M5400DT fuel line bleeding

[JERRY.C]

new forum member!
I own a M5400DT that is giving me some problems, not starting. The fuel was low, but not empty. Tractor started, drove 30 yards, sputtered, white smoke, died.

I added fuel. no start. changed fuel filter per friends recommendation. no start. when I added the new filter, I carefully filled the bowl before tightening the filter housing nut. (per OTT video) I did notice that the O-ring was missing, but there was no leak. I will fix that next. also, the spring in the bottom of the bowl was missing. will fix that too. (tractor was running fine under these conditions)

now? bleed the lines?

do I need to bleed them one at a time, loosening and tightening as fuel shows; or loosen all, and tighten nuts at injectors as fuel shows? I have never bled a diesel engine. duh.

thanks for the advice.

 

[Big Kahuna]

Should be bleeders on the fuel filter housing, open them till no bubbles and then to injector pump, should have a yellowish painted bolt bleeder with lock nut, open this and crank engine till no bubbles, might take awhile till she fires, but once she catches on the roughness will go away.


Big Kahuna

 

[JERRY.C]

OK, here is a numbered picture, if the admins let me post it. (sorry it is so large; but you CAN see it!)

the numbers progress through the fuel system from the tank outlet to the last five numbers pointing to the nuts at the injectors.

how would you recommend advancing through the numbers? start at the injectors? or work up to them? (the injectors are nearly inaccessible! agh!)

thanks for input. Jerry.C

 

[85Hokie]

OK, here is a numbered picture, if the admins let me post it. (sorry it is so large; but you CAN see it!)

the numbers progress through the fuel system from the tank outlet to the last five numbers pointing to the nuts at the injectors.

how would you recommend advancing through the numbers? start at the injectors? or work up to them? (the injectors are nearly inaccessible! agh!)

thanks for input. Jerry.C

jerry,

we got no picture...........

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Sorry jerry still no picture.

 

[85Hokie]

oops.

had link to secure site; think I fixed it?!

"can you see me now?!"

hear ya - cant see ya !

 

[JERRY.C]

 

[JERRY.C]

OK, I uploaded pic to OTT picture album and will link it here!

I can see it! (but, I can see all of them) can you?

back to the original question -- where would you start bleeding? stages? or, just go to #13-17?

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Your injection pump on that model is self bleeding hence the small line on #7 (you could crack the fitting there just to make sure).
The bad news is you need to crack all the lines at the Injectors, #15 and bleed all the air from there.
Make sure the throttle is set to medium to high and that the stop lever is not engaged, and crank till fuel come out consistently with no bubbles.

 

[JERRY.C]

N.I.W.
thanks for input.
a little clarification, please:
1. if it is "self-bleeding" then why does it need bleeding? what does "self-bleeding" mean? I am not trying to be a smart-aleck, honest.
2. what is the "stop lever"? I am unfamiliar with that term. parking brake? the "kill-switch" is what I think you mean. it is what I pull out, under the steering wheel, to kill the engine. why does that matter? I assume it kills fuel flow, therefore, bleeding would not work?
3. one more, please, open and bleed one at a time, or open ALL injectors at same time and close as they show no air?
thanks for help!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

The self bleeding is only to the input of the injector pump from the fuel filter, the air that you need to bleed out is stuck between the injector pump and injector nozzle, with air in the lines they will not pop the injectors open and inject fuel.

Yes you can open them all up and crank, then tighten them down as you go, don't be too surprised if it fires after you get a few bleed off, but you must do them all or you will not fire on the ones with trapped air.

yes stop lever is the kill switch/red knob right side under wheel, and yes if it's pulled no fuel will get to the injectors.

 

[Tooljunkie]

You know when i learned about bleeding injectors, was 30 years ago. Crack em all, crank and close when the squirting starts.
Was something that needed to be done on the old link-belt dragline every morning. All the while fighting to keep the pup motor running.
These little motors are a little easier, but can be more of a challenge just getting
A wrench in there to crack the injector lines.

Make sure you have a fully charged battery, a weak battery gets low and engine wont crank fast enough to start.

 

[JERRY.C]

well, we got it started!
a couple of friends at work suggested using a gas-soaked rag to create fumes at the air filter intake.
then, one said just use a spray bottle with gasoline to spritz into the air intake.

does this hurt anything?!

today one old man told me I should have used WD40?!

I let it run for 15-20 minutes, and it seemed fine.

thanks for the help.

 

[ShaunRH]

Well, if it fires over after suspecting air in the lines, that's usually because a few cylinders would've fired if going fast enough, the air would eventually be overcome by the increased pressure coming from the pump running 'at speed'. Had an older tractor do this same thing. I only had to bleed 2 of the lines and eventually the rest would come up as the engine ran.

The gasoline is just acting as starter fluid in this case and many diesels (mostly older models) actually had spark plugs in them and rudimentary distributors to run as gas engines to get them started in cold weather then you'd flip a lever after the engine warmed up and it would be on diesel. The gas shouldn't hurt it much if used sparingly but that applies for any starting fluid use.