As a retired tractor trailer driver with 40 years experience including the military at 18. I was told years ago to keep a spare fuel filter and a couple quarts of ATF in the truck, along with the tools required to releave the fuel system of air if you run out with the knowledge needed to bleed the system, some diesel were not very difficult, but some were horribly difficult. The ATF was used to prefill the fuel filter, that takes a diesel fuel prefill, but diesel is dirty smelly and difficult to manage. The ATF is easy and relatively clean compared with diesel fuel. With the added benefit of cleaning everything it touches in the fuel system, plus removing most any carbon in the combustion chamber. That you will see blow out the exhaust till it runs the to fuel. An old Coast Guard Master Machinist told me about that trick at the very beginning, as a helper to service old school White 9000 tractors with Cumins 220 NA 955 ci straight six’s. The driver’s would always say ran better climbing hills.
I recall a tractor I had, an IH 1086 - don't run it out or you have to use a tiny hand pump on the engine to manually pump fuel up and bleed the air out. Pain in the ass - did that ONE TIME. Never let it run out again.
Yea a few diesels were fitted with a primer pump. That could be used to save the batteries from too much pain, to crank the engine and pump over.
