580K - bleeding fuel line after fuel filter change

Hi there - i just changed out my fuel filters and now my machine won't start/idle because it is not getting any gas. The service manual (attached) says to crack a couple of nuts and bleed the air out the lines using the primer. Now the manual doesn't match my machine 100% so i'm not sure 100% if I'm cracking the right nuts. Also, while I could hear air come out of the area where a opened the nut, it didn't feel like I was pushing any gas out when i used the primer. Now its entirely possible the primer isn't working but I have a couple of questions

1) are the nuts indicated in the diagram the correct nuts to loosen when bleeding the air
2) any other suggestions to get gas to the engine ?
3) any other links in this forum with similar issue i can look at (searched but didn't find any)

Thx in advance
Ron


Here is the reference manual I've been using

You need to loosen the nuts on the fuel injectors. They are on the other side of the motor.
You referred to GAS in your post.
You didn't put gasoline in the fuel tank did you ?

Thanks T - By gas i mean diesel.....

wrt the fuel injectors are you talking about the 2 nuts in this picture ?

Thx
Ron

Yes, there are a total of 4 of them. Just crack them, do not loosen completely, turn the engine over until the bubbles stop.

You have to roll the engine over to get the primer pump to work. If it's in the wrong position the lever will not pump fuel. The screw you should be opening is the upper one at the fuel filters should use a 10mm wrench. Don't open the screw at the injection pump. Get fuel up to the bleed screw at the filter. Once you do tighten it then crack a couple injector lines and start cranking it over. Once you see fuel spitting out the lines close them and start the machine.

+1 on whatgggraham say’s you should feel a little resistance on the primer.

Thanks guys - just to confirm the bleed screw Graham is referring to is screw #1 in my diagram ?

If so this is what i've observed

1. Loosened screw #1. Saw some bubbles come out
2. Also loosened screw #2. Saw some bubbles come out
3. Tried using the primer - felt no resistance and didn't see any more gas or bubbles come out of screw #1 or screw #2
4. Tighten screw #1 & #2
5. Cracked the 4 injectors nuts on the other side - maybe a 1/4 turn - saw some bubbles and fuel come out (just a bit)
6. Tried using primer - saw no further fuel or bubbles come out - no resistance on the primer
7. Turned over the engine - no further fuel or bubbles coming out of any of the 4 injectors
8. Cracked open one injector all the way (see 2nd diagram) just so i could see if any fuel would spit out
9. No fuel would come out using primer OR cranking engine.
10. tightened all the injectors (4) and cranked engine. Nothing.

I guess the part that isn't jiving with your suggestions is feeling some resistance on the primer.....possible a bad primer ??

Thx
Ron



just to see what happened i opened the injector all the way to see if any fuel would come out when cranking or priming - nothing came out when priming or cranking over engine

Did you fill the new filters with fuel before putting them on the machine? If not, I see alot of hand pumping in your future.

lol. As i was pumping away I was thinking exactly that and was going to ask. Thanks for pointing out what probably should have been obvious to me.

I was also going to ask to see if I should crack this nut to see if there even any fuel in the primer itself....

No, crack your screw #2 from above and pump until you get good clean fuel (with no bubbles) and close. Then crack open your screw #1 and pump until you get good clean fuel (with no bubbles) and close. Then crack open your injectors and turn engine over until you get good clean fuel and close. Should fire right up after that.

Okay - thx for the tip - and I'll fill the filters with some diesel first.....

Hey - Success!! Followed those steps and it fired right up as you said....thanks a ton for your help!

Ron

rdavison39 said:

Hey - Success!! Followed those steps and it fired right up as you said....thanks a ton for your help!

Ron

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Excellent!

rdavison39 said:

Okay - thx for the tip - and I'll fill the filters with some diesel first.....

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Always always always always, I’ll say it once more… ALWAYS fill any filter up before you try running your machine. Doesn’t matter if it’s fuel, oil, hydraulic, coolant, etc. you never want to start on a dry filter.

I've never prefilled a fuel filter or a oil filter that was horizontal. Un plug the fuel solenoid and turn engine over until the oil light goes out when changing oil filter. I've never had to bleed injectors after replacing fuel filters just loosen the bleed screw and pump until all the air is out. The couple times I've ran out of fuel over the yrs. I just loosen the bleed screw and pressurize the fuel tank with air once good fuel flow I pull the return line hose off until good fuel flow ( no air).

I change fuel filters all the time and never pre-fill them. I don't want unfiltered fuel going anywhere it shouldn't. Same for oil. We had this discussion on here before. I always come up with a plan for how I am going to prime any filter though.

I would never prefill a fuel filter especially on a common rail, you are just asking for problems only take one little piece of grit or dirt to cause a real headache.

gggraham said:

I would never prefill a fuel filter especially on a common rail, you are just asking for problems only take one little piece of grit or dirt to cause a real headache.

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I did have a customer who ran dirty muddy watery fuel through a 30 micron filter on the primary and another of the same filter on the secondary on a John Deere common rail. Of course I was in there changing the suction control valve but I got to see mud was coating everything inside. After fixing the rail problem the thing actually ran pretty good for as badly as it was treated.