Tomorrow I will be looking at this. I have no knowledge of diesel motors etc. This is a compressor so I am not sure of any specifics about it. I have not seen it either. Guy said he tried to crack the injector lines to bleed any air that might have gotten into it. Do I look for the same things as a gas engine? Fuel, air, fire? Any tips?
Find out why he suspects air in the fuel lines. Did he change the fuel filter?? run it out of fuel?? has it been sitting for a very long time??? How many hours on the unit? etc...Then decide if you want to take the time to go see it...
He's asking me to try and fix it. He did say that it has been sitting, but only because it won't start. It cranks fine he said. Can I use WD40 or something to see if it runs?
If he cranked it without it starting, he might have washed out the cylinders with fuel - diesels really need all of the carbon they can get to make that kind of compression - if he was cracking fuel lines he might have emptied the fuel filter along with getting air into the lines- I would check the filter and fill it if need be and see if it will start
We've had trucks not start until and we had to change out the fuel filter with a new one - just be sure you fill the new filter up with fuel before you install on the engine
Diesel are compression engines, have no ignition system... BUT it may have glow plugs that heat to create temperature in the cylinders, if they don't light it'll be difficult to impossible to start... Also a diesel must spin up to start, with weak cranking power, it'll never start... Generally it's not a good idea to use a starting fluid as it's very possible to kick back on the starter and damage it or flywheel...
Good thought Tom - I wasn't even going to suggest starting fluid - that stuff ignites when the piston is on it's way up but no where TDC
I'm not sure if it will have glow plugs or not, I don't think all the small engines have them... My experience with a diesel was with a $300 Olds Cutlass I drove for five years... It'd occasionally get pissy and not turn on the glow plugs, so I'd pop the hood, jumper across the glow plug solenoid for 10-15 seconds(that looked like it belonged on a Ford), then hop in and fire it up... When right it would start as easily as any modern day FI gas engine... That thing would light off at 15* just like it was 85* outside and it had no block heater so I couldn't plug it in(was orig from FL)... It once starved for fuel at 1/4 tank because the tank strainer/water seperator was plugged... When I added fuel, still wouldn't start as the injection pump was air locked, luckily it had a bleed plug on the pump that had to be opened to let the air purge, then it started... BTW fuel is injected at like 1500-1700 psi, any air in pump and it ain't starting...
Looks like I fixed it. It is one of those tow behind Ingersol kind. It has a priming lever on the mechanical fuel pump. The customer wasn't pressing it hard enough for one. Once I figured that thing out it seemed to want to start. Then I remembered him saying he had loosened the lines to bleed out the air. I put my wrench on the connections and I found the fuel lines a little loose at the injectors. Like about a half to 3/4 turn. Enough that the connections were wet. Never saw a spark plug either lol.
