Those are not the nuts you want to touch! Those are on the Injection Pump (commonly referred to as IP). You should start with the large nut above the fuel filter. The Fuel filter is directly behind the Power Steering pump. It has a clear line that you can see diesel flowing through.

The idea is to crack that nut open, and pump till all the little bubbles exit. Its hard to start with air in the lines, so this is a procedure you must do if and when you run out of fuel. Its not a big deal, you just need to know what to do.

I can't imagine what sounds you're talking about, but I'm sure you know what a car sounds like when its starting? No different with a diesel. Don't need to pump pedal or anything like that. If the starter is engaging, you KNOW that sound...the same as any other vehicle. When the engine catches, its also the same kind of sound.

The Merc starters are big heavy duty items, However, even they can burn out if you spin it endlessly.

The filter is the round cylinder looking thing that is on the left hand side of your picture. The lines coming out of the center of the nuts above the ones you point to are the fuel injection lines. You will want to crack them at the opposite end of which you have pictured. IIRC they are 14 mm.

NO !!!
 

Do NOT touch those nuts!!!!

That's not what you are suppose to loosen when trying to prime the fuel system. Look at the engine side of those hard fuel lines. You want to loosen the fuel line at the injector.

Hang on to that sense of humor. I like it. Ya it sounds like air in the fuel lines, follow the instructions previously stated and you should get her going. Welcome to the club.

look at my edit of your picture.

Hey all. First off, he good new is that things got to busy last night to fix up the car. So I didn't screw everything up by loosening the wrong nuts. We're going to go work on it soon, I just wanted to check in and let everyone know that nothing is totally ruined. Thank you all for your support and advice with this issue, I don't really know anything about cars, so I don't know that I'll be able to do the same for anyone else, but I will certainly stick around the forum to offer advice when I feel qualified.

EDIT: Also, if I understand everyone correctly, what I'm going to do is,

1: Loosen the nut in orange in vstech's edit one turn.
2: Pump the primer until air bubbles stop coming out of the line.
3: Retighten that nut.
4: Loosen the nuts one at a time on the other end of the red lines in the edit, then pump the primer while someone cranks the engine.

Is this correct, or am I totally off base here?

Almost, you need to loosen the nut next to the one in orange next to the arrow pointing towards the engine. the one circled has an arrow pointing towards the filter.

Make sure that the airways of the engine are clear of obstructions and rodent damage. You do NOT want detritus to get sucked into your intake and then the engine. Replace any worn air filters, hoses etc...

To avoid damage to the engine, make sure you have oil between the low and high marks on the oil dipstick. Preferably at the top mark on the dipstick. If the oil is very old, it may be good to go ahead and change it and the filter and oil filter housing seal. (Be careful not to damage your accel linkage in the process.)

If the car hasn't been run in awhile, it's good to turn it over, without starting, a few times anyway to force a bit of oil into the passages.

Always keep an eye on the oil pressure. You wont have alot but you should have some as you turn the engine over with the starter.

If you keep proper oil and oil pressure, these engines are pretty durable.

Do as the others have said regarding the fuel delivery.

You really need to replace your primer pump with a new one. Do that ASAP.

Just to fill in the WHY this is good advice... when that pump leaks, the diesel drips down and eats away the rubber pillow that cushions the motor mounting point directly below the pump. Then after a while there is nothing doing cushioning, and the motor rattles around, and so forth.

Kurt

The title of this thread reminds me of a friend of mine that swears she can't understand anything mechanical. This includes things as simple as filling her bicycle tire or learning how to create a directory in Win XP.

Most of the time she gets someone else to deal with whatever problem arises. When she is forced to understand the few steps involved, she does it quickly. Unfortunately, her decision to finally look and understand comes after much gnashing of teeth - way more than is good for her.

Have we established that the starter is in fact turning the engine? It should not whir and stop without releasing the key. Whir better describes the starter turning and the bendix not engaging the flywheel.

I edited the response you made about my edited picture. DO NOT LOOSEN THE NUT I CIRCLED IN ORANGE! loosen the one just like it, closer to the front of the engine.

likely, since you have already pumped the primer 100 times, there will be no air out that nut, but this information is valid if in the future you need to prime the filter or if you run out of fuel again.

That is one reason yes, but the big reason is because it lets air in to the system and a leaking pump will not prime the engine.

It's a cheap part, and it might even solve your original issue.

When you get to #4, you don't have to use the primer pump anymore. However, if you have two people, you can have one person watch the injector lines while the other person cranks the starter. Fuel will start coming out of the lines where they've been loosened. Once you get fuel coming out of a line in strong regular pulses during cranking, you can tighten that line back down. You may find that the engine starts after about the third one gets tightened down. This is no big deal. Just shut it down right away and tighten down the rest of the injector lines.

You can probably get it started without replacing your primer pump, but you really should take care of that.

starter sounds
 

First: Welcome to the forum!


I dug out a youtube clip of the sound of a "low battery starter clicking"

Ignore the fact that its a Ford and not a Mercedes; ignore ALL the talk (about the batteries etc): focus on the SOUND @ 0.16 into the video - the hing-speed "clicking" is the tell-tale of the battery being too weak for the starter to work properly

@ 0.45 is the sound of the starting with the properly charged battery

Starting a Car with a LiPo Battery - YouTube

It may not help with the current issue, but it will give you knowledge for the future. Keep learning, the more you know, the more rewarding it will be :thumbsup: