pump until there are no bubbles, a bubble will rise in the line from the IP back to the secondary after a few minutes. Will intermittent hand pumping be better than cranking until the bubble stops appearing, or will only cranking get the air out of the IP?

Thanks

Still no luck, but I borrowed my neighbor's battery charger, so I can crank until my starter gives out.

I'm getting pretty discouraged, so I think I'll just let the battery charge a while and try later. I thawed a turkey prior to a late Thanksgiving invitation, so I'm cooking it today. 16 pounds, and I and my dogs :o are the only one's around to eat it. I may be walking, but at least I won't be hungry.

Any additional suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Ip
 

Put you another see through filter on the output line so you can see the return flow...just stick a piece of rubber line on there to replace the cigar hose while testing as a diagnostic measure....at least you will know if the lift pump is pushing fuel while cranking.......might try hand pumping while cranking if you can get somebody to help.....

Pumping of the primer is advantageous anytime there is air on the primary side of the system. However, once air is past the point of the return lines, only cranking can get it out.

So, in answer to your question........yes, intermittent hand pumping will be valuable in such a situation.

I tried it, but it doesn't look like any fuel is passing through while cranking.:confused:

Lift pump
 

Your very 1rst post states that you suspect no lift pump operation....

I am going back to that to start over.....so we can sequence through this to find a good spot...

Another good idea is to use temporary clear line on everthing for troubleshooting to watch the flow......

1....let the input to the lift pump suck from a small bottle of diesel resting in the fender well area....make sure the hose going to the pump is tight & stays submerged...

2....Disconnect fuel line from filter and let it empty into another container or the same for the supply hose....

3....Hand pump & watch the flow.......

4.....Crank engine and observe the flow.....

5.....Compare the two flows....the hand pump will put out more than the lift pump....but not much more .....

6....Post back with what you find.......I am curious about this...

Oh man, what a day.:(

I'll try the fuel supply in the engine bay test tomorrow, I'm beat for tonight. I've also got some clear line and clamps, so I'll try that too.

If in fact the pump is bad, I'll probably head to the pick and pull to get a used one. I've got an electric scooter that should just make it there and back.

As of now, it does seem as though something's wrong with the pump, but I'm confused about a couple things:

How could I have broken the pump? There aren't too many things that can break, and if something does break, I would have thought the hand pump wouldn't work either. The hand pump wouldn't work if the valves were broken, correct? I assume the piston in the pump performs the same function as the hand pump, and when I had it open today, everything looked ok. It wasn't seized or scored.

Is it possible that the cam in the IP is failing to actuate the piston? Is there any way to test that other than taking the pump off and looking or feeling inside the IP?

Finally (for now), could a faulty shutoff valve be involved? I disconnected the vaccum from it, and checked the linkage, but is it possible for whatever the valve "shuts off" to become stuck?

Thanks for the help. Right now, I need all the help and support I can get.

Believe me air can take forever.Thats why I added a cheap electric fuel pump.

Fuel Problems
 

Lift pump works regardless of fuel shutoff valve....
Vacuum valve is fuel element shutoff..(Rack plunger rotation)
Hand pump will work if IP cam not turning
Hand pump proper function does indicate the pump check valves are ok....but lift pump piston action would not be verified....
Do you know your IP cam is turning...?...
If you have the lift pump off...
you can see the cam through the 32mm hole in side of IP...
Crank engine while observing IP lift pump cam lobe...may have to use a mirrror and light for better viewing.....also get some paper towels for the engine oil that comes out....

I'll throw in my 2 cents worth here too! Sometimes if your lift pump is a bit tired it does need to be primed when system full of air and your tank low. Some of these points have already been raised.

Before you start cranking:
1) Remove filter and fill to top - replace.
2) Remove hose from tank pipe together with pre-filter. Fill that hose and the pre-filt with fuel (small funel?) and give a few strokes of pump to fill to fill pipe from lift pump to main filt. Top up again and connect back to tank supply pipe.
3)Start hand pumping. It can take at least 5 min pumping! After a couple of mins you should hear bubbling in tank (remove cap) - Keep going until it stops and you hear relief ball valve behind Fuel Pump.
4)As Brian said just crack open lines at injectors and crank at full throttle untill fuel at injectors - re-tighten.
5)Your ready to start. Glow and crank with full throttle (you must purge air from injectors too) until it fires reduce to half throttle - keep cranking max 30 secs. and then repeat.

Oh my!
 

Well, my worst fears are realized - the IP isn't turning.

Confirmed that no fuel was being pumped while cranking, so I took off the fuel pump again. I had my neighbor crank the engine, and the cams in the IP didn't move.

I'm soooooooooooo bummed. What should I do next? New IP?

Thanks

there was just a thread about this within the last month. The IP timing gear bolt was stripped, and bare.

there ya go

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/228906-300sd-woes-injection-pump-timing-device-2.html?highlight=stripped