having an issue priming the IP

[awpgti]

The car is a 1985 jetta diesel non turbo....I have an oil extractor that has worked fine in the past to prime the system, however I seem to be having an issue?? I am able to prime the filter by pulling fuel through the filter however when i reconnect the clear line coming from the filter to the in on the IP, and then connect my oil extractor to the return barb on the IP....It is very hard to pull the fuel through, and when i take the extractor hose of the return  I hear a vacuum sound coming from the IP, and i see an air bubble travel back to the filter through the clear line?? any advise, cause of right now the car wont turn over.

[Smokey Eddy]

I don't think you want to force diesel through the pump by sucking it from the return.
Just crack all the injector lines loose, put a rag under them to catch the fuel and spin the pump with a wratchet. The pump is amble strong enough to suck fuel from the tank in the back.

Be sure to crack the injcetor lines loose though or else it will be hard to turn and you will be spraying the pistons with diesel and it just sitting in the cylinders.

Also, if you don't give the fuel shut off solenoi 12V i don't think it will draw diesel? at least i always give it power because i prime all the way to the injectors. I like to have the lines full of diesel before i crank it to spare the battery and starter uneeded strain.

Please ellaborate on why it wont turn over?

In addition, if you have the engine timed and don't mind timing it again it's a lot easier if you take the belt off the pump and spin it that way then once its primed retime, triple check the cam & crank timing marks and then give it a turn with the key.

[awpgti]

http://forums.tdiclub.com/showthread.php?t=260581&page=101

the last 3-4 pages talk about the issues I have been having!!

[Vincent Waldon]

Yup, you should be able to draw fuel from the return line using an oil extractor to prime the low pressure side of the IP... works a treat generally.. so somethings jammed up internally in your pump most likely.  You can try feeding the pump directly from a jug of diesel just to really really isolate things completely.

The fuel cutoff solenoid controls fuel on the high pressure side so not required for getting fuel at the return, but if you do get flow established there the next step is to prime the high pressure lines as Smoky mentions.

I only read the last five pages of the thread... what's the history of the pump itself?  BTW... that's an awful lot of grease on your brake drum internals... hope it's special high-temp brake grease as recommended by VW or it's gonna drip all over your brand new shoes soon as it gets warm in there 

[awpgti]

Vincent I have read so many of your DIY's very nice work, that's how i timed the injector pump by your DIY....any way the injection pump was professionally rebuilt by DFIS in Oregon.

The brake parts were not changed however the grease i used is a very high temp amsoil synthetic spray grease the stuff is great it stays right where you put it no mater what temp it gets!!

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Not all fuel filters are created equal, and not all things cooperate as they should when you need them to the most.

I'd do exactly what Vincent mentions about isolating some factors by priming pump directly from a clean container of fuel.

I tried some filters from a shady source one time and had basically the exact symptom you just described with a box fresh filter. Any new or used fuel filter can do whatever it wants at any given time. Just because its box fresh, or worked fine yesterday, gives us no guarantee.

I can't give any scientific explanation as to why i was able to prime the new filter with my MightyVac - but was unable to continue the airless prime through to the Inj Pump. Got same result as you describe, basically.

Putting my Old Bosch filter back on solved the problem until a New Bosch filter arrived.

[awpgti]

very interesting.....the filter I'm using is a mann.....so i tried priming everything again and when I opened the bleeder nut I found that there was diesel right up to the fitting ....guess it did prime itself. anyway went through the whole fuel system the IP is primed and I suppose was the entire time, i did find the send line check valve to be of no use....broken letting fuel go both in and out ordered two new ones for the return and the in. also bled all the lines getting fuel out the union nuts, also checked to make sure the open close valve works which it does. I'm convinced its the starter there is a loud pitch grinding/cats getting raped sound coming from the area of the starter every time it tries to crank over!!!