Hi, just bought my first mercedes, a 1981 240d, love it, ran great, then i decided to replace oil, air and fuel filters. i really goofed by not pre-filling the fuel filter(i know that now after reading posts). the car did start and ran until the fuel ran out in the injection pump. the pump must be full of air now now as the engine will not start. after learning about the hand pump(by reading posts on this site) i tried it, only to find that it is leaking really badly, every time i pull up quite a lot of fuel comes out of it, so it is probably not going to prime the injector pump. is there any way to prime the ip now as it is, or do i have to replace the hand pump before the engine will start.(time factor) can i prime the system by loosening the nuts on the injectors and cranking engine until fuel comes out? i don't want to damage anything. any help will be greatly appreciated. btw, the fuel filter is now full of fuel, it's just not getting into the cylinders. thanks

The fact that the hand pump leaks fuel does not mean that it will not pump fuel well enough to prime. Pump hard and fast; chances are it will get the job done. Then you can replace the hand pump when time is not such a factor.
The lift pump will prime for you if you crank the engine long enough. If you do that, crank for short intervals and give the starter time to cool down. Once the fuel filter is full of fuel, there is no need to open any lines to bleed air.

That primer is a $9 part online...

__________________
Think Alternative Energy!
300CD '80 (now gone but not forgotten...)

yep, you really want to replace that, the new pump is MUCH better, and so reasonable too.

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Is the new version pump not recomended for WVO or biodiesel? Or Did I imagine that in one of my working on mercedes dreams?

__________________
Rob M
Norwich, VT USA
1980 240D Euro delivery 4 speed manual silver/blue
~160K miles

hallucinated by drinking some bad WVO that night

__________________
'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

The old verion is nore likely to have the rubber parts that are succeptible to Biodiesel than the new one is...get the new one..you won't regret it.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Skinned,

FYI: Loosening the fuel line nuts on the injectors will not bleed the fuel system. The fuel has into get to the IP before it will be pumped to the injectors.


See what happens when you fix something that isn't broken (fuel filters).

P E H