Hi everyone i serviced my 56 plate tdci 1.8 focus yesterday and now the car wont start :( I know the problem is the fuel filter, I didnt add any extra diesel when i changed the filter and now there is air in the fuel lines, My question is how will i get it out?

Any help will be appreiciated thanks Adam

Keep cranking it over I think is the best way.

Changed a fuel filters on both my old diesel and petrol Mondeos, for a good 2-3 minutes you had to keep cranking it to eventually get fuel to the bay and air lock free.

Tried for over a hour last night even tried bump starting it to drag the fuel through, Im worried my pump might pack in if i keep cranking it dry,

Theres a nipple on the top and bottom of the fuel filter casing will they be of any use to pump the air out does anyone know?

You need to prime the filter with as much fuel as possible, don't try and start it with no fuel in it - you will never get it going

Last time I done a filter on a 1.8tdci I used a syringe to fill the housing through the nipple on the top till it started to overflow (which does take a few mins as its slow going) but it started quite easily

As stated above, it will never start by just cranking over. You could try removing the lid to the filter and filling the housing to the top with fuel, mine worked like this, once running, give it a good old rev, and it should drag any remaining air away. Failing that, you could use a priming bulb,remove the fuel feed pipe, and suck until fuel comes through, replace quickly and crank. Hope this helps.

Are sure you have not displaced the o rings inside the fuel line had this on a mondeo reseated and fired up in no time .

Are sure you have not displaced the o rings inside the fuel line had this on a mondeo reseated and fired up in no time .

Are sure you have not displaced the o rings inside the fuel line had this on a mondeo reseated and fired up in no time .

Do you mean the seal that sits on top of the filter or is there a o-ring on the upside of the cap? Now you meantion this i remember finding a small o-ring under the car im wondering if its fell off will have to check

Im sure theres air in the lines though its not even attempting to fire just turning over.

sounds as if you have displaced the small o ring that sits upside the cap where you lock the fuel line to the top of the filter now you will need patience to reseat this and those small instrument screwdrivers if i remember correctly as you look down the line you will see a yellow spiral thats where it sits if you pull one of the other lines off with the o ring in place you will see what i mean will try and get a pic off a spare line i,ve got tommrow.what happens is these o rings should sit in the line/connector but when you release fuel line off top of filter housing they stay on the nipple if this happens you will have trouble staring after filter change like i said had this on a mondeo and took a bit of sussing to find out why it was sucking air .put it back in situ and within a few cranks should fire up hope this helps

managed to get a pic tonight you can see the yellow seating the o ring site below this

Thanks mate gonna have a look for this in the morning.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

Any luck getting this started yet

Hi everyone i serviced my 56 plate tdci 1.8 focus yesterday and now the car wont start I know the problem is the fuel filter, I didnt add any extra diesel when i changed the filter and now there is air in the fuel lines, My question is how will i get it out?

Any help will be appreiciated thanks Adam

Hi mate, just serviced mine inc. fuel filter. The cylindrical casing that the filter fits back into has a bleed valve on the top. Although I filled my filter with diesel before fitting I still found air inside & the car would turn over then die. Whilst you crank it you need someone to open the bleed valve. You should hear a hiss as the air escapes & the car should fire up. I cranked mine 4-5 times & it kept dying until I got the wife to start the car whilst I did the bleed valve.

Keep us all posted mate.

Personally think you'll be very lucky if the above works. Normally you would need to use something like a priming bulb to suck the fuel through to the filter, and take it from there.

The bleed valve on the filter housing is for draining water out, not air.

The only proper way to do it and not put undue strain on the fuel pump is with a vacuum pump or priming bulb.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Hand-held-Diesel-Brake-Fluid-Vacuum-Pump-Bleeder-NEW-/190645904847?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c6361a5cf

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10mm-Fuel-Primer-PUMP-Diesel-Petrol-inline-non-return-/350727359705?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item51a8faccd9

Should the water drain not be situated on the bottom of the housing? Can't see how you would draw the water out through that valve on the top to be honest.

I believe that valve on the top is for priming

It's definitely a water drain valve.

It's definitely a water drain valve.

Hmm, strange one. By the very nature water should gather in the bottom of that housing..

Maybe it's something to do with pressures etc, possibly pressure makes the water come out first.

Hi the valve on top of the filter is for bleeding air out, I've just got my 06 focus started without taking the top off the filter housing. The way I did it was to filter some diesel and take the pipe that's on the top of the filter housing off ( this line comes from the Tank) then use a Very small Funnel and start filling the Filter and loosen the bleed valve so the Air comes out of the filter and fuel line to the pump.  When full reconnect the fuel line and leave the top valve slightly open then turn on the ignition for 10 seconds and the pump Will prime and you will hear a click, do this 3 times then tighten the air valve on the filter housing and start the car.

Hi folks, Just wondering if there is a drain plug on the bottom off the filter bowl [ as you would have on an air line in the workshop] The only other way I can think of to remove any water in the bowl would be to remove the filter and completely remove  all the contents in the bowl.

I am thinking that I have water in the fuel as it keeps on cutting out when accelerating but if I tickle the throttle with clutch in I can get the revs up. It will tick over but would tend to die if I depressed the accelerator to quickly.

A fuel filter change is to be done soon.

Any thoughts, ideas would be helpful.

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Don’t know about on your filter but the filter on my old 1.6tdci had a drain on it. On top was at little knob to unscrew , the knob was a top of a plastic rod that went down inside the filter to the bottom. The bottom of the rod filled a hole in bottom of filter, so when unscrewing the road it came up a bit and opened drain hole in bottom

Has anyone ever actually had water in their diesel filter? 

I've been driving diesels for nearly 10 years, and worked on many more than I've owned, but have never come across any that needed water draining!  

Seems a lot of effort to go to, fitting filters with drain plugs, and fitting water-in-fuel dash warnings, for something that never seems to occur nowadays.

Mines is due and looks fun 🙄