Ran out of diesel..How do i restart?

C7 cat engines use a hydraulic unit injection system that uses high pressure oil (up to 4000 psi) to actuate the injectors. if the high pressure pump fails the engine will not run also if the engine runs low on oil and the oil pump stars sucking air the engine will not run so check the oil level. usually a problem with the high pressure oil system will bring on a check engine light and log a fault
if your unit has a primer pump the posts about pumping until it is hard to pump are correct. if it does not prime there are two check valves in the base of the primer pump that have been known to fail. if it does not have a primer I would get one installed. these engines usually start fairy quick once they get fuel pressure

this advise may or may not be worth what you pay for it

I think it's important to repeat:

USING ETHER IN A DIESEL ENGINE CAN LEAD TO AN EXPLOSION!.

Listen to Brett Wolfe, he knows CAT engines..if you don't have a manual pump, now would be a good time to buy and install one.....Dennis

I drove commercial trucks for over 40 years and over 2.5 million miles. Have primed cats with pump however with newer electronic engines they are not usually on there. Salesmen like to tell newbies to dump out filters because of water, not usually necessary. If you do take filter off to check for water just look into filter with a flash light and you will see puddle of water in the bottom if any. If water change filter, fill new filter with fuel, then spin on. Fuel filter should be good from service to service. As said any time filter changed always fill with fuel before replacing. most fuel stops these days are pumping enough diesel that you won't get water after going thru there filters. Also when storing motorhomes, gas or diesel leave fuel tank full to prevent condensation build up in tank. Good luck.

If you have a priming pump, use the pump until it is very very hard to move, now take the fuel lines going to the injectors and loosen the nuts that hold them, do not disconnect the lines, half a twist is more than enough, now have a second person crank the engine until fuel starts spraying at the injector connections, now start tightening the nuts in the firing order, most 6 cylinder engines fire in 1-5-3-6-2-4 with 1 being at the front or where the water pump is.

Be careful not to twist the fuel lines and put a crimp on them when loosening or tightening the nuts, the engine will fire with 3 lines tightened and when the fourth one tightens it lights up, tighten the last two and let it idle a minute and then rev it slowly until it is running smooth, do not over rev do it slowly.

Warning make sure that the tools you use are the correct size for the nuts, you can do more damage with the wrong tools, I have started a lot of Diesel engines from little lawn mowers to big ship monsters.

If you are unsure or do not have the correct tools get a mechanic to do this, do not use ether an explosion can occur with a lot of damage.

navegator

It is/was NOT a Caterpillar Corp decision to install/not install the primer pump.

That was a decision made by the chassis/coach maker. And, sadly, often the bean counters overruled the engineers and techs.

The manual primer pump and its fit on the Caterpillar secondary fuel filter housing is extremely universal. I have seen them on marine engine, off-road equipment as well as on highway equipment. All the same pump.

I would NOT have a Caterpillar engine without the manual primer pump. The good news is that all that is involved is removing the two bolts that hold the blockoff plate and installing the pump with new bolts and gasket.

Unless you have an idea of what you are doing - CALL A DIESEL MECHANIC. - trust me and the other than have made the same suggestion spend the money save the DAMAGE - Put the batteries on charge and make the call.

This is one of the two main reasons the Diesel Engine has never made it big in the US auto market.

BOL,

C7s didn't come with the fuel pump primer. The engine before it did. Same basic engine. I guess they figured they could save a few bucks.
There is block off plate held by two screws. The pump was availble from Cat.

From a prior thread (http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28628438/gotomsg/28628646.cfm#28628646 he has a Caterpillar engine WITH MANUAL PRIMER PUMP.

Assuming he now has fuel in the tank, I would sure start by giving that manual pump 200 or so pumps. If that doesn't prime it because of the 30+ feet of AIR in the fuel line from tank to primary filter, then he will need to pressurize the tank (like to 2 PSI) with someone else cracking open the outlet to the primary filter. When air purged from the line, the manual pump WILL prime it just fine.

Moral of the story, don't run out of diesel-- it is a lot of extra work and is VERY HARD ON THE INJECTION SYSTEM. On all diesels, fuel is used to cool and lubricate the head and injection system. When near the bottom of the tank, the fuel in the tank will be hotter and hotter, as it recirculates. NOT a good idea to run low!

time_to_go_now wrote:
The first time I changed the fuel filter, I put it back on dry. I could not get the air out of the system. I cranked for hours. Turned the key on then off a million times. It would just crank.

I found a tip about pressurizing the fuel tank. I cut a scrap block of wood to cover the fuel filler opening. Glued a little piece of inner tube to the bottom. Drilled a 1/4" hole through the block. I then held the block over the filler opening and used my compressor with a blow gun attachment to put air in the tank through the 1/4" hold drilled into the piece of wood. Just a couple squirts of air. Maybe 10 psi. Then I covered the hole with my finger while holding the piece of wood tightly to the fuel opening. I had my wife crank the engine over. Started within about 10 seconds.

Now I always pre-fill my fuel filter with Seafoam!

Good luck.

I driled a hole in my cap and instaled a vale stem the first time i ran out of fuel and had to call road service only used it once after that worked great

Ether BAD.

Check the side of your engine for something that looks like this...




You turn the round handle part to the left...it can then be pulled up. That round thingy is attached to a shaft that will "pump" your fuel system. Pump until it gets hard...close...turn righty-tighty.

Then try to start.


EDIT: NOT possible on ALL diesel...you may have to crack open the fuel lines going into injectors...crank to bleed...tighten fuel lines back up.