Just bought a beautiful one owner 110K, '99 E300D that was garage kept and had all the receipts since new. Ran perfect for exactly one week, then refused to start, cranked and cranked, no start. Only problem with the car was a leaking plastic fuel line from the filter to the SOV. Noticed small amount of fuel on the ground and below the SOV at this time. So I ordered and replaced all the plastic lines, SOV o-ring, the filter and pre-filter (w/oring) last night. Cranked and cranked(5 times) on a level surface with 1/2 tank of gas and still no start. Checked the SOV and it is clicking so it should be fine and I assume the K40 is working ok if it clicks. I noticed fuel in every line except for the line from the heater to the pre-filter( Line 1 in diagram), it is completely empty. Does this indicate a problem with the heater itself or the fuel lines to the heater? Do you think the in tank filter suddenly clogged? If so would I not have seen a bunch of junk in the prefilter/fuel filter? What is the next troubleshooting step I should take or part I should replace?

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Make sure lines 3 and 4 aren't reversed at the lift pump.

Happened to a close friend of mine...

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2005 Pathfinder LE
2001 E55
1998 M3
1982 320i

make a setup to suck diesel fuel from the prefilter feed line, if you can suck it up easily then the screen is clean enough to flow at least startup fuel.

At this point you should look into the above recommendation and check the pull and push lines of the lift pump,

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Did you fill the secondary filter with fuel before installing it? If not, it can take a lot of cranking to get the air out of the system since I don't think you have a manual primer pump.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Yes I did fill the pre-filter before cranking. I will check the lines, now that I think about they may be crossed. I have a Mightyvac so I can try to suck fuel from the tank to from the pre-heater. Any other lines aft of the pre-heater that are prone to failure?

The crankshaft position sensor can cause starting problems on the 606 engine, too. I had one with a lot of fuel leaks but still refused to start after repairing them. Crank sensor fixed it right up.

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90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

Do like Delta said...I remember that friend of his.

Confirm all your new lines are seated properly and that the horse shoe clips are all retracted (loose and floppy) after installation.

Having done that, if you still have zero fuel from the fuel thermo to the prefilter than you must have a leak somewhere from thee back to the tank which is causing loss of suction to pull the fuel up the the SOV.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Fuel lines at the lift pump were reversed!! Thanks for the replys.