A lot of reading, a lot of thinking, a lot of learning, I finaly got the opportunity to flick the vo switch on my 1997 CTD. The guys at work didnt think it was really running on vo until we smelled the tail pipe, hhmmmm.... Dounuts.. haha. Just a little grunt from some air in the line and she smoothed out. took it down the hwy, noticed a small power loss but only in 5th. PSI will be next thing to check. temps well above 160. thanks to all so far for the learning from this site.

Congratulations! I can never keep up with the initials of things. Is a CTD a Cummins Turbo Diesel? In what.. a truck I assume?

Yes cummins, 2500 4x4 with the 5 speed. got it with 120,000 miles on it in Nov. runs great even on vo

Ok one thing that has happened is I ran around friday on vo, went back to d a couple of times while I worked and at the end of the day. prior to switching vo for the first time(all plumbing in place)this thing didnt happen, what happen was It started and then after 15s I started to starve for fuel, seemed like after I change the d filter and get a bubble. Im thinking return leak or something. only after sitting for hours after vo did this happen. throughout day everything was fine

Depending on your atmospheric temps that could indicate that the oil is getting thick in the filter/lines or it could mean that it's draining back into the tank after it sits for a while. You may have an air leak, I'd re-check your hose connections or watch a section of clear hose right before the IP to see if you're getting any bubbles on VO.

Here are the most common reasons for air leaks on Mercedes:

Hose clamps not tight, hoses to large for fittings, plumbing fittings not tight, or not gooped with Permatex High Performance Thread Sealant with Teflon, or, even better, Permatex High Temperature Thread Sealant with Teflon, copper crush washers at all the banjo bolts and the stock fuel filter hold-down bolt may be bad, or the banjo bolts loose, stock primer pump may be bad (does fuel slosh out around it when you use it?) stock rubber/fabric hose from stock tank to steel line could be bad.

(New copper crush washers are available from the dealers - there's one at each end of the "clear" (ambered by time) plastic lines that run from the stock diesel fuel filter to the front and back side of the injection pump, and another under the 3-way return banjo fitting on the stock fuel filter, and another under the big hex bolt that holds the fuel filter on. Replace all of them, then run the bleeding sequence described in our installation manual.)

Craig

Those banjo fittings/bolts turn out to be tough to find around here. I didn't even think of it, I'll have to try the dodge dealer (trying to relocate the diesel filter in my 12 valve still).

Even this local hydraulics company didn't have the banjo bolts...

I left my diesel filter in the same spot. I think leak was in the top banjo at the d in. I took the manifold drain line and put it into the return. so the top banjo was stubbed but leaking, well know for sure in the morning after sitting 8hrs. liveoily I used stock banjo. I am pulling diesel and svo via mech lift. I put fphe and hted filter in space next to the master cylinder. rover said pulling through filters should be fine on our model. In fact after I plumbed it(not fun at all if you have these cummins unless your arms are 4 1/2') a week before I tried vo and my power went up a little. my pedal moves easier earlier during acceleration.lift pump to IP seems to be working fine. tonight Ive been reading up on ILH because injector Lines were only 120* F.

how did you replumb?

I hope the problem is fixed by now