2009 TD4 won't start

it seems it's time to stick my nose in this section, a lad i work with changed a fuel filter today and now the engine refuses to start

we've tried drawing fuel through the filter with a sqeezy bulb primer and drawn diesel into a tub then reconnected the fuel line to the high pressure pump

we've tried the trick of switching the ignition on and off loads (but i think this trick is for the earlier TD4)

the final thing i've noticed is there's still air in the feed line from the filter to the high pressure pump after having pulled the covering back on the fuel line

i'm now really scratching my head trying to figure out how to prime the high pressure pump, i've done loads of googling looking for solutions but none come up with how to prime the pump (i believe the lift pump and high pressure pump are one unit)

the fuel line connections make it difficult to temporarily put a primer bulb into the circuit so that we can prime it as a sealed circuit to expel air (why oh why have landrover taken away some of the simplest simple things)

Thanks in advance for any help

p.s.
this model FL2 is an automatic so daren't try to tow start it plus it has the fob you plug into the dash and then press the brake and a Stop/Start button on the dash

Diesel engines
Vehicles with diesel engines are equipped with a system to prevent the fuel tank from emptying completely. When the fuel reaches a minimum level, the system will activate a reduced power mode (i.e. the engine will not run properly). This will be followed by the engine stopping in approximately 1.6 km
(1 mile).
This feature prevents the fuel system from running dry, which could cause damage to the vehicle. If the gauge indicates low fuel or the warning indicator illuminates, the fuel tank should be refuelled as soon as possible at the next filling station, with at least 4 litres (0.9 gallons) of fuel.
If the system protection function has activated, the vehicle must firstly be refuelled, then restarted using the following procedure:
1. With the brake pedal pressed, press and hold the engine START/STOP button and crank the engine for five seconds.
2. Release the START/STOP button.
3. With the brake pedal pressed, press and release the START/STOP button to crank the engine. The engine should start within approximately five seconds.
Note: If the engine does not start, pause for ten seconds with the ignition in convenience mode, before repeating the procedure from the beginning.

Note: If the vehicle does run out of fuel, a minimum of 4 litres (0.8 gallons) will be required to restart the engine. The vehicle will need to be driven 1.6-5 km (1-3 miles) in order to reset the engine management and monitoring systems.

That's all from the handbook.

Hope it helps.

Thanks for your response, much appreciated although that wasn't the problem as such as we had in excess of a 1/4 tank of fuel

the filter had been changed with minimal priming of it, almost dry

so as soon as the engine initially fired up it used the little fuel in the high pressure injection pump and then hit air and refused to draw anymore fuel through and just sat there playing with the air trapped between the filter and pump even though i personally (after it had died) primed the filter

eventually today i unclipped the fuel line to the pump and primed the pump directly

it fired up almost straight away

now i've no idea what technical stuff you know about these motors but the fuel pressure on the rail averages 250bar on tickover and goes way higher than that as soon as you rev it we had the genuine diagnostics on it which has educated me a little (never used one before) and gave me the rail pressure readout as it fluctuated (2.4bar when engine switched off) the guys i'm working for will be teaching me to use that, that i'll be making sure of

also the oil filter is an absolute ballache to get at and get a spanner on (27mm in case you're wondering) and required me to disconnect one of the turbo/intercooler hoses to get at it

anyway to finalise, everybody is happy the damn thing is running again :crazy_driver:

27 mm ratchet head combination spanner required.

freelance said:

27 mm ratchet head combination spanner required.

Click to expand...

have you tried that spanner in the available space ?? i'm not sure a straight ratcheting combination spanner will fit

the length of my standard cranked combination spanner made it difficult to get in there but i needed the crank and length to get it on the head of the filter to undo it, plastic threaded head in an aluminium housing equalled the threads dragging for most of the way out

but thanks for the suggestion