Out of Fuel-Won't Fire Up

Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

1999 Jetta Tdi. 62xxx miles. It has run out of fuel twice in the past two years. Both times (including right NOW) it will not start. Engine cranks no fire. First time was towed to dealer and they said they primed the pump. Second time is NOW and it is in the street and will not start.

Service writer at another dealer says priming should not be necessary. He says it should start. I dont believe it.

Does the fuel system need to be primed? Is this normal?

Can anyone tell me exactly what to do so I can drive to work without having to pay a $100.00 tow bill and service repair?

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

you definitly need to prime the fuel filte!!

this will in turn feed fuel to the pump and BAM! you up and running.
i did the same thing except i was 10 feet from the fuel pump,

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

You can do it the hard way: Crank until it starts. Crank for 15 seconds, let it rest for 15, and so on. If you're lucky, it'll start before the battery dies.

You can speed the process by filling the fuel filter with diesel fuel or an additive.

You can speed it even more by loosening a couple of the injector fittings a couple of turns, and then shutting off the engine the instant it shows signs of "firing" and re-tightening the fittings.

Better yet: Don't let it run out of fuel!

-mickey

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

On the fuel filter there is a plastic fitting with a T and two hoses (Assuming you know where the fuel filter is). Pull off the T and pour the fuel in there. Then put the T back on. The filter is between the washer fluid and coolant reservoirs. Follow the hoses from under the engine cover (that clear one) to find it. It might be easiest to use a fuel additive than straight fuel since it comes in a bottle.

I could give you crap for doing this but our comrades have already taken care of that. I would point out that noone really told you how to do it.

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Assuming you have another vehicle:

1. go to autoparts store and purchase a hand vacuum pump.
2. detach the fuel return line from the fuel pump at the fuel filter.
3. attach vacuum pump to the return line of the fuel pump. On my 2001, of the two lines that go from the fuel filter to the pump, this is the one that is dark.
4. hand pump until you see fuel coming into the line.
5. reattach the return line to the fuel filter.
6. start and enjoy.

The procedure's in the Bentley manual if I've mis-remembered it.

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Now I remember..this is what I did. Started right up.

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Thanks to those who offered up details and I would like to consider the dog-pile comments as my initiation as a new member. Thanks that was fun. I need to go fire up some precious fossil remains and their by-products.

I must have cranked it 15 secs periodically 10 times. That is why I thought it should have started too. Why yurz and not mine?

I have a vac pump and this method sounds simple.

As others I have areas of expertise. I specialize in automotive and truck suspensions, alignment, UHP tire changers, wheel balancing, tire and wheel diagnostics and brake service equipment...along with fleeting moments of stupidity.

Hope I can return the favor some time.

[ May 02, 2002, 23:17: Message edited by: dave the hunterman ]

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Put some fuel in the tank and in the fuel filter. Crank away until it fires up. Let it idle in place for a few minutes. The system is self priming, but cranking without fuel is bad for the pump, stop running the car out of fuel!

Brian

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Good luck, Dave... running out of fuel and all that cranking can't be doing the injection pump any good.

And... there's supposed to be a loud chime that goes off when the fuel level gets low. You might want to have yours checked out. It's obviously not working.

-Mel

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Dave,

You did not get dog-piled... I thought people were remarkably restrained in their response to somebody who has managed to run their car out of fuel TWICE!

You wanna see some dog piles, read some more threads... topics like K&N airfilters, Amsoil vs. Delvac 1, etc.

In the mean time, remind me not to go flying or boating with you

Good luck.

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

It takes more than just a few 15 second cranking sessions to re-prime a TDI once the lines have been sucked dry. You'll be cranking until the cows come home. While I think the dangers of dry cranking, in terms of pump damage, are overstated, it certainly can't help the poor thing.

I vote for the Mi-T-Vac method, followed by loosening a couple of injector line fittings until the engine fires on the other two cylinders. Then instantly shut down the engine and re-tighten the fittings. That saves a lot of cranking.

-mickey

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

In the mean time, remind me not to go flying or boating with you

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Especially flying. You can't paddle fast enough to keep an airplane in the air.

-mickey

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

Mickey, I thought I would chime in before SkyPup and tell you some guy pedaled his way across the English Channel a few years back in an ultra-lite pedal powered aircraft.

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

The "Gossamer Condor." But he PEDALLED. He didn't "paddle." You can't row fast enough to remain airborne.

-mickey

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

My bad...it was the "Gossamer Albatross." The Condor was the one that they used to win a million dollar prize for negotiating a course around a big parking lot.

The same bicycle racer pedalled both planes, though. Steve Something-or-other....

-mickey

Re: Out of Fuel-Won\'t Fire Up

I found a way to reprime the pump, on my old 82 pickup, some ten years ago. I had ran out of fuel on the freeway offramp, and I filled the filter with motor oil to drive it to the station, ran bad but ran, had to push it the last bit. Would not restart after filling, so I simply removed the clear line to the pump, and rolled up a newspaper and placed it in the fuel tank filler and breathed into the fuel tank inlet (you could hear the tank pop), untll fuel ran out of the line, started right up. I wouldnot try the oil trick on any TDI, but it did't hurt the truck, ran for over 100K, 200K+ total, after that. I had always heard about diesels running away when the oil would foam into the PCV system, so I figured it would run on oil and tried it, a lot less pushing.
Don't try this at home.
Regards
CB&Stoker