[Vwdiesel] Air in the fuel line problems

[Pavneet Arora]

Hello again.

This weekend I replaced the fuel filter in our 1998 Jetta TDI.  The
problems arose soon after.  After a short start the engine died.  I simply
was unable to start the car again; no fuel getting to the pump (almost
discharged the battery attempting to turn it over before I noticed this). 
I took off the input fuel line at the filter and used a manual siphon to
get fuel to that point.  Then I removed the fuel line at the pump and did
the siphon trick again.  However, it seemed to take forever to get fuel
through, so I started to guess a weak vacuum with the siphon.

After a lot of back and forth, I managed to get the car to start and it
seems to run fine.  However, I am observing a lot of air in the
translucent part of the hose that connects the fuel filter output to the
pump input (this is the middle part of the three-part hose making this
connection).  So my question is:  Is this normal?  I am guessing that it
isn't.  So if it isn't what should I suspect. The control valve not mating
well with the fuel filter?  The hoses not sealing well at the connections
(I am using screw type hose clamps).  Or something at the fuel tank end,
introducing air there?  The only part that is observable is that middle
translucent part of the line connecting filter to pump.

If there is air being introduced in the fuel line, then would that explain
why the pump wasn't able to pull fuel all the way on its own?

The wierd thing is that the car seems to be running normally, but I really
hadn't expect to spend 5 hours to change the fuel filter ;-).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks and Happy New Year.


----
Pavneet Arora

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