Wont start. Stuck

[Dead pirate]

Originally Posted by Rusty

You all may have a primer on your bus and not even know it.

Cummins 6CTA mechanical lift pump has a rubber knob you push to manually prime- keep going until it fims-up and you hear the 'squish'.

My bus had this type of water separator on it- it has a primer built-in. Same deal, pump it until you hear it squirt- it may take 100 pumps, but it will firm-up when air is gone.


Attachment 18514


Diesel engines circulate the fuel- it doesn't just go straight into the engine and get burned, there is a flow that is used to cool the pump and the pressure performs some work.


I have 24V 5.9L Cummins and it is fussy about fuel pressure; too little and it dies. I put a Air Dog Raptor electric fuel pump and all new (empty) fuel lines.

I bumped the key 3x, waiting 20 sec between, and it filled and primed 30' 3/8 line w/ just 3 bumps. A bump on the starter activates the electric lift pump for 15 seconds, hence the bump.


Loosing prime on a diesel engine is no joke and even prof truckers have trouble getting re-primed at times.

My last bus, a carpenter with a 5.9 had that. This bus doesn't tho. It would be nice....

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[Twigg]

I only wish my 6CTA had that.

Instead it has a simple fuel filter with no drain, and no primer on top either:

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Twigg

I only wish my 6CTA had that.

Instead it has a simple fuel filter with no drain, and no primer on top either:

Attachment 18515

That is the separator and they wouldn't need a second primer there.

Go find your lift pump - that is where your primer is on 6 CTA.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Rusty

That is the separator and they wouldn't need a second primer there.

Go find your lift pump - that is where your primer is on 6 CTA.

Attachment 18518

You keep making me go out in the cold, dammit

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Twigg

You keep making me go out in the cold, dammit

[emoji23]...

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[Twigg]

Originally Posted by Jdawgsfanasty

[emoji23]...

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Found it

So it's hiding towards the transmission. I had to go in through the side access door and it is not easy to reach. Good to know it is there.

It has a filter fitted to the block directly above. Is THAT a fuel filter. The coolant and oil filters are on the other side.

Is the separator just a filter too?

I need to go check out the Cummins site a bit more. This engine is different to the last diesel I owned.

[Tango]

I have heard of truckers keeping a piece of broom handle under their seat to aid in priming. The manual "pump" is often hard to get to and requires a LOT of pumps if the system goes dry.

Running a diesel empty is a whole different affair than running a gasser empty.

[Jdawgsfanasty]

Originally Posted by Tango

I have heard of truckers keeping a piece of broom handle under their seat to aid in priming. The manual "pump" is often hard to get to and requires a LOT of pumps if the system goes dry.

Running a diesel empty is a whole different affair than running a gasser empty.

Never good

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[cadillackid]

the mechanical engines have primer pumps.. my DT360 has one.. and its come in handy for when I change my fuel and water separator filters..

the more im reading, it looks like there is supposed to be a hand primer on the 466E as well... the guys "adding them" are replacing them with newer ones.. some also have electric fuel pumps... grrr. seems like so many variances on these things.. the primer pump shows up in the units with spin-on filters. all the way back by the side of the engine back and down from the computer.. looks like a PITA to get to if its there let alone pump it

-Christopher

[johnbloem1974]

There's a hand primer on my DT466e, but like you said, it's a PITA to get to and especially actually pump....last time I can get out fuel filters I had a helluva time getting the system primed...

John

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[Tango]

It is my understanding that many of the big rig mobile service units have a pump system that can be "plugged in" to facilitate re-priming an engine that has been run dry. Otherwise you can be there for quite a while and accomplish little beyond acquiring thumb cramps.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Tango

I have heard of truckers keeping a piece of broom handle under their seat to aid in priming. The manual "pump" is often hard to get to and requires a LOT of pumps if the system goes dry.

Running a diesel empty is a whole different affair than running a gasser empty.

Yeah, they can be a pita once the diesel gets cold and thickens a bit.

It can take 80- 100 pulses until button firms-up. Like sucking maple syrup through a 30' straw.

I just wanted to let people know that primer bulb might already be on there. It really is worthwhile to crawl over every inch of the bus and identify every single component. I snap a pic of whatever model/serial/manf. sticker is on it before it falls off.