How to reprime deisel?????

My brother ran my 84 gm deisel dry and it will not start now. I heard you have to reprime them. Any help appreciated in advance. I think it is a 6.2 liter deisel the last one gm made in house.

1. fill fuel filter(s) with diesel fuel
2. loosen* each fuel lines to each injector at injector
3. crank engine over:
4. as each fuel line starts shooting out fuel (with no air) tighten back up.

the truck should eventually start
*do not remove lines from injectors just loosen

Sounds hard but actually it is not. Some diesels can get away with just one or two fuel lines undone but I don't believe that engine is one.

At work we just keep them running of starting fluid until the fuel kicks in. Seems a bit easier to me. Anyone know if thats bad for little diesels ?

At work we just keep them running of starting fluid until the fuel kicks in. Seems a bit easier to me. Anyone know if thats bad for little diesels ?

Ether is not good for any engine. It corrodes. Ether is not safe either. The gas will cloud and can explode from a minor spark. Taking an air filter off a running diesel is not a good idea. A pen from a mechanics pocket had been known to have been sucked into the intake by the great suction. The air filters on Diesels are huge because of the volume of air passing through and unless the truck is equiped to inject starter fluid into the intake, the above are true. Even trucks equipped with starter fluid injectors are labeled to be used "with caution and only as a last resort".

Well Boflaade ...

I guess you better stick your pen some where it wont get sucked out of. ;)

You do make some good points though! We never take the air cleaner off and a little-dab-will-usualy-do-ya. Translation we just use enough to get it fired up. Intermitent short sprays into the air intake. As for using it only as a last resort how do you start a non-glow plug diesel on a 7º winter morning? Or woud that and running it dry be last resorts?

My favorite line in your post was ....

Originally Posted by boflaade >>>>> the truck should eventually start <<<<<<<<<

Thats not fast enough for where I work

GM warnes against using any starting fluid. They claim engine damage. I just aquired an 83 k30 diesel that was run dry and owner couldn;t start it. I opened the line from fuel filter and cranked it untill I had fuel. then i opened an injector lin and cranked some more. It soon started and has been starting fine. Volkswagon says to add a little gas to diesel fuel in cold weather for starting. Pretty explosive mixture.
Now I have to find out why chevy misses on open throttle.

The Way I Have Reprimed A Diesel Is To Spray Wd40 Into The Intake While Someone Cranks The Engine. The Engine Will Start And Run On Wd40 Until The Diesel Fuel Gets Pumped Through The System. If You Change The Fuel Filter; It Can Be Filled With Type "a" Automatic Transmission Fluid So The Fuel System Will Prime Faster. This Works And To Me The Transmission Fluid Is A Little Nicer To Work With.

[QUOTE=pamelarose]Well Boflaade ...

As for using it only as a last resort how do you start a non-glow plug diesel on a 7º winter morning?

Beats me. I live in Canada and ran a DTA 466 without the need of a start up fluid. It didn't have glowplugs but whenever I could, it would be plugged in at -10F. But hey I'm just a trucker and what would I know!

to start them without glow plugs or plugging in, use a propane torch, without the flame lit of course, while you are cranking, jet the propane into the intake, they will start, and run quite well. same trick works for gasoline engines.