Air in fuel lines, been cranking forever!!

[veg-head]

I've got a two tank system in a 1996 E350 Powerstroke and I switched to a tank and ran air through my lines and it choked out. Now since I've been cranking away with two new batteries and a recently new starter, I've been cranking for 10-15 secs and then letting the starter cool for 2 min after three cycles I let the starter cool for about 10-15 mins. This has been going on all day.... I know I have fuel up into the filter. I read that you could put a gasoline soaked rag when cranking to let it sniff the fumes to get it going, I tried this to no avail. Yesterday I blew a fireball and my air-intake shroud blew into bits from starter fluid... I don't really want to try that again. Somebody suggested on another forum to pressurize the tank with a compressor, would this work? at what location could I add pressure on the tank?? any new ideas??

[Errick NDA]

Wow !!!!And all you did was switch tanks to get you where you at now!! Have you tried to switch back to the tank that it was running on and see if it runs???

[JasnK]

veg-head:

I had a similar problem with air in my fuel system and was able to resolve the issue. I'll describe what happened in case my issue helps you at all. I'm no expert, so there's always a chance that what I did and the fact that my engine started again were a mere coincidence.

I added a fuel valve and a second fuel tank to my '02 7.3L about 6 months ago. When I was finished, the truck started up fine but died within a few minutes. I assume that it died because of air in my lines. I was supposed to use a vacuum pump to prime the lines, but it was 2AM and I forgot that step. I cranked for 5-10 seconds dozens of times (with 1-2 minute pauses between cranks) but the engine wouldn't start at all. My cranking was definitely too much for the starter, because it died on me a few days later.

I ended up reaching back behind the fuel filter and opened the yellow relief (aka water drain) valve. The first time I did this, the valve didn't spit fuel right away. I assume it was releasing a lot of the built up air pressure that was causing my trouble? I turned the key to RUN (not all the way to START) and listened for the fuel pump to pressurize the system. I turned the key to OFF. I opened the yellow relief valve again. I had to do this several times before the valve would immediately spit fuel. The truck started right up after that! I held it at a higher idle (~1200 RPM) and it hiccup'ed a time or two as it hit small air pockets for the next few minutes, but it didn't die on me again.

Hope this helps.

JasnK