"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Richard Casady" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Mar 2009 09:28:37 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:

he procedure we used was like this:

One guy cranked the engine while the other slightly loosened the fuel
line
nut until fuel started squirting out. You could see the air bubbling out
as
well. While still cranking the engine, we'd re-tightened the nut, then
we'd move on to the next cylinder. Like I said, it took several times
on
each line to get all the air out so the engine would stay running. In
fact, we killed the battery and had to take a break while recharging it
halfway through the process.

There may be an easier way, but neither of us were diesel experts. It
worked though.

I have a Mercedes Unimog. When I ran it out of fuel and got air in the
lines, I cranked it till it started. About one minute of cranking and
it started and ran bad. Gradually it smoothed out as one cylinder
after another acquired an air free line.

Casady


Apparently some diesels will self purge and prime, but not all. The Volvo
engines I had in the Navigator supposedly would self prime and purge but I
never tried, other than restarting after a fuel filter change.

Others can be a bear to purge and get running again. Best bet is just
don't run them out of fuel.

Eisboch

I just remembered the Ford F-350 diesel PU I had. When it broke down on
the road and they had to replace the high pressure oil pump (pumps fuel to
and through the injectors) it took quite a bit of cranking to get it
running again. The first attempt ran the batteries down (there were two in
that truck) and they had to put a big starting charger on it to keep trying.
I would think that trucks designed for weekend warriors would be self
purging, but I guess not.

Eisboch