Priming Question

[pickpaul]

I'm going to check out an MCI in a day or two where the owner let the bus run out of fuel so it needs priming. I have some experience of this from my old Diesel Mercedes that was converted to veggie oil and I would like to attempt to get it to start.

My initial plan was to put fuel in the tank then find the fuel return hose and use a hand operated vacuum pump to suck fuel from the return line at the engine but I just read the archives and found the MAK dish soap bottle trick. My question is, what type of tool do you need to remove the plug from the secondary filter housing? how do I locate it? What is the best method for removing the filters to refill? Any other tips for someone who has never touched a bus or DD before and is generally not mechanically talented. Please assume zero knowledge!

Thanks, Paul.

[jhaggerty]

Hi Paul

I have run the bus out of fuel too. The priming method the guys recommend here is supposed to work well. At the time, I didn't know the secret. Needless to say it took some time. My only advice is to make sure you have lots of battery. It doesn't take too many revolutions before the spinning starts to slow down. Just my experience.

Jim

[luvrbus]

Paul, some will use a 5/16 allen wrench and some will have a brass plug with 9/16 head on it    good luck

[pickpaul]

My only advice is to make sure you have lots of battery. It doesn't take too many revolutions before the spinning starts to slow down. Just my experience.

Great point. I have very heavy duty jumper cables, can they be used to add some juice or won't it work due to the 12v 24v issue? Can I connect them to one of the 2 batteries as you normally would? I'd hate to fry my car or the bus.

FYI, it's a 96-A(W)2 with the 6 cyl Turbo DD.

Paul.

P.S. Dare I pose the ether question? Where would one buy it/add it?

[pickpaul]

Paul, some will use a 5/16 allen wrench and some will have a brass plug with 9/16 head on it    good luck

Where in the engine bay should I look to find it or is it obvious?

[Blacksheep]

If you have been following the thread about my recent adventure you will see that I was going to install a fuel pressure gauge just today in that same "PLUG" on the secondary filter housing BUT as luck would have it, being brass and screwed into aluminum or pot metal it has literally grown (froze) to the point that it isn't coming out. I all but chewed every bit of the square off using very tight vice grips before giving up! I decided that a new housing is 35 bucks from DD and a lot less hassles especially if I broke the housing and had fuel running everywhere just before closing! Just beware that that "PLUG" could be frozen! Then again, you may have better luck than me lately!

Ace

[luvrbus]

Paul,use a 6 point box end wrench and they will come out        good luck

[Blacksheep]

LuvRbus True and that is what I tried first but if the one looks at is half as bad as mine then he better be prepared for the worst!

Ace

[edroelle]

Yes you can jump one 12 Volt battery on your bus, with a car.  If you have a second car or charger, and a second set of cables, you can jump the second battery also.  12v to12v, positive to positve and negative to negative.

I have primed a few buses with a garden sprayer.   Attach a fitting to sprayer hose, and screw into the output of the primary filter so that you are feeding the fuel pump.  I like to try to pump while someone is cranking the engine.  This worked even after the bus failed to start after refilling the filters full.

Ed Roelle
Flint, MI

[luvrbus]

yep Ace they can be a PITA if somebody has used a pipe wrench or vice grips before what works for me is a stud remover if they are rounded off too bad or take the base off and drill it out    good luck

[NJT 5573]

Paul, not telling you to do this but this is what I would do.

Get 3 cans of cheap either, (not Dupont) put your fuel in it. Have a friend start it and hold the pedal to the medal, use the first can of either to run it about 1200 RPM, (thats all you can get with 1 can) that will throw some oil on the cylinder walls but it won't prime it. After the first can is gone, have your friend restart it. Start it and get it running on 1 can, have another can in your other hand and spray both cans at the same time until the engine hits the governor. (Not long), (Your friend will have to have been holding the throttle wide open). When the engine hits the governor, (wide open) the system is primed. When you take the either away the engine will continue to run WOT until your friend lets his foot off the throttle. This won't work on DDEC because DDEC won't open the rack without a fuel signal.

[Lin]

I have seen an 8v71 successfully primed with ether even without the accelerator being depressed.  I always wondered though if this was a safe procedure.

[luvrbus]

 If that bus is a 8v71 no way would I use 3 cans of ether to try and prime it I am sure NJT 5573 knows how to use ether but if you get a build up of ether in the air box it is off to the races and the governor will have no control on that engine.  Prime the engine and use a small amount of ether you take a chance on breaking the compression rings on a 2 stroke when trying to run it on ether       good luck

[pickpaul]

Interesting. I don't think I'll try the either trick but out of interest, does a 96-A(W)2 with the 6 cyl Turbo DD have DDEC?

[Timkar]

Depends on the year whether or not it will have DDEC.
Attached is picture of the 102A2 I had with the 6V92.
White circle is where you can possibly expect to find
fuel filters