Ran my E300D out of fuel. - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

andrewchurchill · #1 06-17-2008, 07:51 AM

I have a '97 E300D and I ran out of fuel yesterday. How do I purge the air out of the system so I can get it started again?

Thanks,
Andy

e300D97 · #2 06-17-2008, 08:16 AM

You just have to crank the engine. Do it in 20 second intervals and let the starter cool down between. YOu might want to replace the fuel filter. You can fill the new filter with fuel and it might start a bit faster

tankowner · #3 06-17-2008, 08:23 AM

I'm sure others will confirm this (or not), but I believe the system is self-purging - just keep cranking the engine and you will eventually get the air worked out. You will need to rest the starter so it doesn't burn up, so I personally wouldn't crank for more than 30 seconds straight - allow a couple of minutes in between attempts for the starter to cool. You can also help out by making sure the fuel filter is full.

nhdoc · #4 06-17-2008, 09:31 AM

One clever contributor talked about priming it by filling the pre-filter housing with a turkey baster which would reduce the cranking time if the system was run dry. I've never tried it so I can't comment on its effectiveness but if you have a clean baster it could not hurt. Just remove the bolt and pull the fuel line out of the pre-filter and fill until it will no longer take any more fuel.

Otherwise do what others have said and crank until it catches but you can easily wear down your battery doing this.

tankowner · #5 06-17-2008, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhdoc

One clever contributor talked about priming it by filling the pre-filter housing with a turkey baster which would reduce the cranking time if the system was run dry. I've never tried it so I can't comment on its effectiveness but if you have a clean baster it could not hurt. Just remove the bolt and pull the fuel line out of the pre-filter and fill until it will no longer take any more fuel.

Otherwise do what others have said and crank until it catches but you can easily wear down your battery doing this.

nhdoc has a good point here - and I have killed a battery before trying to bleed the fuel lines of air, which really ruins your day! I did pull up the prefilter and filled the chamber with fuel - that seemed to help.

t walgamuth · #6 06-17-2008, 10:01 AM

remove the air cleaner and spray wd 40 into the intake. The car will run safely on it until it purges itself. then stop spraying and replace the air filter.

Tom W

deltajetfixer · #7 06-17-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

remove the air cleaner and spray wd 40 into the intake. The car will run safely on it until it purges itself. then stop spraying and replace the air filter.

Tom W

Hmmm...unmetered fuel...

jkoebel · #8 06-17-2008, 10:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deltajetfixer

Hmmm...unmetered fuel...

Its only unmetered fuel if you hold the button down as far as it will go and don't listen to the RPMs.

If you pay attention, then it is manually metered fuel, not unmetered fuel.

murph · #9 06-17-2008, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankowner

nhdoc has a good point here - and I have killed a battery before trying to bleed the fuel lines of air, which really ruins your day!

Yeah, I dd the same thing on my 6.5 'burb. Not fun at all...Especially when it happens a mile from home at 130AM...Walk home, get wife's car, drive to truck, get it started, drive home, walk back to truck, drive home, go to sleep.

Andy

TMAllison · #10 06-17-2008, 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth

remove the air cleaner and spray wd 40 into the intake. The car will run safely on it until it purges itself. then stop spraying and replace the air filter.

Tom W

The MAF wont like that at all; you could spray it downstream of the MAF but it would be somewhat more involved that simply undoing clips on the air filter.

Pre-filling the main fuel filter and pre-filter should be enough. May have to do that more than once to get fuel drawn all the way up from the tank.

andrewchurchill · #11 06-17-2008, 02:14 PM

Thanks, I tried doing just that several times last night to no effect. I'll try filling the fuel filter and try it again.

nhdoc · #12 06-17-2008, 02:19 PM

Also, if you added only a couple of gallons it might help to get the rear end above the front to aid in priming the pump, if possible. If you are parked with the nose up you are trying to prime it working against gravity and it will be harder to start like that.

tankowner · #13 06-17-2008, 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by murph

Yeah, I dd the same thing on my 6.5 'burb. Not fun at all...Especially when it happens a mile from home at 130AM...Walk home, get wife's car, drive to truck, get it started, drive home, walk back to truck, drive home, go to sleep.

Andy

Brings back horrid flashbacks of my experience. Ran out of fuel about 1.5 miles from home at 2:00 A.M. Walked home to get a can full of fuel and my other car (to drive back and give the MB a jump if needed), only to find the battery dead in the other car (would later find a faulty window motor was causing a parasitic drain)! Crap - guess I'll have to ride my bike back with my gallon of diesel. Crap - tires on bike were flat because I hadn't ridden it since last year. Guess I'll have to pump them up - oh crap, the only pump I have runs off the (dead) car battery. Walk 1.5 miles back with 1 gallon of fuel. Get back to the MB, pour in some fuel, saving some for the filters. Crank, crank, crank - dead battery (turns out it was on its way out anyway). Called AAA, explained the situation and that even though we could try some fuel and a jump that I might need a tow. So, of course, they send out the most incompetent guy they can find in a pick-up truck. After we fail to get the MB running he starts wishing me a good night (morning) until I remind him I get 100 miles of free towing and that I only need to go 1.5 miles and that it is now 3:00 A.M. He gets all bent out of shape because he has to drive back to get the tow truck, but he does. When he finally comes back he's pissed off because he is missing out on a I-70 wreck that would have put more $ in his pocket than helping out the stupid guy who ran out of fuel. Very quiet 1.5 mile tow back to my house insues. Drop the car. Go to bed. The best part is that I was supposed to leave bright and early the next morning to drive 850 miles to a friend's wedding, but now I have two cars with dead batteries. I sucked it up and grabbed the batteries, put them in my daughters Radio Flyer and started walking to the auto store. Half way between home and the store it starts raining (of course). Replaced one battery (luckily for free - still under warranty), but the MB battery had to be trucked in from another store which took several hours. Finally got the battery (6 hours later) got it in, purged the fuel lines - hit the road. I have officially learned my lesson!!!

murph · #14 06-17-2008, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankowner

Brings back horrid flashbacks of my experience. Ran out of fuel about 1.5 miles from home at 2:00 A.M. Walked home to get a can full of fuel and my other car (to drive back and give the MB a jump if needed), only to find the battery dead in the other car (would later find a faulty window motor was causing a parasitic drain)! Crap - guess I'll have to ride my bike back with my gallon of diesel. Crap - tires on bike were flat because I hadn't ridden it since last year. Guess I'll have to pump them up - oh crap, the only pump I have runs off the (dead) car battery. Walk 1.5 miles back with 1 gallon of fuel. Get back to the MB, pour in some fuel, saving some for the filters. Crank, crank, crank - dead battery (turns out it was on its way out anyway). Called AAA, explained the situation and that even though we could try some fuel and a jump that I might need a tow. So, of course, they send out the most incompetent guy they can find in a pick-up truck. After we fail to get the MB running he starts wishing me a good night (morning) until I remind him I get 100 miles of free towing and that I only need to go 1.5 miles and that it is now 3:00 A.M. He gets all bent out of shape because he has to drive back to get the tow truck, but he does. When he finally comes back he's pissed off because he is missing out on a I-70 wreck that would have put more $ in his pocket than helping out the stupid guy who ran out of fuel. Very quiet 1.5 mile tow back to my house insues. Drop the car. Go to bed. The best part is that I was supposed to leave bright and early the next morning to drive 850 miles to a friend's wedding, but now I have two cars with dead batteries. I sucked it up and grabbed the batteries, put them in my daughters Radio Flyer and started walking to the auto store. Half way between home and the store it starts raining (of course). Replaced one battery (luckily for free - still under warranty), but the MB battery had to be trucked in from another store which took several hours. Finally got the battery (6 hours later) got it in, purged the fuel lines - hit the road. I have officially learned my lesson!!!

Don't tell me, your last name is Murphy also?

Andy

pawoSD · #15 06-17-2008, 03:03 PM

Do it with the engine warm and pre-fill the filter before reinstalling, then it should run immediately, with possibly a minor hiccup or miss for a second....I've done this on mine every time.