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Calling all diesel experts - no start

Cwazywazy

Single jingle
Joined
Aug 20, 2016
Location
Granby CT
Bone stock 82 240 diesel. Ran perfectly fine last night. I got about 15 gallons of diesel before driving home. (Pride station in Simsbury) Possibly it's bad?

It feels like it wants to light off, lots of smoke.
 
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Do you have a water drain on the bottom of a fuel filter/water separator? See if any water comes out.

I have a TDi VW, that would be the first thing I'd check if it failed to run shortly after refueling.
 
glow plugs went bad? You can easily check continuity of the glow plugs to see if the contacts are broken inside. First three are the easiest to replaced the other three are difficult and when they go out no one bothers replacing the others. Check the fuel filter could be plugged up. Replace with a fresh filter with ATF. Could have air in the system but not likely.

I've seen glow plug relays become stuck and burn all six glow plugs. You could bypass the relay maybe its not working so the plugs are not turing on.
 
I've had it fire up without using the plugs at all on a cold morning. I doubt it's that. I'll check the filter.

Is there anything special about replacing the fuel filter or do I just spin a new one on like an oil filter?
 
I've had it fire up without using the plugs at all on a cold morning. I doubt it's that. I'll check the filter.

Is there anything special about replacing the fuel filter or do I just spin a new one on like an oil filter?

I would check continuity. What brand are they? Anything not bosch are not going to last.
 
Drained the filter and it eventually started. Smoke has a weird smell, I can't really figure a way to describe it. This is some of what I drained out:

hGTOJgBh.jpg
 
Didn't respond soon enough, but next time take it easier on the starter and pre-fill the filter with diesel.
 
Looks like coolant, feels and smells mostly like diesel. Last night was the first time I ran the tank under around 2-3 gallons, so maybe that had something to do with it?
 
That's not diesel...diesel fuel is almost clear to straw yellow. I've seen JP-8 almost that color before, but definitely not to were it almost looks like diluted coolant. I would replace your fuel filter and water separator and dump this in:
bk-16.jpg
 
Or just really old fuel that has hung out in the bottom of your tank for the last 10+ years. So, yes. I always dump a bottle of this into our diesels as part of their yearly service/inspections. Power Service Clear-Diesel works really well if there is water in the tank and fuelling system.
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Both products are a bit on the spendy side, but definitely work really well. Like most things: you get what you pay for.
 
It's probably algae. I've heard of it *and* seen it... But, I have yet to deal with it.

Maybe someone else will chime in.

Run clean vegetable oil in the tank to deal with algae. fart & smile 5 gallon jug for $25. fill the rest with diesel. Give the car an Italian tuneup, then change fuel filter again.

all those snake oils get the job done for more $
 
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