Replace fuel filter, now won't start

dr.fuzzenstein

06 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI Cmax.
Follow instructions, i.e. open cartridge, remove old filter, insert new filter, re-seal cartridge, hey presto, bob's your uncle!
Except he's not.
Insert cartridge, crank engine, splutters into life, dies and no joy despite hours of noodling engine over.
As per one piece of advice, undid injectors, crank engine till diesel squirts out, redo injectors, fire her up, there she goes!
Except she didn't go.
Is there a procedure for bleeding that is not being mentioned in any of the online guides and/or service manuals?

Andrew Campbell

Sounds like you havn't bled the system out properly. there should be a hand pump on (plunger type) or adjacent to (rubber ball type) the filter housing. You need to pump this until you have a steady stream of fuel from the bleed screw on top of the filter housing or the joint where the hose from the filter housing goes to the fuel pump. Then cranking the engine till fuel comes out the top of the injectors and then tighten the nuts on the injector pipes before trying to start. If you've been cranking the engine on and off all day you could also be starting to flatten the battery and may need to recharge the battery now also.

rs8

tow it its the only way!!

Atlantic Dawn

Not sure on the Fords but on Toyotas you need to prime the filter by pressing a small button type thing on the top of the filter, this removes the air and pumps the diesel in, it's likely your's has become airlocked.

beam99

These can be a nightmare to get going if u dont have the proper tools.
You need somesort of primer to prime the system or to suck the fuel up from the tank tru the filter. Or like the other lad said tow it.

patrickc

there should be a hand pump, like a gernade type thing that once squeezed will remove all the air out of the system

mike65

I dunno the engine but almost certainly its a button primer on the top of the cart assembly or its a "hand grenade" shaped squeeze bulb.

dr.fuzzenstein

Thanks for the help everyone, i remember one of my ancient mercs had the hand pumped primer, couldn't find it on the ford engine.
Had a 1980's Ford Escort diesel (same engine as the Focus btw) and that also did not have a primer.
When it ran out it just self-bled somehow. Ditto the VW Transporter with the Golf 1.6 liter diesel engine.
In the end undid the fuel filter housing again, filled to the top with fuel, undid injectors one by one, cranked till i got fuel, tightened them again and noodled it for a good while and it spluttered back to life.

shamwari

RS8 has the right answer. If it don't start and stay running immediately then the only quick way of starting it is with a tow. The main dealers use a vacuum device to manually draw fuel up the return line from the tank and through the filter. There is no other means of manually bleeding the filter. A right pain in the ass if ever there was one !

shamwari

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

In the end undid the fuel filter housing again, filled to the top with fuel, undid injectors one by one, cranked till i got fuel, tightened them again and noodled it for a good while and it spluttered back to life.

Under no circumstances should the pipe work to an injector on a common railer be cracked open - ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING OR BEING CRANKED. Certainly with the 1.8TDCi, Ford recommend immediate replacement of any such pipework opened. It is not supposed to be reused.

O.A.P

You proberly have done already but if you fill the new filter with diesel before its fitted it makes the engine fire up a lot faster.

shamwari

O.A.P wrote: »

You proberly have done already but if you fill the new filter with diesel before its fitted it makes the engine fire up a lot faster.

Those filters are made as a sealed unit into which the fuel pipes plug in. They are not open like the older filters of years ago into which you could pour a half pint of diesel and get motoring without bleeding!

In addition, trying to fill them with diesel also runs the risk of introducing dirt into the filter, and this could have dire consequences for the common rail system itself. They are not very tolerant of that sort of thing!

O.A.P

shamwari wrote: »

Those filters are made as a sealed unit into which the fuel pipes plug in. They are not open like the older filters of years ago into which you could pour a half pint of diesel and get motoring without bleeding!

In addition, trying to fill them with diesel also runs the risk of introducing dirt into the filter, and this could have dire consequences for the common rail system itself. They are not very tolerant of that sort of thing!

They still needed to be purged just not as much. I did'nt know the Focus had a sealed fuel filter, how could you even try to fill one of them with diesel?

dr.fuzzenstein

O.A.P wrote: »

They still needed to be purged just not as much. I did'nt know the Focus had a sealed fuel filter, how could you even try to fill one of them with diesel?

It's not sealed, the top screws off so you can remove the old element and replace with fresh new one. Then refill with diesel, screw top back on and hope for the best.
Bit like the old cartridge type oil filters.
There is a type of bleed nipple at the top that unscrews, I can only guess it's to attach a vacuum device to draw the fuel from the tank.
Anyways, after she spluttered back into life, all was well and so far no problem.

bmw535d

shamwari wrote: »

Under no circumstances should the pipe work to an injector on a common railer be cracked open - ESPECIALLY WHEN THE ENGINE IS RUNNING OR BEING CRANKED. Certainly with the 1.8TDCi, Ford recommend immediate replacement of any such pipework opened. It is not supposed to be reused.

exactly, i cant believe someone told you to open an injector to blead the fuel system on a modern tdci engine.if that went wrong which i suspect it did you probably filled the engine with diesel, which it cant compress and bent a few valves. Infact towing a 2000-2005 transit if it ran out of diesel f*cks the injectors costing you a fortune because you have to get the injectors coded to the engine which only ford main dealers can do..

stop what you are doing and get the car to a garage asap,
tell them exactly everything you have done, id bet you've done more harm than good at this stage.



opening of injectors is something i do to my 1983 david browne ffs.
not a high pressure modern diesel direct injection engine.

your now looking at new injectors and a day at a ford dealership at least.

edit: i didn't read the whole thread and thought you still didn't get it going. you where very very lucky op.

OldmanMondeo

Havent read the full thread, but on my old 2.0TDCi Mondeo, 2006, When we changed the fuel filter the car would not start, the problem was fixed by pouring some Diesel into the filter itself and then connecting it back up. It was actually Fuel additive that was used, but the car started fine then.