Help bleeding fuel lines, starting Ford 5000

Okay, where do I start? Last winter when I changed the fuel filters on my 5000 w/diesel engine, I stupidly stripped the threads for the bleed valve. Well, I don't need this frequently, so it sat until last week when I got around to having it machined.
I installed the fuel filter housing, along with new filters. The tractor fired up and ran fine, then started to sputter and died. I drained the filters and sure enough there was water in one of them.

This morning I rebled the lines and started it up. It idled just fine for about 15 minutes. When I throttled it up, it sounded fine. So I hooked up to a trailer to pick some stuff up out of the field. I had to back the trailer for a distance to just over the edge of a hill. Shortly afterward it sputtered and died.

I drained the filters again, but there was no water present. I pulled off one of the filters to look inside, and it still looked essentially new, no crud. I had only put 5 gallons of diesel into the tank and I thought that perhaps the pump had started to suck air.

Well, I added another 5 gallons of diesel, and started to bleed the lines again. The spring on the manual fuel pump lever snapped. I kept using it, but could not get a flow of diesel out of the first bleed valve. To check that the pump was okay, I disconnected the supply pipe going into the filter and cranked the engine briefly. Fuel came out. However, I still could not get it to bleed properly. So I removed the bleed plug and cranked the engine again. After several seconds, some diesel came splashing out, but not a flow. When I stopped the engine, there was no fuel coming out of the bleed valve.

So there the tractor sits, in the way with a trailer I need this week attached to it. It has been about 95 degrees today and all this work was done in the sun. I am dehydrated and frazzled. Does anyone out there have any idea what might be wrong?

Sorry about the long post, but I sure could use some help.

Christopher

Sounds like your fuel tank screen is clogged. You may need to siphon the fuel out and then unscrew the tank valve and clean the screen.

Better yet take the line loose and blow back with compressed air.

JoshuaGA

geok is correct.Remove the fuel line from the fitting at the bottom of the fuel tank.Turn turn the valve to the closed position first.Now either siphon the fuel from the tank or let a helper hold a rag in the hole while you clean the screen and shutoff valve.Dirt and debri will collect on the screen and plug it.After cleaning and reinstallation you should be able to bleed the system and the tractor run with no problems.