Ran empty, now won't start. Help!

yes, i know, total nube move on my part. don't flame me, i'm already bummed out. but i had the option of getting more diesel first, or picking up the pizza first, and maaaan, i was hungry!

it was starting to hesitate a little when i stopped it but it was still running. it would not restart however. i pushed it to the gas station across the street and put in more fuel. i cranked it over a ton and it almost caught, then when back to not catching at all. i'm being careful not to overheat the starter motor.

is there something i can do to prime the pump? or to otherwise bleed the line? I had a buddy with a cummins dodge and he had to have his fuel pump replaced when his truck ran dry... please tell me that's not the same with the tdi.

96 tdi passat. thanks for any help. i have to get a ride back to town in the morning to try to get it started!

I did the same thing to my 2000 Golf once, though it didn't involve pizza, it was even more boneheaded then that.
It was resolved by cracking open (the connection to injector 3 (just a little bit) it looks different to all the rest) and cranking till fuel started to bubble out, then close it back up and crank a little more.
You may need to do all four injectors.

edit:
An open ended 17mm wrench is the hammer of choice in this case.

Well, you certainly weren't doing your injection pump any favors by cranking it while it's dry or low on fuel (which acts as a lubricant)...

You really should use some type of vacuum device (MityVac or Pela) to pull up fuel at least through the filter... if you can manage to pull it through the overflow circuit of the pump, so much better...

After that, you'll still have air in the high-pressure injection lines... you'll need to loosen a couple of the coupling nuts at the top of the injectors, put rags around the joints, and crank the engine a bit - until fuel spurts out... then quickly close the joints while a friend keeps on cranking... hopefully it will start ...

Yuri.

Do you see fuel/bubbles in the clear (sort of, it's probably pretty yellow by now) plastic line coming off the fuel filter? If so you've got fuel to the engine. Check the How To's and search in the B-4 forums for how to change a fuel filter and bleed the system. Follow that procedure. If it doesn't work, the filter is probably plugged and you'll need to replace it.

How was the pizza - bullets first food second.

hey all!

by the time i got to it, the pizza tasted pretty damn good, even as my fingers smelt a bit of diesel.

my fuel lines have all been replaced with black lines, so i can't see any bubbles. but i can try pulling the line somewhere and see what's coming out during a crank.

there's a little stuttering so i think there's probably enough fuel to lube the pump but not enough to start the motor, or too much air to really get the pump pressure going.

the previous owner installed a wvo system, including a low-pressure pump back by the tank. so in theory i could let that run off the battery for a while, until fuel goes through the return line. i suspect this is already happening, and that the air problem is somewhere in the pump or injectors, if it's possible for those to get those airlocked somehow.

slamorte@gmail.com said:

hey all!

by the time i got to it, the pizza tasted pretty damn good, even as my fingers smelt a bit of diesel.

my fuel lines have all been replaced with black lines, so i can't see any bubbles. but i can try pulling the line somewhere and see what's coming out during a crank.

there's a little stuttering so i think there's probably enough fuel to lube the pump but not enough to start the motor, or too much air to really get the pump pressure going.

the previous owner installed a wvo system, including a low-pressure pump back by the tank. so in theory i could let that run off the battery for a while, until fuel goes through the return line. i suspect this is already happening, and that the air problem is somewhere in the pump or injectors, if it's possible for those to get those airlocked somehow.

Click to expand...

Just went through all this stuff.

When you run out of fuel it drains everything including your fuel filter.

Easiest way is to Obviously get a mityvac.

Incase thats not an option. you need to fill up your fuel filter (not by cranking it) And once thats full you have about 5 minutes of cranking to get everything primed again.

If you can get a mityvac. just pull off your last line on your fule injectors. and pump till it pulls fuel through. (takes about 30 secs)

no need for "cracking theM" or any of that other BS.

40k miles on WVO before i bought it, and i've been running b99 until these last two tanks, where i switched to "b0" (dinodiesel).

no problems at all for me prior to running it dry. i *could* have sucked some crap up from the tank i suppose. but other than that it seems to be an air in the line problem.

so i got it running again but i am having trouble starting. at best, it takes three or four tries to start; before i ran it dry it starting on the first try every time. at worst, i've got to pull the return line and bleed the air out of the system again.

could it be an air leak in the line? or residual air and a blocked return line? it's certainly a problem with air. when i pull the return line and crank the motor, i get a lot of air, then foamy fuel, then it runs clear. when i reconnect the bleed line and crank it again, it will then start on the second or third try.

i hope it clear sup on it's own...

it is possible there's been damage to the injection pump. Your old bud who killed his when he ran dry was running a pump much less tolerant to lack of fuel, but all that cranking on air was definitely hard on the pump you have.

Back in the old days, just running dry was death to the IP and injectors.

Sounds like a good time to change the fuel filter. There is a good howto on this forum. Your injectors and pump are more than likely fine. Make sure you prime the new filter

it's down to two cranks to start now. so i think it's residual air in the line or filters. i hope.

what's really helped this process is that the WVO conversion included a low-pressure pump way back by the tank. so i don't need a vacuum pump to clear the line, i just need to switch on the pump and it fills the line from the rear.

slamorte@gmail.com said:

so i don't need a vacuum pump to clear the line, i just need to switch on the pump and it fills the line from the rear.

Click to expand...

You need to turn on the ignition in order to get the fuel cutoff solenoid activated. And it won't stay on that long, so you might just want to jumper it to the battery for a little while the electric pump is operating.