# '74 IH 2400A - Bleeding fuel system



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

Hi everyone, new to the forum from Canada! 

I picked up a nice old 1974 IH 2400a diesel series industrial, caught some air in the lines when changing the fuel filter and cannot seem to bleed the system now. Talking with the HD mechanics around the area and they tell me there should be a manual primer pump on this old girl but I cannot find anything. nothing around the injector pump or water separator or near the fuel filter.

I tried cracking injector lines and cranking it over but starting to put too much heat on the old starter for that approach. Does anyone know if there is a primer hiding somewhere on this model.. or does anyone have a trick to getting air out of my system such as using an external manual pump maybe somewhere inline with the fuel flow? 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

-Dan


----------



## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

If that's a D239 then there is no primer pump. It's all gravity feed to the filters. The higher the fuel level in the tank the better it bleeds. Just loosen the vent on the filter base and wait til you get fuel. That's about all you can do, unless you get "creative".


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

Thanks for the quick reply! I did fill the tank almost to the top thinking that would help. I will go take a look for the vent screw, this old gal has had some things changed.. Looks like a previous owner stripped the factory fuel filter mount so it has a bolt on in place of it which may not have a vent of sorts. If not I will remove the inlet and see if I can bleed that into the filter and chase the air by popping lines along the path. I did fill the fuel filter to the brim before putting it on but to your point I lost a ton of fuel out of the filter lines due to gravity when I took the old one off so its got fuel in the filter but lines are still full of air surely!


----------



## Fedup (Feb 25, 2014)

Filling the filter sounds suspicious. The filter I'm thinking for that engine would be a C.A.V. dual element base located at the right front corner of the engine block down low, near the pan/block joint. The bleed screw for the base would be on top near the rear and it would probably have a 7/26 hex head. Does that sound at all familiar?


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Hi DconZ, welcome to the forum!

According to the manuals in the Resource Manager section, 2400 has a 3-cylinder D-179 engine. The injection pump can be a CAV DPA or a Bosch BR. There is a primary filter on the right side of the engine and a secondary filter on the left side of the engine. If it is a CAV injection pump, there is a lift pump.

I do not know if I misunderstood you, but a lift pump only transport fuel through the filters and into the injection pump. It is not able to transport fuel to the injectors. You need to crank the engine (often, for a long time) to bleed the lines to the injectors. Could be done by towing the tractor in gear and the lines cracked open at the injectors. But, first you need to bleed lines and filters from tank to injection pump.

I suppose this model was made both in UK and USA? The manuals are from UK, so things may differ if it is a tractor made in USA. I do not know.

Do you see any text on the injection pump?
Do you have pictures?

Manuals:


https://www.tractorforum.com/attachments/ih_454-474-475-574-674-2400-2500-tractors_manual_sec_wat-pdf.70862/




https://www.tractorforum.com/attachments/ih_454-474-475-574-674-2400-2500-tractors_service_sec_wat-pdf.70847/


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

@Hacke - this one has a Bosch pump, there is a regular fuel filter on the right side of the engine, water separator next to the injector pump next to the pump but that's all I can see. The tag on the fuel pump is not complete and all I can say is I can read its a Bosch. Thanks for the links to those manuals, much appreciated! 

@Fedup - I see no other filters or housing on the right side of this block except the regular old fuel filter I mentioned above.

Thanks


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

The manuals does not show where the secondary filter can be found. I have not found any picture of a 2400. It is based on 454 and, according to the manuals, the filter setups are the same. You see in the pictures that the secondary filter is placed below the injection pump. Looks weird, but I found out that the Bosch pump has an inbuilt lift pump.

Both filters separates water, which is drained by loosening the screw at the bottom. The primary (right) filter has a sediment glass bowl at the bottom.


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

By the way, I read that the gaskets for the filters (#8 and #12) should be inserted into the filter head before you screw it on. It is the same procedure as for a CAV 296 type, and if you do not do it that way on those, you might get air into the filter.


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

The canister below the injector pump on my 2400 does not look like a filter but just a basic water separator. The other issue with my rig is that the factor fuel filter flanger was bypassed and an external filter added for some reason unknown to me. 

That said. I did the following and was successful.

1 filled the tank to the rim to ensure as much fuel weight to utilize the gravity fed concept.
2 I pulled her to a spot where the rear end was slightly elevated to also work better with gravity.
3. I cracked fittings along the fuel path until I got fuel spewing out just below the injector pump inlet.
4 this is where things got creative and I may have swallowed a little Diesel in the process!! I siphoned fuel through a small 1/8 line into the injector pump and feed line. this was the ticket.. once I got a little fuel into the feed line at the injector pump it was enough to prime the pump and start pushing fuel and she fired up!!


Thanks for all the replies, manual links and clearly knowledgable input!!!


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Excellent!
Next time you could try to pressurize the tank with compressed air (moderate pressure) through the filler neck.


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

That was next on my list. If I ever catch air again I might try that first just to see if it makes pushing the air out faster. It took me 2 passes on the injector pump side of the system until I was running. A simple metal tire value stem through a hole in the cap would work nicely with the old tire pump to add some upstream pressure..


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

Just thinking:
When the filter(s) were bled, did you crank the engine with the pump bleed screw open?


----------



## LouNY (Dec 15, 2016)

While a bit of air pressure can aid fuel flow I would not recommend a tire valve stem and a tightly sealing cap.
1 psi will lift fuel almost 30 inches, 2 psi in the tank could over pressure and expand or rupture the tank.
Just a rag held around a blow gun will be plenty of pressure, or even just blowing in a hose with a rag stuffed
around it will work.


----------



## Hacke (Feb 22, 2011)

LouNY said:


> While a bit of air pressure can aid fuel flow I would not recommend a tire valve stem and a tightly sealing cap.
> 1 psi will lift fuel almost 30 inches, 2 psi in the tank could over pressure and expand or rupture the tank.
> Just a rag held around a blow gun will be plenty of pressure, or even just blowing in a hose with a rag stuffed
> around it will work.


The system is open at the end (injector pump bleed screw). The pressure needed to make the fuel move in the lines will not harm a fuel tank in normal condition.

However, it is better (and easier) to crank the engine for the last bleeding at the pump. I had not seen that recommendation before I wrote the air blowing tip. It is not in all the manuals.


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

LouNY said:


> While a bit of air pressure can aid fuel flow I would not recommend a tire valve stem and a tightly sealing cap.
> 1 psi will lift fuel almost 30 inches, 2 psi in the tank could over pressure and expand or rupture the tank.
> Just a rag held around a blow gun will be plenty of pressure, or even just blowing in a hose with a rag stuffed
> around it will work.


Good to know thanks for that advice!


----------



## DconZ (9 mo ago)

Does anyone have a manual for the BackHoe attachment for this 2400A series? I blew a gasket on the boom over the weekend and having trouble finding a parts diagram or anyone that lists parts for this. I think its a 4100 series hoe but not entirely sure. I blew a gasket on the boom swing housing (not sure the technical name for it), its a small plate on top of the hydraulic housing beside where the hydraulic line comes in. This is the part of the boom that swings it left to right. I might be able to just make one as its pretty small and cant be all that complex but I am just not sure what is under this plate and would prefer to know what is behind it before I just unbolt it and have a bunch of parts fall out!! I can post some picture later on once the sun comes up.


----------



## virginiatichenor222 (1 mo ago)

DconZ said:


> Hi everyone, new to the forum from Canada! I picked up a nice old 1974 IH 2400a diesel series industrial, caught some air in the lines when changing the fuel filter and cannot seem to bleed the system now. Talking with the HD mechanics around the area and they tell me there should be a manual primer pump on this old girl but I cannot find anything. nothing around the injector pump or water separator or near the fuel filter. I tried cracking injector lines and cranking it over but starting to put too much heat on the old starter for that approach. Does anyone know if there is a primer hiding somewhere on this model.. or does anyone have a trick to getting air out of my system such as using an external manual pump maybe somewhere inline with the fuel flow? Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer! -Dan


 I have the "73 IHC backhoe and when it acts up missing or even completely not getting fuel to start I have to remove the foot pan in front of seat to get to the main fuel line connection, take it apart and blow backward into the fuel tank then when it starts flowing good put it back together. Works fine after that. Also check your large air filter on left up in front of steering wheel as bees, little snakes shedding skin, leaves, all can get into there. Mud mason bees even get into the breather pipe going down right side of engine. I am dealing with that right now on mine.


----------

