Oil & Fuel First fuel filter change - need some guidence

[sawduster2]

I am in process of making first fuel filter change on my Mahindra 3525. This tractor is new to me but has been serviced by previous owner. Tractor has 400 hours and is as described in my previous post is sputtering at moderate speed. This weekend I removed the petcock on the fuel tank and discovered no blockage as I quickly drained down a couple gallons of fuel! The petcock is not clogged. I removed and replaced the primary filter as per instructions from my much-to-be-desired owner's manual (page attached).
View attachment DOC356.pdf
I feel that several details have been omitted so I request you experienced owners to fill in some blanks:
Should I have filled the primary filter bowl with fuel prior to reinstalling? (I didn't)
What about the secondary fuel assembly? The instructions state to drain both filters but fail to mention about refilling either. If I refill the primary filter will the priming pump refill the secondary bowl or do I have to remove it and fill it also?
Right now the tractor has a new primary filter and when I open either of the bleed screws on the bottom of the fuel bowl I get an occasional drop of fuel when I pump the priming pump which is likely gravity fed fuel from the tank. The petcock is open. I haven't cranked the motor as I know that what I've done so far is incomplete and would only cause more issues.
What step(s) am I missing?

Thanks in advance.

 

[dickfoster]

I am in process of making first fuel filter change on my Mahindra 3525. This tractor is new to me but has been serviced by previous owner. Tractor has 400 hours and is as described in my previous post is sputtering at moderate speed. This weekend I removed the petcock on the fuel tank and discovered no blockage as I quickly drained down a couple gallons of fuel! The petcock is not clogged. I removed and replaced the primary filter as per instructions from my much-to-be-desired owner's manual (page attached).
View attachment 474971
I feel that several details have been omitted so I request you experienced owners to fill in some blanks:
Should I have filled the primary filter bowl with fuel prior to reinstalling? (I didn't)
What about the secondary fuel assembly? The instructions state to drain both filters but fail to mention about refilling either. If I refill the primary filter will the priming pump refill the secondary bowl or do I have to remove it and fill it also?
Right now the tractor has a new primary filter and when I open either of the bleed screws on the bottom of the fuel bowl I get an occasional drop of fuel when I pump the priming pump which is likely gravity fed fuel from the tank. The petcock is open. I haven't cranked the motor as I know that what I've done so far is incomplete and would only cause more issues.
What step(s) am I missing?

Thanks in advance.

Don't know about yours but on my 1538 the second filter, the one with the primer, had an air bleed screw in the top of the filter that you open to allow the air to escape as you prime. The air bleed was not mentioned my operators or service manual. I think it was a 10mm bolt head. Just open it up by backing out the bleed screw, don't remove the screw completely. Once it flows fuel instead of air, close the bleed screw and give the primer cap another couple of pushes before it firms up.
If you have a 1st filter, the one with the paper element, it is low enough in the system that gravity will fill it and the air escapes from the bleed screw in the 2nd filter that's higher up in the system.

 

[sawduster2]

Mahindra 3525 Tier 2
I can now answer my own question in case any other new-to-this-model encounters the same situation. I was fortunate to get a tractor technician who was making service calls in my area yesterday (I'm 50 miles from a Mahindra dealer) to come by and check my problem.

Yes - it is best to fill the new filter & canister with fuel (in this case the primary filter) prior to reinstalling but not necessary. My problem was I didn't pump the primer pump enough. Since both filters were empty (As per owner's manual I had drained both through the 10 mm bleed valve on the bottom of the canister) I had a lot of air in the filter assembly. I pumped the primer for what seemed minutes and quit too soon as I wasn't getting much resistance when pumping. The technician pumped the primer for about 45 seconds and started to get resistance and soon you could hear the fuel pumping back into the tank through the return line.

Note: my fuel system was completely hooked up, the feed line from the petcock was still connected to the primary filter side fitting. Despite what the owner's manual states, the technician claimed that you can't prime the filters by pumping with the feel line disconnected. The tractor started up without an issue and now runs like new as the missing/smoking problem was indeed a clogged filter. I was happy to pay the technician his $60 service call but realize a better written owner's manual could have saved me the week my tractor was down. I hope this might help someone else.