1987 BJ74 - starting issue

[i4c4lo]

Went for a drive to Pescadero with my daughter to grab some artichoke bread sandwiches to be eaten at the beach.

Tried starting the rig and didn't want to start - it turns over but seems like or sounds like there wasn't any fuel. Gas tank is showing 1/4 tank. We walked to a gas station down the street, bought a two gallon fuel container and added almost two gallons to the truck - tried starting it again and same as above. Fuel gauge is above 1/4 tank line.

I unscrewed the fuel feed pump and pump it 2 or 3 times and diesel started to spill - I screwed it back on. Turn the key and it started right up. Drove it home and no issues at all.

Any thoughts on what happened and what I can do to avoid this?

Thank you.

 

[Waikato Willy]

My 1KZTE did this last week, randomly hard to start when warm or cold, bought a cheap "Facet" fuel pump(make sure you get a "pass through" pump) put this inline from the tank to the fuel filter and wired this into the glowplug circuit

when you glow it the fuel pump primes the diesel and starts first time everytime

beats mucking around with the primer plunger, had already replaced this and it was still dodgy-diesel bleeding back to the tank causing air in the lines

 

[i4c4lo]

@Waikato Willy thank you for sharing.

 

[roscoFJ73]

It sounds like your primer pump is leaking air if diesel is spilling out when you pump it. Replace it with the Bosch primer for a Mercedes and it will be fixed.
When air gets in, the fuel is running downhill back to the tank.
Common problem with diesels.

 

[roscoFJ73]

beats mucking around with the primer plunger, had already replaced this and it was still dodgy-diesel bleeding back to the tank causing air in the lines

You have an air leak somewhere else.

 

[Softride62]

or... maybe a clogged fuel tank. This happened on my BJ73, I thought it was air, water, the EDIC..then had the tank completely emptied and the tank filter /sock cleaned and done, never had a starting or stalling issue since. It wasn't much, but after 30 odd years there was enough gunk in there to limit the amount of fuel to getting to the engine...