Bleeding the fuel system... please help

I replaced the fuel filter today but I'm having problems bleeding the air from the system. I have loosened the valve on top of the fuel filter and have tried pumping the lever in the bottom right of the picture but this seems to have no effect. The lever feels limp with no resistance. Am I doing this wrong?

Nope, i had the same problem.
Turn over the engine on the starter and that will bleed the air through.
Do it 2 or 3 times without the engine starting then open the bleed on the top of the fuel filler, turn on the starter again. When you see fuel coming out of the bleed tighten the bolt.
Start the engine - sorted!

Daz

DISCOVERY1-DAZ said:

Nope, i had the same problem.
Turn over the engine on the starter and that will bleed the air through.
Do it 2 or 3 times without the engine starting then open the bleed on the top of the fuel filler, turn on the starter again. When you see fuel coming out of the bleed tighten the bolt.
Start the engine - sorted!

Daz

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If you're going to do it that way I'd sugest you take the fuel filter off and fill it with diesel, saves a lot of cranking on the starter.

Yep you're right it would!

Daz

Or turn the engine over manully till the internal pump lever comes of the cam allowing you to bleed it the way you tried
Dev

you should bleed it if possible with lever by hand on lift pump and slacken front banjo on injection pump 13mm socket till clear better than filter as ensures injection pump has as little air as possible ,they will eventually self bleed themelves but better to run as little air through pump as possible

Thanks everyone who has replied.

I filled filter with diesel and reattached. Then tried turning it over with bleed valve open and no diesel came out. Tried running the engine and it's it splutters and stalls.

slacken front banjo on injection pump 13mm socket till clear better than filter as ensures injection pump has as little air as possible ,they will eventually self bleed themelves but better to run as little air through pump as possible


Unfortunately you may as well have been speaking another language… I have no mechanical experience and don't have a clue what this means.

Right, lets start again. Re fill the filter with diesel and screw back on to housing. Undo bleed valve on top of housing, try pumping hand prime on lift pump, if no resistance is felt turn the engine over by about one revolution using a 27mm spanner on the crank pully bolt (DO NOT LEAVE THE SPANNER ON THE BOLT) try the lift pump hand prime again, you should be feeling a bit of action by now, keep pumping till diesel flows from bleed valve on top of filter housing, close the bleed valve.
Now hang at the starter till engine fires up and keep it at about 2000rpm for a minute or so, that should be job done.

When I had my Disco filling the new filter with diesel was always enough, never had to bleed it.
If it is starting but running roughly are you sure you have the filter on tight and the bleed screw done up? It could be drawing air in

Heavymetalmayhem said:

slacken front banjo on injection pump 13mm socket till clear better than filter as ensures injection pump has as little air as possible ,they will eventually self bleed themelves but better to run as little air through pump as possible


Unfortunately you may as well have been speaking another language… I have no mechanical experience and don't have a clue what this means.

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Follow the black pipe from the top of fuel filter housing (behind bleed screw)-where this meets the injection pump,THIS IS the banjo to undo and bleed

Also in your pic,that looks like an old britpart pump-if you change it git a delphi(only a few quid more).Has a screw on top ,with cleanable mesh screen underneath.
The lift pump needs to supply fuel quicker than the injec pump can use,for good performance.
I found britpart pump not very good at this.
Assuming no air leaks,the injec pump will do the lot,but performance is poor.

whatever you do, before leaving the job make sure your lift pump is working, a malfunction is easily masked when manually filling the filter and hoping for a self-bleeding

as a check, with an empty filter, if you open the bleed screw on the filter while the engine is running, after some 30 seconds to 1 minute instead of getting fuel out of the bleed screw, the engine gargles and stops

if the lift pump is dead, the injection pump sucks fuel from the tank through the decanter, the lift pump, and the filter ... it works but 1/ the engine is sluggish and 2/ it puts an heavy strain on the injection pump ... compare the price of a good Delphi lift pump and that of the injection pump

I have seen at least 5 Discos whose owners didn't notice their lift pump was long gone
it's funny how that engine can start rather easily then run (only a little slow in accelerations) while the new fuel filter stays empty, the little fuel drawn by the injection pump goes to the engine without entering the filter cartridge

All sorted now and everything is running nicely. Thanks again for the advice I would have been stuck without your help.

jyhelle said:

whatever you do, before leaving the job make sure your lift pump is working, a malfunction is easily masked when manually filling the filter and hoping for a self-bleeding

as a check, with an empty filter, if you open the bleed screw on the filter while the engine is running, after some 30 seconds to 1 minute instead of getting fuel out of the bleed screw, the engine gargles and stops

if the lift pump is dead, the injection pump sucks fuel from the tank through the decanter, the lift pump, and the filter ... it works but 1/ the engine is sluggish and 2/ it puts an heavy strain on the injection pump ... compare the price of a good Delphi lift pump and that of the injection pump

I have seen at least 5 Discos whose owners didn't notice their lift pump was long gone
it's funny how that engine can start rather easily then run (only a little slow in accelerations) while the new fuel filter stays empty, the little fuel drawn by the injection pump goes to the engine without entering the filter cartridge

Click to expand...

So pray tell, how the hell does the diesel get there without entering the filter??