Ran 3320 out of fuel. Won't run.

[paulsharvey]

So, years ago, pre 2008, working for a general contractor, we rented Lulls, manlifts, ect for our use, as well as for framers, siding contractors, ect, pretty much every piece of equipment on the site except the site contractor. We kept 500 gal of diesel, with a manual hand pump onsite, and topped off every week by a fuel delivery outfit.

Even though we provided the diesel, On site, people constantly ran everything bone dry. That was annoying, but the worst part, after it was dry dry, they would walk to the fuel tank, and half fill a dirty paint bucket with diesel and walk it back to the machine.... So, you already are dealing with trash in the tank, and add a dirty paint bucket, often with semi dried paint still in it...

And nobody ever just refueled, or even would call and ask someone to bring a 5 gal can of clean diesel cause it was really low, or heck, even move the machine closer. It seems like most of the time, it was on the back side of a building, half stuck, surrounded by debris, and on the slope of the pond, with a bundle of OSB lifted to the 3rd floor... good times

 

[dodge man]

I’m going to agree they are self priming. I’ve never run out of fuel but when I added a filter to a Kubota BX I owned I had pretty much emptied all the fuel lines and filters. I just cycled the key on and off several times without trying to start it. You could hear the fuel pump clicking and hear the return line sputtering fuel and air back into the tank. After 5 or 6 cycles it started up.

 

[TORQUIN]

When I run into this issue, I only crack one line, as that is usually enough to bleed the system. Yes, the other lines will still have some air in them, but the engine will fire and work the air out of the rest of the lines quickly. Once it fire, you can just tighten the cracked line while it's runing, or shut it down and tighten that line.

Chris

 

[ruffdog]

Here is a good post I found why you don't have to "crack the injector lines" on most newer diesels:

Older diesel engines need bleeding as they don't pump enough fuel through the lines to purge out the air. As air is compressible, the bubble simply shrinks and expands, and subsequently fuel doesn't move through the injector line.
Modern diesels solved this in a number of ways:

• Later mechanical injected diesels allow a greater volume of fuel to spill down the return line, they also usually link the return line to the loading port on the fuel injection pump. Rotary FIP's have a vane pump on the rear end that eliminates a great deal of air via the return connection, the rest is solved by simply pumping more fuel down the injection line than is needed, if the volume of fuel in the HP line is greater the the bubble volume, the air bubble will move along the line and be eliminated via the return connection. If you have ever heard a diesel engine start up on less than all cylinders after a service, you have experienced this.
• Common rail diesel engines work very differently. Rather than the pump just supplying one 'dose' of fuel each time it's time for that cylinder to fire, all injectors are connected to a fuel chamber (the "rail") that is permanently pressured to between 4 and 6 bar. When it is time to fire, the injectors are done so electronically, a piezo nozzle in the injector itself delivers the dose. Because there is a much larger and constant volume of fuel being circulated through the fuel "rail" they often don't need bleeding as air is eliminated automatically by a nature of the process. Interesting fact - a modern common-rail injector can adjust the nozzle opening up to 8 times in a firing cycle, this is a large part of how they are so much cleaner burning.

Hope this helps, the short answer is it's all to do with volume of fuel.

 

[Striker70]

Just my experience with my Kubota L3901 and if yours has a fuel tank like mine this may be the problem. Mine did same thing, but on a full tank while mowing. Would shut down soon after starting and not restart for a few minutes and then would start and shut back down quickly. Replaced the fuel/water separator screen and filter and fuel filter and bleed system. Still not staying running after starting. Just like yours my fuel bowl on the separator was full when trying to start. Next step was to take the separator apart and open the fuel cut off going to it. Nothing was coming out of it and should have been spilling fuel. Took the separator off the tractor but kept the lines intact and had an air tank with me to clean the radiator for cooling better during extended mowing heavy rye grass that had gone to seed. Noticed that the fuel line coming out of the tank to the fuel/water separator had a series of 90 degree elbows in it to avoid a long run of straight hose from the factory. I put the compressor line tip, under low pressure, on the inlet hole of the separator and blew some air into it and and whatever obstruction was there was then removed. Problem solved !

 

[Gord Baker]

Oh, that sounds like a PITA. Thanks for the info.

Sometimes it will fire after 1 or 2 bleedings and clear the others. I have done it on larger 4 cyl diesels

 

[AnotherBueller]

You will need a 2nd person. One to try to start, as you loosen each fuel line at the injectors, to purge the air. As soon as it's peeing diesel, tighten that one, and move to the next. Even if you have a manual primer pump, this is often needed.

Instead of a second you can use a remote start switch (https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/...stic-tools/remote-start-switches/d19a6e8ad9fd). It bypasses the switch and allows the starter to work for as long as you hold the button down.

 

[AnotherBueller]

The process is the same in a 4.5L 3 cylinder deere or a 1.8L Kioti, or a 14L V12. Some have a manual hand pump to push fuel to prime, and then there is less air to purge; others dont (or frequently, the hand pump doesn't work...). It's generally not awful, unless you have a lot of trash in the system, or ran till stall, and restarted multiple times. Often the worst part is doing all this with a weak battery to make it all more fun.

Generally, the filters and pump aren't sucked completely dry, and with a 2nd hand, it's just an annoyance, and a lesson learned. When it starts starving for fuel, shut her down and refuel.

What he said.