Monday morning we fired up the engine, motored our to get some room and then raised sail. We sailed until the wind died and then fired up the engine as we were south of Poole Island and quite far from Home.
After about thirty minutes the engine sputtered and died. A few attempts to start it indicated a probable fuel problem. I am not a diesel mechanic. I know how to change the oil and that’s pretty much it. It was time to learn. We assumed, being neophytes, and also without a fuel gauge of any kind, that we were out of diesel. The tank is 50 gallons and according to my dead reckoning method of tracking fuel, we should have had 33 gallons. But hey. We all make mistakes.
We put the 2.5 hp outboard on the dinghy and started pushing. It was about four miles to the nearest fuel dock and they offered no promises that we could get a diesel can to run diesel out to the boat. The approach was a dogleg that would be very hard with the push Boat so we resolved to anchor outside and dinghy in with a couple of random containers and hope the fuel attendant would fill them for us.
It took a significant bribe to a mechanic to borrow his crusty old diesel jerry can, which had leaves in it and no lid. Matt made multiple trips in and out, we tried to filter the diesel as best we could and decant it without getting too much gunk out of it.
We got about 13 gallons into the tank and it still wouldn't start. I realized that we had run the system completely dry and would need to bleed it. With no cell signal, I pulled out ye olde paper engine manual and read about the bleed points. The problem was that the manual was good for the engine itself but I had no understanding of the rest of the system.
The tank is below the engine, the only pump on the engine is a tiny lift pump to the filter. I twiddled that pump for about an hour before I got diesel into the filter. I kept opening the racor (which is above the engine and the tank) and putting more diesel into it.
Eventually, my thumb now red with the signature beta paint, the engine started. We ran it home on pretty high throttle, and as soon as I reduced throttle to catch the mooring, the engine died. Exhausted and without any energy to trouble shoot further, we went home.
The next weekend, the engine wouldn't start. We added more diesel to the tank, scratching our heads in confusion. We pumped the pump for hours. It wouldn't start.
Finally a friend brought us an old hand primer from an outboard fuel tank, which we put onto the downstream barb for the racor, and pumped diesel out of a jug and into the system. Three squeezes in the bleed points were squirting diesel. Thank you jesus. The engine started.
We didn't really run it much that weekend as we were preparing for the upcoming spring cruise.
The following friday we wanted to set out for Lloyd's creek, but the engine wouldn't start. We prepared to put the outboard primer back on while matt went in for a little more diesel in our loose jug to prime with, and left to myself, I decided to pull all the filters and lo and behold the racor filter was black and clogged . . . I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe that they last a lot longer than they do, but it was the original filter. I pulled the engine filter too, replaced both, primed the system and voila! The engine is happy again . . .
So moral of the story -- ENGINE MAINTENANCE IS IMPORTANT.
It took a significant bribe to a mechanic to borrow his crusty old diesel jerry can, which had leaves in it and no lid. Matt made multiple trips in and out, we tried to filter the diesel as best we could and decant it without getting too much gunk out of it.
We got about 13 gallons into the tank and it still wouldn't start. I realized that we had run the system completely dry and would need to bleed it. With no cell signal, I pulled out ye olde paper engine manual and read about the bleed points. The problem was that the manual was good for the engine itself but I had no understanding of the rest of the system.
The tank is below the engine, the only pump on the engine is a tiny lift pump to the filter. I twiddled that pump for about an hour before I got diesel into the filter. I kept opening the racor (which is above the engine and the tank) and putting more diesel into it.
Eventually, my thumb now red with the signature beta paint, the engine started. We ran it home on pretty high throttle, and as soon as I reduced throttle to catch the mooring, the engine died. Exhausted and without any energy to trouble shoot further, we went home.
The next weekend, the engine wouldn't start. We added more diesel to the tank, scratching our heads in confusion. We pumped the pump for hours. It wouldn't start.
Finally a friend brought us an old hand primer from an outboard fuel tank, which we put onto the downstream barb for the racor, and pumped diesel out of a jug and into the system. Three squeezes in the bleed points were squirting diesel. Thank you jesus. The engine started.
We didn't really run it much that weekend as we were preparing for the upcoming spring cruise.
The following friday we wanted to set out for Lloyd's creek, but the engine wouldn't start. We prepared to put the outboard primer back on while matt went in for a little more diesel in our loose jug to prime with, and left to myself, I decided to pull all the filters and lo and behold the racor filter was black and clogged . . . I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe that they last a lot longer than they do, but it was the original filter. I pulled the engine filter too, replaced both, primed the system and voila! The engine is happy again . . .
So moral of the story -- ENGINE MAINTENANCE IS IMPORTANT.
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