Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) Bleeding air out of fuel system

[cwarner]

Here's a description of what happened.



Monday: "water in fuel" light came on, I had 1/4 tank of fuel. I added some addidtive, topped the tank off and when I got home drained the canister.

I then started the truck and it was fine. I plugged it in and left it for the night.



Tuesday: Temps in the low teens. I started the truck in the morning , after it warmed up I headed to work and a block down the street it started missing and wouldn't go any faster than walking speed. It looked like white smoke coming out too.

I spoke with Alan Reagan (thanks for your help)a couple of times and he sugested changing the filter. So I went to start the truck to pull it up to the garage and it would not start. I changed the filter , bumped the started twice and tried to start. it still wouldn't.

Well I took it to my friends shop thinking it needs to thaw out but after being in the shop overnight it still won't start. So we think there

is air in the system somewhere.

I'm bummed the mighty Cummins let me down



What is the procedure to bleed the air out?

 

[Ncostello]

Bump the starter and let the lift pump have its 30 seconds of fame without actually starting the engine. Do this two or three times... or more if you wish.



Hold the pedal to the floor and crank away for 20 seconds at a time. Give time in between to allow the starter to cool if its hot. This should allow it to start. It may run rough upon first fire. Let it idle rough and it will smooth out. Then your OK.



Thats what I do. It seems to work and I've read that in other places. I wont mess with cracking injection lines unless this absolutely fails.

 

[dresslered]

If you've completely drained the fuel out of the fuel filter (or let lots of air in), I open the drain tube and fill a jar while bump starting a couple of times. This clears a majority of the air out of the system without having it go through the injection pump. Mine starts right up every time.

 

[kiwi bird]

I've had to bleed an injector line twice - once I ran out of fuel and once when my buddy parked on a steep slope with 1/4 tank and the tank pickup sucked air.



Both times I cracked the injector line at the head (#5 on mine, his was a little different routing so #4 on his) and cranked until I saw solid fuel and then reattached the line and started her up, no problem.



You need a 8mmm, to loosen the fixture that holds the lines in place so as to give enough slack to get it out of the injector pipe easily, and a 19mm (3/4") to loosen the actual injector line.



Pretty easy job - takes maybe 5 min.

 

[B.G. Smith]

My two cents worth. Loosen the banjo bolt at the VP-44(the one on the line coming from fuel filter), have soomeone bump the starter and leave ign. on untill lift pump stops, tighten bolt just enough to keep air from entering while pump is off, repeat until you get fuel with no air bubbles at this point then tighten bolt. Now loosen nut at injectors, one will work but three is better, repeat the pump cycle until you see clear fuel at this point, tighten injector nuts and it should go. bg

 

[cwarner]

It looks like I'm a victim of the dreaded lift pump failure. I went to bleed the system and absolutley zero fuel came out when I bumped the starter.

The wierd thing is I check fuel pressure about a month and a half ago and had 9-10lbs at an idle.

The truck is at the dealers right now.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

That's why many of us highly recommend having a full time fuel pressure gauge in the cab of the truck. It can fail at any time.