No, I haven't cracked the injector lines. Do I just loosen the top nut where each fuel line goes into the injectors? If so, how much? Do I do them all at once or one at a time?

 

Yup, try number 2 it was lucky for me Just loosen it a tiny bit and try to start it, it should spray fuel all over the place....Mark

 

Did it run at all on starting fluid. Did it fire and die or not fire at all?

Guardrail

 

Getting ready to go crack the injector lines. #2 is as good a choice as any I suppose. I could use a little good luck right now.

Guardrail~ The guy would undo the 3 wing nuts and spray a tiny shot of fluid into the air filter that feeds into the turbo. Then he'd put it back and tighten up the wing nuts again. When I would crank it the engine wouldn't actually start on the starting fluid but it did kind of speed up a little bit, for perhaps a second or two. It was only running on starting fuel fluid though, no diesel was being combusted. It reminded me of the way a toy car sounds when you pull the rip cord. It was such a softer sound than the way it normally runs.

 

The nuts on the injector lines were impossible to get a socket on, and difficult to get a wrench on. I went with a 17mm crow's foot flare nut socket and it did the job quick as a finger snap. A quarter turn on #2, cranked the starter for about 5 seconds and went to check. maybe368, just like you said, I got fuel. I tightened it up, cranked, and it almost started. Then I went and undid ALL of them a quarter turn and cranked it for 2 seconds. There was fuel coming out of ALL of them. I tightened 'em back up and BINGO. It started up just fine. Then engine sounds great too!

 

Great to hear.

Guardrail

 

Woo Hoo, now go find your air leak...Mark

 

Actually, I think the original problem was just plain running out of fuel. Bleeding the rack is normally the first attempt at restart. Sometimes you can get away with a little fuel in the air filter (Gas, carb cleaner, fuel-dry, or almost anything that'll burn) to get it going. That trick is a bit dangerous and to be used when you have to get it underway to get it off the highway and you don't have any wrenches.

 

Thank you everyone for all the help. This site rocks! If I need parts I'll be sure to support the sponsors of this site. Now I just need to put my FSS plunger back in so I can shut it off with the key again.

 

If the guy would have pulled the elbow off the turbo and shot some ether in while you cranked, chances are he could have run it on the ether and got it primed on through. That's SOP on dad's (11,000 hour) td-8 with the 4bt when it's run out of fuel. Had to do it once on my truck too, but you need to be sure to unhook the grid heaters if it's cold out.
I am leaning toward agreeing with you on that. He must have the optional fuel gauge that reads way high, instead of the standard that reads way low.

 

you should try the cold chisel and hammer on the FSS, you can have it out and back together in less time than just taking that stuff off the engine.

If you plan to turn up your pump then it might be worth doing the plunger repair that is in the sticky before putting it back together. the rubber tip on the plunger will tear with the higher fuel flow, especially on an old plunger, the repair works well and is a good thing to do, even on a brand new plunger. Also you can get a new FSS for a VW diesel for $10, its the same thing as ours and worth having a couple spares kicking around for when a problem comes up.

On the starting fluid, I was taught to spray it while the engine is cranking. I agree that if it was sprayed while cranking that it probably would have got it to fire and get you going.

One last thing, some people end up with filter problems after running out of fuel, might be a good idea to have a spare on hand if your filter hasnt been changed lately.