bird wont' start. Newbie looking for suggestions.

[gcyeaw]

Originally Posted by kroosmd

I did drain fuel from the bottom but after reading other posts and seeing some pictures I think I need to do more. The bulb (?) part of the racor is still black and from what I gather from some pictures I have viewed it should be yellow from the diesel.

You need to drop the bowl and clean it out. Uses the same gasket as the filter. The junk is stuck to the plastic and makes it tough to tell if the new fuel is clean or not.

[sfedeli]

Those bowls tend to fog over time and darken. If you are going to remove and clean it, don't use anything stronger than WD40 or just plain diesel to flush and wipe it out. Harsher solvents will cloud the plastic. New bowls are available, but you have to drill holes in them for the heater leads and water sensor.

[kroosmd]

Ok, I think I screwed up bigtime. When replacing the filters I followed the directions on the Racor and when changing the Wix/engine fuel filter I followed the directions on the filter which was to NOT fill the filter with fuel. Now I can't get it to fire up and my batteries run down trying to crank it over.

I did undo the filter and fill it up with diesel to see if I would get lucky but I didn't. I imagine that I have an air bubble in the fuel lines and need to find out how to prime the fuel lines.

I am sure this has happened to someone else but I am unsure what to search for. If anyone knows the thread that describes how to fix this please let me know.

Also, I am a little surprised at how fast the batteries run down to non-functioning.

[atckip]

I'm sure someone will speak up with more experience but I believe my next step would be to crack open a line at the injectors and crank engine until you get diesel coming out there.

[Ernest Ekberg]

Originally Posted by atckip

I'm sure someone will speak up with more experience but I believe my next step would be to crack open a line at the injectors and crank engine until you get diesel coming out there.

let batteries charge overnite and do what Kip said

[RGloverii]

Kris,

It's happened to a lot of us. Including me.

Relax for a moment. It's totally fixable. Do you have power for your battery charger?

You're going to need to charge up your batteries, then you'll be cracking injectors on the Cat to bleed the air.

Open your filters back up, and completely fill them with ATF fluid. Don't put diesel in them, cause it's dirty.

After your batteries are charged up, come back to the board, and one of us will walk you through the next steps.

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by kroosmd

Ok, I think I screwed up bigtime. When replacing the filters I followed the directions on the Racor and when changing the Wix/engine fuel filter I followed the directions on the filter which was to NOT fill the filter with fuel. Now I can't get it to fire up and my batteries run down trying to crank it over.

I did undo the filter and fill it up with diesel to see if I would get lucky but I didn't. I imagine that I have an air bubble in the fuel lines and need to find out how to prime the fuel lines.

I am sure this has happened to someone else but I am unsure what to search for. If anyone knows the thread that describes how to fix this please let me know.

Also, I am a little surprised at how fast the batteries run down to non-functioning.

You will find the bleeding procedure of both the Fuel Injector Pump and the Injectors located under;

Wanderlodge Owners Group > Mechanic's Corner > Engine > Caterpillar 3208 Related Files >


CAT 3208 FILTER LIST AND HOW TO CHANGE THEM.pdf
A PDF file that has a list of Power Steering, Oil and Fuel filters used on John Finn's Caterpillar 3208NA and directions on how to change the fuel filters.

[kroosmd]

Thanks for the info guys. I will charge the batteries tonight and work on the injectors and other instructions tomorrow night.

I am just so glad that it's 90 +/- degrees and humid here while I am mucking around under and in the engine compartment.

[kroosmd]

I cracked open three of the injector lines and turned the engine over and checked them, I started to get some bubbling when the batteries died.

I can't beleive that 45 to 60 seconds total cranking time runs down two batteries, this is maddening. I can't believe the pateince that all of the bb owners must have.

I have four new batteries rated at 715 cranking amps which was what the size was when I bought it. I almost dread seeing the replies telling me that I need lithium ion 20,000 cranking amp batteries.

[Randy Dupree]

you have bad batteries,or dead batteries,what charger do you have?
4 dead batteries will take a while to charge.