Okay, I will return that jug to O'Reilly then and get the Startron online. I'll suck all the fuel out of the tank, fill it up with a quarter tank, and add some of the Startron to it. I'll do all this after doing a diesel purge

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A simple way to empty the tank is to divert the return line from the engine into a can with a long piece of fuel hose and idle the engine. It will the pump the tank dry while you drink a cup of coffee.

Personally, I am skeptical about your problem being bad fuel. Diesel can sit for years and be fine. I closely examined the diesel in my Albin 25 which had been sitting for many years when I purchased it. It ran fine. Fuel smelled funny but the engine ran fine. A year is a drop in the bucket for a tank of diesel.

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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

if you regularly park this car, with less than a full tank, your problem is water and "algae" in the tank... water wreaks havoc with diesel fuel. combined with storage, and little use... boom, you've got gunk in your tank.

northern tools has diesel starton on the shelf.

dump a bottle in the tank, let it sit for a day, then drive around with the lines reversed.

and NEVER park the car with less than a full tank for more than a day...

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My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
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1987 300TD
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Understood. I didn't know that in all the years I've owned this car and read this forum, so that's good to know. I'll definitely be keeping the tank full from now on. I got the 8oz bottle on order as we speak and I'm going to add that to the tank and do the hose swap and drive thing. Hopefully this takes care of the situation

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The utility of that advice depends partly on the climate where you live. I live in a dry climate, have never made it a practice to fill up my tanks before storage and frequently one of my diesels has sat for a year. Never had a problem with algae. My 307d sat for a year twice in England and didn't have a problem.

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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

I really don't think it's algae, but what does it say if I swapped the hoses as was recommended, and I was able to drive for a good 5-10 minutes without any of the problems I originally reported? I don't know, that's why I ask. I live in a dry climate, it rains maybe 5-8 times a year where I live. Hi and lo temps between 40 and 100 F year round

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It could be a leak in the normal feed line causing air to enter fuel. That leak is bypassed when switching lines.

But algae could have been introduced to your tank from a fuel station tank. I wouldn't completely rule it out but at the moment I'm not convinced that is the problem. A simple check would be to pump the tank dry using the method I described and then remove the strainer and see what it looks like. Or pump it dry and stick an inspection camera down the fill pipe and see if you can get a look at the strainer.

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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

If the primer pump does not increase resistance. You have a problem. The lift pump valves are marginal at best as they are the reverse check flow valves as well. Usually when they are pretty bad you will see the fuel in the pre filter kind of go back and forth as you pump. Never building fuel pressure basically.

You also could have a marginal relief valve that is open pretty much or really weak on the injection pump.

Or your primer pump has failed. If you see movement of the fuel at all in the pre filter or fuel coming out of the relief valve on the injection pump while pumping it probably still is good.

Anyways from your description something is still wrong and should be located. The fuel system needs attention. Even if it is or is not the current problem. I suspect it is playing into it at least.


There is another diagnostic indicator useable. Since you have the fuel feed lines reversed. If you can get the primer pump to make pressure now. It would indicate your original fuel line supply must have been blocked somehow. The lift pump could not develop pressure because it could suck in no fuel. Long shot but remote possibility.

Good point about their fuel purchase, as always recommended buy from a high volume station. The thought that your fuel is a year old may be way off, though I doubt that is a fuel "age" issue. If you happened to get some B20 or dumped some veg oil in it, it could be loosening up years of crud that would have stayed there w/o the bio stuff.

Well this post gets me concerned. Okay, so let me test out the primer pump. Questions:

-with the hoses reversed, how many pumps of the primer pump would it take to 'build up pressure' (such that the net result that is measurable is that the pump is harder to depress)?

-when the pump is harder to depress, how much harder is it than the first time you pump it? if pump #1 is a 0 on a scale of 1 to 10, what should pump #10 or #20 feel like, an 8?

-do i pump it only when the car is turned off?

-if I pump it 20 to 30 times and it doesn't feel any harder to press on the 30th pump, but I see fuel moving in the pre-filter, does that mean its working?

-what if I poured some sample fuel in a clear jar and posted a picture or two after it settled. would that demonstrate whether there's algae in the fuel?

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Normally when you pump the fuel with the primer pump. . This resistance stiffens more as you pump until you hear the release valve opening. Then if you keep pumping the resistance remains fairly heavy and constant. There have been different descriptions of the squeal but you know when you have it.

The squeeling is usually not that loud as say if a lady of the night was employed and you did not pay. Of course do not inform her of this until after you stop pumping..

The important thing remains if there is no increase in resistance and it pumps easily. You have a fault. It can be bad enough to disable a car or run anywhere up to apparent normal. If the force needed did not increase.

What is different in your situation is you may have a full fuel system. On a good tight system you would get almost immediate back pressure from the primer pump. The presence of air to compress in the system is what makes it easy to start pumping with normally. That was why I suggested observation of fuel flow out the relief valve when pumping if you are unsure.

The increase in pumping force needed is really noticeable. More so than just subjective at least. The amount of pumping strokes to be expected really cannot be estimated. If it is needed in a car that has run out of fuel will be more than one with fuel in the system.

Personally I would go for this area first as it is so obvious. Expecting it to fix the issue is not certain. Or it may be the issue. I still think you have a very weak fuel supply system if your description is accurate.

Pumping test is with the car off.

Pumping before starting and continuing when the car is running is a test to determine if your lift pump is bad. That is someone to continuously keep pumping the primer pump. Although if no resitance to pumping is there. You have no fuel pressure.

If you pump say thirty times and see fuel moving in the pre filter. The primer pump itself is probably fine. If the fuel seems to be surging back and forth the valves in the lift pump are suspect. If no back and forth noticed the relief valve is probably open.

The last possibility is a blockage of the fuel supply. The lift pump cannot draw fuel. That is why I suggested a comparison with either the normal supply line or the return line as the fuel supply tested with the lift pump. siting a year a rust hole may have occurred in your fuel line. I doubt this though in your climate.


What is pretty certain. It does not matter what fuel is in the tank if you cannot get some of it under constant pressure into the base of the injection pump. This should be addressed. I also assume you have been running straight diesel fuel and not biodiesel.

Have you swapped the lines back yet to see what happens?

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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

Did you do other work on th engine before it sat? Im interested if any of the conrods have been off.The one which if misplaced will give you your cars symptoms.A misplaced conrod on the cruise control would give you this issue.It will make the bowden cable extend out further than orig. its a very easy misjudgment since both rod placements are less than an inch apart.Alot of 617 motors have a disassembled cruise control and leave this open rod placement to get misplaced as apart of the throttle run and bowden cable managment rods .Trace it ,maybe your problem in a bottle.

I don't see why you considering other possible causes at this point. If you switch the lines back to original and the problem recurs you'll know the problem lies somewhere in the OE feed line between the engine compartment and the fuel in the tank.
If the problem doesn't recur you have nothing to worry about.

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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

Okay, I just pumped for 1:30 and didn't feel any excess pressure. I waited until it was night time so no cars pass bye and I can fully hear the alleged squeaky sounds. There were none. But just to be sure I took a video of this and I'm going to upload it somehow. It shows the pre-filter and the primer pump. Yes I run straight diesel #2. I appreciate your response. I will be reading and re-reading it again.

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