That old timer's injector trick actually saved me 6 hours today

I was fighting with a 6.7 Powerstroke that wouldn't start after a head gasket job. This old guy named Dave who's been turning wrenches since the 70s told me to crack the lines at the injectors and crank it until fuel squirts out. I figured he was full of it and wasted my time bleeding air through the filters for 2 hours. Finally tried his way and it fired right up on the first try after that. Has anyone else found a weird trick like that that actually works better than the book says?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_spencer3d ago

My buddy Travis had an old 1995 Cummins he swapped into a Ford and could not get it to prime for like a full weekend. He was out there with a turkey baster trying to fill the filter housing, cussing up a storm. His neighbor came over, saw what he was doing, and told him to just take the fuel cap off and blow into the tank with his mouth for a few seconds to pressurize it. Travis thought he was messing with him but tried it just to shut the guy up. Damn thing fired right up and ran perfect after that. He still talks about it every time someone cracks open a diesel book manual.

rivera.jesse3d ago

I respect the story but I gotta push back on this one. Blowing into a diesel tank with your mouth is a REAL bad idea. Diesel grows all kinds of bacteria and gunk over time, plus you're breathing in fuel vapors and dirt. One good backpressure burp and you're tasting diesel for a week. A better trick is using a hand pump or even a little air compressor at like 5 psi on the filler neck. The turkey baster thing is funny but at least that guy was trying to keep it clean. I've seen guys get sick from doing the mouth trick on old farm trucks with algae in the tank.

-1