Woe is me XT

OK guys here's what's happened. Last week when I first got the XT running after a 27 year sleep it ran really good. Today I had trouble getting it running. I have to use snorts of eather, but as last week the diesel just doesnt seem to get into the cyls. I bled every line while cranking and it took a while. The question I have is this; both of my gascolators on the fuel tank outlets leak some. Could this be associated with a lack of fuel or a seemingly lost prime? I suppose if they leak then air may be getting to the filter and pump? I hope to hear some opinions please. Tomorrow morn I plan on shutting off both spigots and r&r glass bowls and clean them. I did this last fall after draining the old fuel of course, and tonite I can see a quarter inch settlement in each. I could never get the spigots to completely shut off when I had removed my pump for the rebuild; the line to the disconnected pump kept dripping. However I can see both bowls are wet with fuel leakage. These have to be absolutely not leaking, correct? Could this be the problem? I did run it for an hour today but it had a miss. I traced the miss to cyl #3. I bled it while running several times from both the pump end and the injector end and the miss didn't really change so I pulled that injector and tested it...it tested AOK cracking at 2850 with 4 nice spray patterns. For some reason it seems to me to be starving for diesel fuel. The miss I don't know as it didn't have it last week. Help!Thanks! Dana

Unless you have a charge pump sucking fuel to pressurize your injection pump I'd rule out air admission. A gravity fed system would just leak. The tank has probably rattled loose years of rust and buildup and its plugging your outlet in the tank.

OK guys. I know, I will fix the issues from the tank outlets and keep widdlin' away. That skip though has me baffled as it's a new issue. Maybe I'll hook up a spare high pressure line on pump outlet #3 with a spare injector and run it to see if pump outlet #3 is making spray.

I would put some Marvel Mystery oil in the fuel tank and crankcase to remove varnish.

Just an FYI, but I have had gear primary charge pumps suck air in the input line joints before, without any fuel leak. They create little surge pulses on both sides. Not huge, but present. And of course it affects all.

In wet stacking, unburned fuel (from over fueling at idle or missing) collects in the exhaust pipe.

Gerald J.