Ran out of fuel - Need primed?

sawmkw

New member

Equipment
L4150 with 4540 Backhoe
May 2, 2012
5
0
0
Hopewell, NJ
I turned off the fuel to the bowl in order to ensure the "O" ring was seated. After tightening up the ring holding the bowl I forgot to turn the fuel back on and ran it till it stopped. I turned on the fuel line switch, filled the bowl and even disconnected the outbound line to the engine to ensure fuel was flowing but it still will not start. Is there a trick to getting the fuel system working again after running it dry? This is a 4150.
 

GWD

Member

Equipment
M7040, L48 TLB, BX2200
Jan 8, 2010
792
14
18
Northern California
Usually they will bleed themselves. Just crank on it for a while. However, after 8 to 10 seconds give it a rest to let the starter cool down for about 30 seconds.

If 10 or so of these cycles don't work to start the tractor then bleeding may be necessary. Loosening the nuts to the injectors should do it. Crank until fuel starts to leak out.
 

motorhead

Active member

Equipment
2009 B3200, 2007 Dodge/Cummins powered Ram 2500 395hp
May 17, 2012
431
25
28
Atascadero
I loosen one to two injector lines, pull the throttle to full speed and crank the engine until you get fuel to the injectors. Close the injector lines and it should start. Might sputter some until it clears out all the air.
 

sawmkw

New member

Equipment
L4150 with 4540 Backhoe
May 2, 2012
5
0
0
Hopewell, NJ
I loosened the injector nuts and there was a little leakage on four of them but not until I loosened them a full turn and then not a lot of leakage. I loosened one nut completely and turned over but did not get flow. I would have expected it to dump fuel but nothing came out. I turned it over approximately 15 times for 8-10 seconds and finally ran the battery down. This machine always popped right off until I ran it dry earlier today. I looked in the book and found the fuel line bleeding procedure and tried that too. Finally after another dozen attempts it began to chug and is now running. I guess the lesson is to never run them out of fuel.

Thanks for your help.
 

Kytim

New member

Equipment
B6000DT, B7100DT,Snowplow, RM360, Scoop, Cultivator, Carryall,Disk, plow
Aug 14, 2009
848
11
0
Western Ky
Yeah, you really never want to run any diesel out. As you have found out, they're tough to get running again.

Glad you got it going!
 

Eric McCarthy

New member
Lifetime Member

Equipment
Kubota B6100E
Dec 21, 2009
5,223
6
0
43
Richmond Va
Dont feel bad bro, yours truly here accidently grabbed the wrong fuel can one day when I was more focused on the hot blonde jogging up the street then paying attention to what I grabbed and dumped 5 gallons of gas in my diesel tractor. What a PIA that was to clear out!