As the saying goes, more haste less speed. So I was servicing my JTD yesterday and having not changed the diesel filter in 5 years decided to include that. So I duly undid all the pipes from the top of the housing, disconnected the cables and unbolted the filter housing from its mounting bracket, removed, fitted the new filter, reversed the above process and came to start the car. Alas she would not start. First time ever, in 7 years of ownership. I re-looked over everything to double and triple check, was convinced I hadn't missed anything.

I then decided that the new filter must be dodgey and not letting diesel through, despite me backing off the banjo bolts, cranking the car and visually confirming that diesel was present at all pipes. Took the filter off again put another on and then saw where I had gone wrong. There are 3 banjo bolts. Two are identical but one has a bypass valve in it and much smaller holes. This third one should be at the top of the filter housing. I had put it on the output side and so insufficient diesel was getting to the engine.

It may well be that I am the only silly muppet out there but just in case someone else has a Jim Hensen moment I thought I would share this experience.

Top tip gp. Did the car start as soon as you swapped the banjo bolts over?

Was there much crud and water in the filter and housing?

Hiya WMF

It started sweetly and on the button like a long lost friend.

No the diesel I poured out was clean. To be honest I have never had any issues with condensation or crud in any of my diesels. Maybe because I never let the tanks go below 50% and every month I put 100mls of Acetone + Redex in the tank.

Even the diesel I poured out I filtered through a piece of bandage and put it back in the filter via the top hole and then topped it up with Wynns Diesel Flush.