Diesel engine won't crank up

[C-Moore502]

I have 1984 K20 with the Detroit Diesel, recently it was in the shop for stalling and they said it had water in the fuel but they had replaced the fuel filters and it seemed just fine.The next day I went to go to class and nothing but the starter. I took the fuel filters off to check myself and found that one had a red liquid in it and the other had a pale yellow liquid in it. Both smelled like diesel to me but either way there should not have been two colors of fuel in the truck. I took out the red liquid and refilled the filter with new diesel fuel but the engine still won't crank. I got a little burp out of it but that was it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[beastie_3]

How long have you owned the truck? How old is the fuel? Ever use agriculture diesel fuel? I believe that is tinted red.

[C-Moore502]

I never put the red diesel in it since it i illegal to have it in a highway vehicle, but I would think it would still run just the same. The fuel is not old, only a week or two by now. I have had the truck for a good while now too. It has almost 400,000 miles on it but it was running real strong for me until now.

[beastie_3]

The red diesel wouldn't do what your saying about your truck, just wondering if that would be the stuff in the filter. Is your fuel pump working correctly?

[C-Moore502]

I put a brand new one in about a month ago.

[VileZambonie]

refilled the filter with new diesel fuel but the engine still won't crank

Why are you messing with the fuel if the engine won't even crank? 

[Layne]

I wonder if he means it won't fire???

[C-Moore502]

Yeah sorry if the wording is bad. The starter and everything is working fine, but the motor won't fire. It will turn over with the starter but that is all. Could it be bad injectors?

[Layne]

Glow plugs?

[VileZambonie]

squirt some wd40 in the intake and see what happens

[81C20]

Sounds like you have air in the lines. If someone can help you, have them crank it while you crack the fuel line fittings loose going from the pump to the injectors to get some of the air out. Once you get fuel out, close them up and try starting it again. Once it fires off, keep your foot down until all cylinders are running.