3B fuel filter swap (1 Viewer)

[Delancy]

There's air entering the system somewhere in the vicinity of the fuel filter, but I can't locate.

Can build enough pressure to turn over, not by pumping at the filter though.

Kinda clueless, but tired of jacking with.....

 

[roscoFJ73]

This pump you speak of is located on the 3B block, right?

On a VM, it's on top the fuel filter, itself, and I can't figure out where the bleed this POS between.

Clues?

I think these are the same as the 1HZ/1HD T filter heads and primer. There is no bleeder on them.
The injection pump should be still full of fuel up to the injectors. So you only need to get rid of any air in the system by pushing it through the pump and out the injectors with the engine running. After changing the filter on my 1HZ, it limps along on 3-4 cylinders for a 20 seconds and then runs smooth as the air disappears. It helps if you pump the primer as the engine is running.

If you are having ongoing problems, you may not have the seal on top of the filter on correctly, it happens a bit.
Or your primer maybe worn out. It should draw fuel from the tank in under 30 pumps if the fuel lines are empty.

 

[Dieseler]

If there is a wet appearance around the primer pump plunger when you release it and pump it would be the seal on the pump this is a common problem with these primers when the seal fails it allows air to enter the system.

 

[roscoFJ73]

To get it going you could put some fuel in a container and elevate it and let gravity do the trick. Once running ,you should be able to reconnect it without too much air getting in. Then the engine should suck enough through to keep running, unless the primer is leaking so bad it lets air in overnight.

 

[Delancy]

It's not building pressure and can't find the source of leak.

See no diesel fuel anywhere and can't hear any air, but not going to spend a lot more time locating, since pulling the engine, anyway.

Long story short.

Bought as a non-runner with intentions of swapping from day one, but felt compelled to get it going. Lots of electrical gremlins in the 12V parallel system, one of which I overlooked, after getting it going and embarking on a twenty mile trip.

There was a POS lead on the the PS battery terminal that was loose, unbeknownst to me, that arced on the side of the fuel filter. Once I figured this out, temp plugged, drove it back and parked it, where its sat until this weekend.

Guessing enough air has entered the line to have possibly allowed rot to do in sonething I'm not seeing, or maybe even have plugged.

I can get enough fuel in to start and run for a minute at low RPMs, then it starves and dies.

Considering the condition of all my projects, I should invest in a rollback.....that's NOT a Ford.

 

[lostmarbles]

This pump you speak of is located on the 3B block, right?
On a VM, it's on top the fuel filter, itself, and I can't figure out where the bleed this POS between.
Clues?

Having a little air trapped in a fuel line or filter prior to cranking is really only a problem on those diesels (such as my 1979 BJ40) that don't have any "fuel-return plumbing" back to the fuel tank. So this is where most of the confusion on this topic arises in my opinion.

For instance, most more-recent diesels (and ALL of those that use rotary/distributor style injection pumps as far as I'm aware) have this return line (to dump the air back in the tank rather than feed it to the IP) so with these engines you can run them completely out of fuel and restart them again by simply refilling the tank and cranking away (provided you've got a good battery and starter).

(On the other hand, with my diesel, just one small slug of air left in a fuel line will, once it's reached the IP, usually completely stop the IP from delivering further fuel until a bleeding operation is completed.

So ....anyway .....

Can't you find your bleed nipples Delancy?

If it's a BJ42 you have there, then you'd have the same fuel system as me (and I could post some photos advice to maybe help you) but I can't see any details of your vehicle in either your post or signature line...

(Another way of showing us what you have there is to post photos.)

 

[lostmarbles]

It's not building pressure and can't find the source of leak.....

Just read your latest post.

My primer won't build pressure if I have any leak in the "below atmospheric pressure sections" of my fuel lines.

Leaks in this area of a fuel system are very hard to find because they suck in air silently and don't weep diesel at all.



PS. The method I like to use to find such leaks is to slightly pressurise my fuel tank while "bunches of facial tissues" are wrapped around suspect areas of the fuel lines. When I find tissues damp with diesel ... I know I've found my leak.

 

[Delancy]

This is on a Portguese spec BJ73, so a VM250 engine, although fuel lines from the tank to filter are the same as an 3B'd BJ.....from the filter to the engine, they're not and what little info I can find online is in an Eastern European language I no habla.

At this point, the only benefit to finding and fixing is solely to appease the voices in my head, because it's all getting yanked out and swapped, anyway.

I just wanted to drive one more time before the surgery.....and fix just to say that I could.

Take one more stab at sometime this week, I'm sure....

 

[nuclearbeef]

It's not building pressure and can't find the source of leak.

or maybe even have plugged.

I can get enough fuel in to start and run for a minute at low RPMs, then it starves and dies.

I was experiencing nearly identical symptoms. Wound up being my fuel pick-up tube in the tank. Trash had plugged the end and was causing fuel starvation.

Try disconnecting the fuel line as close to the tank as possible and blowing compressed air back into the tank. I did this at the water separator. My fuel line held 80 psi and only slowly bubbled air into the tank. !!!Don't remove the air hose while the fuel line is still pressurized or you will be engulfed in a cloud of diesel mist!!! (ask me how I know)

I wound up dropping the tank, cutting a hole in it and removing as much sediment as possible. When I blew compressed air back down the pick-up, a slug of trash fired out the bottom end of the tube. Maybe if you hook up air closer to the tank than I did, you can clear the pick-up whiteout dropping the tank.

JW