Diesel Won't Start After Filter Change

[phorvati]

Secondary fuel filter on 4-108 westerbeke 40 has two gaskets and an o-ring. The kit came with thee gaskets. i thought I needed to install all there, and doubled up on the top one. Don't ask why i did that.
As it turns out, that completely blocked the forward flow of fuel and the engine could not start. i was bleeding the fuel line fine but fuel was coming in via return line...
I went through bleeding procedure, got fuel at lower and upper bleeding nipple on the injection pump, got all the air bubbles out, loosened injector connector, got the squirts there, but engine would crank and crank and would not run. I even took the injector off and confirmed i had spray pattern. I guess i was filling the Injection pump enough to see a spray pattern but i wasnt cranking long enough to see spray pattern stop after injection pump was empty.
It was weeks later when i finally took the outlet fuel hose of the primary fuel filter and realized there is no fuel coming out as I was hand priming the pump, that I realized something was blocking the flow of fuel.
My conclusion....don't assume anything. This was probably the weirdest thing that happened to me but it was my first diesel engine and a first diesel re-build and assembly I did. So it was part of learning how this thing works.

[shamrock]

So, I changed the Racor filter, cleaned out the tub, Bled the line from the racor to the secondary, changed the secondary again, bled at the filter, bled at the injector pump, tried to start with no luck, unscrewed the fuel lines from the injectors, opened throttle all the way, cranked the engine and did not see any fuel spurting out of the injectors.

is it possible that because I neglected to change either filter this year, water or something got pushed through both filters and has no fouled my injector pump?

Is there anything else I should do before having it be rebuilt?

Thanks!

[skipmac]

I am assuming you mean you see no fuel coming out of the fuel lines where they connect to the injectors?

I ran into a similar problem when I changed filters in my boat first time. The Racor was 25 years old and after fighting it for hours and days finally replaced the Racor and figured out the old was was just not sealing.

If you have the tiniest air leak anywhere in the system you will suck air into the lines and will not crank.

Here's what I did to confirm the engine, injector pump, etc were OK and start isolating the problem.

Get a small, clean fuel jug, one gallon is enough. Fill it with fresh diesel at a gas station (not the marina just in case as dirty or contaminated fuel is more common at marinas). Get some new fuel hose (make sure it is clean, even flush a little fuel through it to be sure) and connect it to the engine bypassing the Racor and even the secondary and connect directly to the engine. If your's is like mine the Racor will feed a lift pump that feeds the secondary filter that feeds the injector pump.

Now fill the hose with fuel to make sure there's no air in the line drop the end of the hose into the fuel jug and crank. Do make sure that all the lines, fittings connections and bleed screws that are between the jug, the lift pump, filter injector pump and the engine are tight and not leaking. NOW crank and see what happens. If the engine fires then can be pretty sure the injector pump is not totally trashed.

[perchance]

Originally Posted by shamrock

I have a Universal 24 hp diesel with a Racor and then an engine mounted fuel filter, electric fuel pump. I noticed some difficult starting about a week ago and just changed the engine mounted filter. It was full of dirty water. I screwed on the new one, bled at the filter, then at the injectors with plety of diesel pouring out of both of the bleed screws. I tried to start and wound up cranking and cranking.

I read a couple of other threads here and some advise to fill the filter before installing? could that be it, even if fuel is getting to the injectors?

any thoughts are greatly appreciated!

Prefilling a fuel filter before installation is the quickest way of introducing dirt into your fuel system.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by perchance

Prefilling a fuel filter before installation is the quickest way of introducing dirt into your fuel system.

Well if you use dirty diesel, dirty container or pour it into a dirty housing.

[Lancerbye]

I came across a weird situation than had the same result a while back. I guy in the marina was having problems getting his engine to keep running. It would start after sitting for awhile then die and wouldn't restart unless it was left alone for awhile. We checked everything until we decided to go back to the initial repair which was the changing of the secondary fuel filter. The fuel filter was replaced with a cross referenced filter supplied by a reputable dealer. It turns out that sometimes cross referenced filters may not work on all engines. I had a replacement filter in my own kit which was of a different manufacturer so we decided what the hell, we had done everything else. The engine started and ran like a dream. I have worked on lots of different engines over the years but this was a new one on me.

[shamrock]

Lancerbye, good thought, thanks. this is a cross referenced secondary. I will try going putting on a universal brand. In my current situation there is air free diesel squirting several feet out of the bleed screw on the injector pump. I feel like that should rule out a problem with the filter??

I will try rinning a new hose directly to the pump with new diesel.

Thanks

[Blue Stocking]

In support of Lancerbye's caution, but for oil filters, don't trust a cross reference without checking the fit.
Frams oil filter for a Westerbeke W46 OEM filter does not work.

[Pete the Cat]

A possibility about how the water got past your Racor. I believe a ton of folks are running Racors (the 500 series) and they are not doing much because the folks at Parker changed the filter design several years ago so that it requires a separate rubber doughnut seal on the bottom with the new filter elements. This is available free from them, but does not come with the filters and there has been no other notification that I know of. Otherwise they filter nothing. It was not immediately obvious and I do not remember how I came to know this, but I have seen this problem a couple times.

[donradcliffe]

Once you have verified that you have clean airless fuel going into the injector pump (catch some in a glass and hold it up to the light to make sure there are no water drops under the fuel), its time for phase II.

Shut off the water inlet, crack the fuel lines to the injectors at each injector, advance the throttle all the way and crank the engine in 15 second bursts for a total of over a minute. You should see spurts of fuel leaking out at the injectors. If you can, make sure that it is not fuel/water. If good fuel is coming out at the injectors, tighten up the fuel lines and it should start (It helps to have a battery charger on). If it starts and runs rough, crack each injector line while it is running.

If it doesn't start to fire, its time to give the air intake a shot of WD-40. You can also try this with the injector lines cracked if you don't see any fuel spurting out.

[JusDreaming]

has anyone mentioned glow plug problem?

[DSDman]

I had similar problem, come to find out the shut off cable from the cockpit was not completely seating when you returned it to the run position. I had to physically go to the injector pump and make sure it was completely seated. if it was up just a little, no fuel. As soon as I figured this out she started right up. I never fixed it though... sort of a built in anti theft device now.

[charliehows]

my 2 bobs worth, changed my filter a while ago, couple of days later the engine conked (at the worst possible moment of course), I replaced the tank taps (cos they'd already let me down once and they were 30 years old) bled her and off i went . Couple of days later she conked again, i happened to run my handunder the filter and noticed it was damp with diesel, pulled it out and on careful inspection it turns out i hadnt been careful enough about making sure it had seated on the o-ring when i first fitted it. Tiny little air leak is all it takes. Had no problem since. Hope you solve your problem as cheaply, cheers

[shamrock]

So I have a mechanic taking a look later this week and after hearing the history said the first thing he wants to do is check the pressure of the electric fuel pump. He commented that some are designed to operate at up to 30 PSI and if they don't produce that pressure, fuel won't make it past the injector pump.

[shakey doug]

The std lift pump feeds the injection pump at around 6 psi +/- 30 psi is automotive or some common rail diesel fuel feed pressure to hp pump.Do you have the stop lever in the RUN position?