Dirty fuel won't start

[macoo1978]

Hello all hope someone can help I recently purchased a 2011 1.6 HD I berlingo well my problem is I ran the van really low on fuel on a couple of occasions and it lost power and was blowing white smoke from the exhaust it totally died on a steep hill and I had to be towed home , I drained the tank and changed the filter using the correct methods however it still won't start .it will start under tow but I have a severe knocking noise from top of the engine and no power as soon as I press on the accelerator it cuts out . I really can't afford dealer prices was hoping it would be a simple fix ,anybody had similar issues or any ideas please help cheers

[brodfather11]

Sounds like air in fuel pipes , needs the fuel pipes bled. The top lid for the filter can sometimes leak air into system if not fitted right.

They can make an awful worrying/expensive sound until the fuel is all fuel and no air , pre ignition or "pinking". Let it idle for a couple of minutes.

[macoo1978]

Ok thank you for you reply I've bled the system from the injectors and I seems to be getting plenty of fuel at each injector, I've changed filters before but never had any problems like this I am more concerned as I ran it almost dry I've sucked dirty fuel through the system as the fuel that was in the filter was really milky as if it was full of water could I have damaged something other than the filter

[Solent]

Have you squeezed the rubber bulb to purge the whole system? It takes a lot of pumping.

[macoo1978]

Yes pumped primer bilb until it went solid plenty of fuel getting to injectors it just won't fire

[brodfather11]

Switch on the ignition first, so the solenoid on the fuel pump is open when using priming bulb.

Bleed the fuel pump first then bleed the injectors pipes, if there is air in the fuel pump it will take ages to come out of the injectors even though there seems to be no air in the injector pipes. it will not come out of the pump unless its bled.

You wont get the air out of the pump through the injectors when turning engine over with the starter.

[polar]

The Hdi's can be a git to bleed and do not respond to old style bleeding methods - they also dont like running dry it can cause a lot of damage to the high pressure pump and injectors because they run very small tolerances to achieve the high pressure.

But lets be positive and start basic.

1) Remove the fuel filter and replace again fill the new one up with fuel - make sure you do this.

2) pump the sh1t out of the priming bulb until its hard.

3) wait 10 minutes and repeat step 2 - do this half a dozen times.

4) foot to the floor and crank it over if it doesn't start restart at step 1

[macoo1978]

Cheers for all the help guys ok so can't do anything right now so sounds like I could have air at the pump as I drained the tank so I've had a search on google but can't seem to find the location of the fuel pump also once I locate the pump how do I go about bleeding it cheers

[polar]

Its a hd pump you bleed as above - like i say they are nothing like the old diesels where you bleed the pump then injectors.

You do need to do as i have advised then we will see from there.

[macoo1978]

Ok cheers sorry for my ignorance but I take it repeating the steps you've outlined will bleed the hp pump so I don't have to physically bleed it at source cheers