Bleeding the diesel

[ericob]

So here is my stupid newbie move of the day. I forgot to turn my fuel valve on so I ended up starving the diesel engine. We were able to get a a tow back since we were not far from the dock. I got the manual out and started to bleed the system per the instructions. Several other sailors came over and we still could not get the engine to bleed off the air. We filled the fuel filter to the top and still could not get the sytem to bleed. As I was asking for recommendations for mechanincs one of the guys said he read somewhere about blowing through the fuel vent to try and pressurize the system, but he doubt it would work. I thought I might as well try it. I loosened the fuel filter to allow any air to escape and with a large huff and a puff I was able to hear the air and fuel coming out of the filter. We then tried to bleed the system again and it worked. None of the other guys had heard of this so I thought I would pass on the information.

[Freesail99]

I have a bleeder line coming off my main filter which is about 10 inches tall. The line bleeds into a can, which looks like it was put there in the early 80's to catch the fuel coming out of the bleeder line.

[badsanta]

Your vent is now clear! You have to crank your engine. It is imposable to bleed it manualy. Do a search for bleeding the system there is lots of info here.

[artbyjody]

Originally Posted by badsanta

Your vent is now clear! You have to crank your engine. It is imposable to bleed it manualy. Do a search for bleeding the system there is lots of info here.

OP: glad you got it to go. See relevant post here: http://www.sailnet.com/forums/318317-post.html