Just recently bought a D4 7U at an auction that started and sounded strong. When I got it home it ran for about 2 minutes and died, I drained the tank and added fresh fuel thinking the fuel gelled. Now I can't get it to start, I tried cracking the injector caps to bleed the air and still can't get any sign of fuel at the top of the injectors. Any suggestion ?

Hi,

Well the D4 is slightly akin to the D2. So I'd suggest working backward thru the fuel system. Do you have a servicemans manual or a Overhaul manual. Both are a decided help if you are new to CATS. I woujld check the fuel filter housing bleeders and see if they pass fuel. If not the filters may be clogged. THere are a few other areas that may be troublesome. The fuel injector pump rack can become stuck internally and not let the fuel valves open to admit fuel. I'm sure others wil be chiming in that are more familiar with a D4. I just know they are similiar and I have faced similiar issues previously.

Al the D4 is exactly the same procedure to bleed as the D2.Tim I,d take the fuel line off the pump down on the side that comes from the tank and see if you get a good flow out from the tank and if so assemble it back up & loosen the bleeder screw on the side of the filter base first till you get fuel coming out ok, now this has to be done with the starting motor turning he diesel. If you get the good fuel supply there tighten it up and open the bleeder on top the cover on the filter housing and do the same till fuel flow is good and tighten it back up.Now if you don,t have a bleeder wrench for the injection pump screws that are behind the lines where they screw on then open the throttle part way any open each fuel line on top the pumps one at a time and if you get fuel out tighten it back up and go to the next one till they are all 4 bled out & then it should start if everything is working now.

What have you got for fuel pressure??

OM brings to mind that if it does start but pressure is low it,s a possibility that the relief vave is held off it,s seat with junk under it.It,s located in that block that the fuel line screws into from the tank and it on the side of the of the transfer pump.

SJ, he did open the fuel tank valve again, didnt he? Bet previous owner had it shut off, or shut off after loading it..

Gentlemen thank you for the quick response . I checked the fuel line from the tank to the pump and the flow is full ,there is no external filter is there a possible internal filter somewhere? The fuel line terminates right below the hour meter and on the side of the pump housing.I disassembled the bottom plate on the pump housing and it was full of fuel. About how long do I have to spin the motor before the fuel spits out the bleeder screw? The machine has a air starter on it and will only spin for about 10 seconds before I have to recharge the tank. Thanks for all the help. Tim

About all you can do in ten seconds is get in trouble on these old Cats:D
Need to follow a specific sequence:
Yes you had the plate off the transfer pump but did you check for trash in the relief valve?
The bleeding process ( assuming you have good transfer pump pressure while cranking) starts with the two bleed valves on the filter housing, the one facing outboard vents air below the filter deck, the large round knob vents above the filter deck, both into the tell tale drain lines below the transfer pump. If all is good you should have at least 5-7 psi fuel pressure or normal range on the gage while cranking.
Then you can sequentially go through the injector pumps to vent them. If all the air is removed you should be good to go, assuming the fuel rack is not sticking (check by removing injection pump side cover and manually working the throttle)

This procedure can take several minutes so the 10 second thing doesn't begin to make requirements. If all you have is the short air supply starter then rig up a pressure system to the fill cap on the fuel tank. A section of inner tube with the valve stem clamped over the neck usually suffices as you want the air pressure to be low and the process is slow because you are driving fuel through the clearances within the transfer pump.

Just take your time....these aren't fast get away machines:)

I didn,t realize you had direct starting but I always did this to an engine esp. if I changed filters or started it after an overhaul was to leave the filters out and fill the filter base with good clean fuel nearly full & then drop the elements & plate down in & button it up. Then you can do what little bleeding is needed. Don,t worry about the fuel you poured in the filter base as it has to be filtered before it goes into the injection housing anyway. I always did this at the dealer shop to 100s of engines & then you didn,t have to stand there running the starting engine & trying to bleed the whole system out.I think if I were you I,d get new filters & put in then your sure of it. Also drain and clean out the base as junk will built up in there that the filters filter out.

Success!! I borrowed my buddies tow behind compressor to continuiously crank the motor and at the same time bleed the injectors one at a time.Within 5 minutes I had that mother running, thanks to you guys!

Now if I could only get it to steer! It moved foward and back in all gears with no problem,and I was able to adjust the steering linkage under the seat for a shorter free play on the sticks ,which didn't make a difference. I also sprayed Liquid Wrench every where I could. It looks like I have a steering clutch job in my future unless you guys have other tricks I can try. Thanks again for the help! Tim