Help engine will not start.....

Paul1972stevens said:
So I press that button in?
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Yes and it should latch in. It pops out again when the engine revs up to match the throttle setting , or something like that.

Described in the owners manual as a aid to starting the engine in cold conditions .... we always used it if the engine was cold.

We used nearly full throttle starting the MD 11 although I think you owners manual recommends a bit less than that (1/2 ???)

Hopefully you have shut the cooling water off as advised earlier .... dont forget to turn it on again a soon as the engine starts.
 
OP says
The engine is new-ish to the OP but has run well enough to do trips.
No fuel the last foot to top of engine.
But also fuel getting to injector?
Problem started after running out of fuel.
Not fed back on starter buttons results or of any smoke from exhaust.

Thoughts then-
Try heat
Try oil spray down intake
Try Easy Start (sorry folks!)
Check any stop or decompressor device not faulty
Hmm.. could low fuel then no start indicate water sucked through? (Wrong assumption on running out of fuel..)

Hope you get sorted. My mystery breakdown years ago was a head gasket on a single diesel. Cheaper Marina to get stuck in.
 
I'm no expert but my understanding is Diesel engines don't like running out of fuel and when they do you have to bleed the system to get all the air out, even when you think you've done it and all the air is out our its not running then do it again. Have you looked on YouTube to see if anyone is bleeding this type of engine? No offence but you may have missed something.

Good luck
 
If you havnt done so top your diesel tank up as much as possible to give you more pressure there may be sludge in the fuel line .
 
Paul1972stevens said:
Had boat for two months no had engine going loads but since it ran out of fuel can't start again.
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As Vic wrote, I suspect that's nailed it.

In any system, if X happens and Y follows (X in this case being running out of fuel, Y being not starting), then X will usually be the cause of Y persisting. The odds are generally against some unknown Z appearing out of nowhere to complicate the issue. This is the basis of fault diagnostics -- on engines and pretty much everything else.

Bleeding a fuel system is usually a simple process, but isn't always so and if you're not familiar with it, it's easy to get wrong.
However, old diesel tanks often have a load of crud and water at the bottom, which has accumulated over the years. So it's also possible that, having emptied the diesel tank, your fuel lines and filters are contaminated or even partially blocked with this crud. This would be Z (although in this case Z is really a close buddy to X).

So I'd suggest you try bleeding the fuel system again, making very sure that you pump until fuel with absolutely no air bubbles is expelled at whatever point you break the fuel lines.
If that still doesn't work, suspect contamination. From the sound of it you'll need competent help to resolve that.

Alternatively, if you're utterly sure the fuel system is already correctly bled, then you might well suspect contamination now.
 
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Bleed the fuel system again. Bleed at first at the entry of the primary filter until you have pumped a good liter or two through to ensure that you have got rid of any possible contamination. Then change all the fuel filters and bleed again.
 
michaelchapman said:
Bleed the fuel system again. Bleed at first at the entry of the primary filter until you have pumped a good liter or two through to ensure that you have got rid of any possible contamination. Then change all the fuel filters and bleed again.
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this does sound like crud in the system from the bottom of the tank if you let is run out - easy to say in retrospect but running any aged tank completely dry is seldom a great idea. Outboards however are a different kettle of fish
 
She is going first turn of the key..... Thanks so much people went back to first filter changed it changed second bleed through and she fired up...... So happy. And sorry for my panic messages. All the best Paul
 
Paul1972stevens said:
She is going first turn of the key..... Thanks so much people went back to first filter changed it changed second bleed through and she fired up...... So happy. And sorry for my panic messages. All the best Paul
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Well done

but there may be sludge/crud in the bottom of the tank, Diesel "bug" even if its stood with any water in there.

A good clean up/ bug treatment might be wise in case it all gets stirred up and causes you any problems at sea.
 
I recall a similar problem engine cut out in fairway on route to marina falling tide no wind my mate who is a diesel whizz got a tonic bottle filled with diesel cut finger off rubber glove to make a teat and joined it to some tubing then fixed it into the fuel line after the lift pump the bottle was hung upside down from a roof beam rather like a saline drip.
 
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