OK, so I'm an idiot... help!

Pulled a bonehead move and ran out of gas. I put almost 5 gals into the tank and opened the fuel filter and got as much diesel in as I could (not much as it mostly spilled) and it still will not start. Fuses are OK. What to do next? Could the pump be damaged?

You may need to bleed the air from the injector lines and injectors.

Air will in fact damage a TDI injection pump. Air cannot lubricate the low stage pump which draws fuel into and compresses it for the high stage plunger. This is also the pump that circulates all the fuel around the fuel system...

Always fill the filter before attempting a start!

How to get the car running:

-Fill the fuel filter
-Get a miti-vac
-Remove the return line OFF the injection pump (rubber hose/clamp)
-Plug the rubber hose (philips screw driver)
-Using the Miti-Vac, suction the pump outlet untill fuel (no air) comes out (takes a few minutes)
-Re-install the fuel line
-Get a 17mm box end wrench
-Loosen (don't remove) ONLY the #3 (big injector) fitting at the injector itself, once loose a 1/4 turn from tight is all you need.
-Place rag over the fuel line

Get a second person for the following:
-DO NOT touch the gas pedal for any of the following sequences!!!
-Crank motor until fuel squirts upward from the loose fitting (3-4 seconds of cranking)
-WHILE THE ENGINE IS CRANKING, retighten the fitting
*AND*
-KEEP CRANKING until the engine runs "smooothly" on it's own at steady and stable idle rpms (5-10 seconds maximum).

-If the engine does not run on it's own (without starter assist) in 15 seconds repeat the purge procedure.
-It could take a minute for the engine to purge the rest of the air from the system so be patient once it's running.
-Don't do this again

DB

maybe its because u ran gas in the car Do what DB said

You made 2 mistakes here!
First running GAS in a Diesel engine.......
2nd running it too low......

Thanks for the advice. Just to clarify, I didn't run standard gas in the car, only diesel. The mistake was putting the word "gas" in my post, I meant diesel. Sorry.

I knew that thats why i had the winky face

Just curious why the number 3 injector? I know working at the DOT the diesel engines we have there we purges the furtherest injector and work our way to the closest, but the same procedure as you said. Just wondering why that injector? Thanks

k45 said:

Just curious why the number 3 injector? I know working at the DOT the diesel engines we have there we purges the furtherest injector and work our way to the closest, but the same procedure as you said. Just wondering why that injector? Thanks

Click to expand...

Very good question!

The TDI has 4 injectors, 3 dummy injectors and 1 smart injector with a "Needle lift sensor". The ECU only monitors the #3 as a verification of fuel being pumped to the injectors. If the #3 injector's "Needle Lift sensor" (G80) does not get lift within 2-3 seconds of cranking the ECU closes the "fuel shut-off selenoid" (N109) as a protection agains a fuel leak and fire hazard also this acts to prevent "flooding" and resulting hydro-lock of the other 3 clyinders since the ECU has no verification of injection at those other three points.



By opening the #3 injector this quickens the purge of air, resulting in the fuel-shutoff selenoid remaining open thus resulting in an automatic purge of the #1, #2 and #4 injector lines and injector bodies.

Failure to open just the #3 injector results in multiple attempts to start due to the closing of the N109 thus the purging of the air trapped in the #3 injector line and injector body.

DB

Thanks a ton the diesels we worked with had no sensors in the injectors so that makes complete sense thanks for the info.