Out of fuel

[jdrat68]

My son drove my 03 Duramax and the low fuel low came on. He thought he had about 30 miles left on that tank and he made it to a station and filled up with diesel. After the fill up, the truck wouldn't start. He bled the filter but it still won't start. What should I look for?

[NutNbutGMC]

My son drove my 03 Duramax and the low fuel low came on. He thought he had about 30 miles left on that tank and he made it to a station and filled up with diesel. After the fill up, the truck wouldn't start. He bled the filter but it still won't start. What should I look for?Prime it. .... Refer to the manual.

[DmaxMaverick]

Welcome to the Forums!

Even after bleeding, the primer needs to be pumped until hard (with bleeder screw closed). The high pressure pump (Aka: injector pump) will not self prime, and needs pressure the get started. Don't sweat it if it takes a lot of pumps. 10 should do it, but it may take 50. If it fires then dies, repeat.

[jdrat68]

Thanks bleeding did work but he did have to bleed the fuel rail as well as the filter under the hood.

[DmaxMaverick]

Thanks bleeding did work but he did have to bleed the fuel rail as well as the filter under the hood.
Something's wrong with that!!! The high pressure circuit is self bleeding. Where did he bleed it from? If it was the brass schrader valve near the front passenger side of the engine, it is the suction side, not the pressure side. I can't imagine where he would have opened the rail, and got air out of it, but it is a bad idea under any condition, for at least a dozen reasons.

If the bleeding/priming I described above didn't work, that truck has fuel system issues, and probably serious.

[Kennedy]

Thanks bleeding did work but he did have to bleed the fuel rail as well as the filter under the hood.

Once the air is purged from the filter just pump the primer up till it gets hard to push and crank. Repeat as necessary.

[DmaxMaverick]

Thanks bleeding did work but he did have to bleed the fuel rail as well as the filter under the hood.
Just reread this and I think we are missing something.....

If you are just now bleeding/priming the filter under the hood, what were you bleeding before????

Is this a van? If not, the underhood filter is the one to bleed/prime. Any other filter is aftermarket, and you'll have to describe that a bit more. They can be plumbed in different ways, and that can make a huge difference. If this is a van, it will have the filter in a different location, and have an electric priming pump for just such ocasions.