You have a couple of options and all work really well depending on how things are set up and what you can easily reach when you are in the engine room:- If you can get to the lift pump on the engine and the squeeze bulb at the same time, doing both at once will usually push fuel thru the engines injection pump without loosening anything.
- You can loosen the second filter a tad and then pump until fuel fills the first one.. This always works.. As soon as the 2nd filter starts to “spill” tighten it. Then you can see if the engines lift pump with “squeak” the system by trying try both the squeeze bulb and lift pump alternatively and together. What’s a “squeak”–That’s the sound you want to hear coming from the injection pump return check valve and tells you you have good solid fuel inside the fuel rail in the injection pump–No “SQUEAK” and you still have air…Keep pumping until that “squeak” is good each time you pump.
- Loosening anything after the “off engine filters” will allow air out–The squeeze bulb will out pump the engine hand primer by a wide margin in all cases when bleeding air before the hand pump on the engine.
Play with it a tad and see what works for your situation.. Either way, nothing makes it easier to get air out, or will get you up and running faster.
And last, the engine will always bleeds itself better on the “HIGH PRESSURE SIDE” (pumping chambers, injection lines, & injectors) by keeping the throttle at 100% WOT while cranking. As soon as the engine starts to “catch” , back down as needed and let it run at 800-1000 RPM for a few seconds to clear it up on all 6 cylinders.. Avoid warm-ups at the dock–Do them in gear idling around or out of the harbor below 1200 RPM.. Light loads are good for warming up an engine, NO LOAD, or in NEUTRAL, is BAD.