While I was waiting for my soon to be brother-in-law to wake up this morning (to help me with dropping the tranny on my 300D) I decided to change out the fuel filters. I've done this several times before with no problems, but I must be having a not-enough-sleep moment.

I installed them no problem, spilling the smallest amount of diesel I ever have. But afterwards it wouldn't start. So I put more diesel in the main filter and tried again. Still no. So I started pumping madly with the primer. Still no. Detached the prefilter and filled it to the brim with diesel with the smallest little bubble remaining. Still no.

I must've pumped several dozen times and tried to start it about half as many times. (So much that I need to recharge my battery) But it still won't start. Everything sounds right, but it seems like it's still not getting fuel.

I feel like an idiot. What are my options?

Loosen the fuel line at the IP and make sure you get fuel when pumping with the primer. Depending on the year of your car, you might have an old style pump that needs to be replaced.

Crack one or more of the hard lines and see if you are getting fuel to the injectors when the engine is cranked. Remember to crank for no more than 30 seconds at a time with a wait of several minutes in between attempts so as not to generate too much heat in the starter motor.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

Not a criticism.
What happens when you do not either fill the Spin-on Filter with Fuel or start pumping on the hand primer to bleed all the Air out of your Fuel Supply system is that Air gets into your Fuel Injection system (it gets trapped in the Fuel Injection Hard Lines) where it compresses a lot and moves only a little. And, as you see this results in a Dead Battery and you stress your Starting System.

The solution is to loosen the Fuel Injection Hard Line Nuts at the Injectors and crank until you see fuel coming out of all of them (this bleeds the Air out of the Fuel I jection Hard Lines). After that tighten the Hard Line Nuts and go thourgh your normal starting proceedure.

If you ever run completely out of Fuel while on the Road you will need to bleed the Air out of the Hard Lines after you get some Fuel in the Tank.

And, yes it happens to me sometimes if I do not pump on the Hand Primer enough (I do not fill the Filter as I am too jittery and would most likely spill most of it) I also get a no start. If it does not start right away I know what the problem is and simply loosen some of the Nuts as mentioned above; at the Injectors; crank a little to get the Air out, tighten them and am ready to start.

Note: If you ever own another Diesel that has a large Fuel Filter be sure to fill it as much as you can as sometimes there can just be too much Air Volume to get out.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Thanks both of you. It was a not-enough-sleep thing then (I have a kid still doing middle of the night feedings and two jobs). I knew I could do that but thank you so much for reminding me gently.

try this use ATF A.K.A tranny fluid it will work just as well as diesel and is more viscus. plus it will clean your injectors and help push the air out. never once had any problems with this

Nah, the air Cannot enter the Hard-lines to the Injectors without turning engine--
Delivery valves take 20-30 BAR to open!
--Pumping the Primer aint gonna develop 20-30 BAR!

The Pump Gallery will become full of air, but if the Primer is pumped more, this will displace and it will re-fill with fuel.
--Continue pumping primer until a 'buzzing' is heard from the outlet pressure valve at the back of the pump, then you know the gallery is full of fuel

--AS the engine was turned on starter with air in the gallery, you may now need to slacken the injector-lines to purge the elements, del. valves and hard-lines....

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http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z...0TDnoplate.jpg

Alastair AKA H.C.II South Wales, U.K. based member

W123, 1985 300TD Wagon, 256K,
-Most recent M.B. purchase, Cost-a-plenty, Gulps BioDiesel extravagantly, and I love it like an old dog.

W114, 1975 280E Custard Yellow,
-Great above decks needs chassis welding--Really will do it this year....

That is exactly what the guy who started the thread did. And, that is why the my answer is what it is.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Double checking that the spin on is as filled as you can get it, priming the heck out of it, and a freshly charged battery is worth a shot before you get into opening up injector lines.
In the future run the car for a few minutes before shutting down and going about the filter change. This will make it easier to spin and start.
For your current situation plugging in for a while before your next try might help.

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84 300SD 274K
38K miles on flatplate heat exchanger and various diesel/veg blends. prior to that 4K miles on unheated veggie blends with kero and DinoD.

Well, the spin on bolt had diesel coming out the top before we tightened it. I'm almost considering upgrading to the newer style primer, I think mine is shot.My gps are more than good and have a week old relay, plus it's 80 degrees outside so I'm gonna stray away from that idea.

I have to wait for a front pump transmission seal for a few days before the trans gets back in the car. So really, it won't be starting anytime soon no matter what I try.