Earlier this afternoon I changed the oil out of a 1995 Mercedes E300 diesel without a hitch. In fact, I thought it was one of the more durable and environmentally friendly designs I had ever seen on a vehicle. Everything is thick steel and well enclosed to insure against leakage. Very nice.

However the fuel filter has been one true pain in the %&^&**%.

I put the 'stop' all the way down and cranked it about seven or eight times to make sure all the fuel was in the system. I then began to try to remove the fuel filter and the thing just wouldn't budge. So I removed the two screws on the vey top with the plastic housing. Then I was able to remove the fuel filter completely off, transfered the fuel from the old filter to the new filter, screwed the new filter on, replaced the upper two bolts, and turned the 'stop' all the way back to the open position.

It wouldn't start.

I tried after twenty seconds... wouldn't start.

I tried after two minutes... kept on holding it down for twenty to twenty-five cycles, wouldn't start.

It was then when I found out that the vehicle possible has some type of 'self- bleeding' process.

I am recharging the battery now since it ended up a bit low due to all the activity. I plan on attempting to restart the vehicle tomorrow. I'm afraid I may have to take the plastic shroud off the top and start playing with the injector lines... which would truly be a pain.

Long story short, I've got to figure out a way to solve this. Any help or insights would be appreciated. I KNOW that it was my mistake for assuming the process would be similar to gas and will get the factory manual as soon as this process comes to pass. I've already enabled a gas engine to go above 300K and look forward to doing the same with this non-turbo diesel.

Thanks for reading this far and I really do appreciate any helpful comments you may have.

macarose