Hi all,

I have made the mistake of letting my mondeo run out of diesel whilst valeting it the other day. (And yes I do know better than to run a diesel car low on fuel, I was unaware it had been used and left back empty by another member of the household)

Anyway, I have put about 20 litres back in, and have now run the battery flat twice cranking it over........ I have been told it is a self purging system.

I have replaced the fuel filter and filled it with clean diesel today before trying to start it again.

Any ideas?

TIA

Dan.

it'll be needing the injectors bled maybe.possible that theres air in em

It can take some starting! -

The mk3s dont have a primer pump and are supposed to be self - bleeding, its quite normal for the battery to go flat before the system is bled/ engine starts,

With removing the filter you are effectively starting again from "scratch", filling the filter with diesel is supposed to help - jump leads onto another battery/ car help to stop you flattening the battery, it could take upto 20 mins/ half an hour before it starts/ is bled - careful you don't burn out the starter motor - just turn it over for 2 minites (continuously) then give it a "break", then turn it over continuously for another 2 minites - you could also moniter how hot the starter gets

if you switch the ignition on/ off too much you can burn out/ reduce the lifespan of your glow plugs - i have heard of people disconnecting the glow plugs to protect them or even removing them to make the engine easier to turn over in the initial "bleed" phase (before you expect the engine to start/ when trying to bleed the system)

Alternatively you could "bump" start it by towing it - best to have 2 drivers who are experienced in doing this safely

If you just persevere you may find it eventually starts

Thanks for replies folks, I eventually got it started, with another car on jump leads and removing one pipe from the injectors at a time (while my brother cranked it over) until diesel came through!