It's Alive

After we got back from a fantastic vacation touring P.E.I, on our motorcycle I managed to sneak a little time in to work on Solstice's engine and fuel system. There were about 8 gallons of 6 year old diesel fuel in the tank that needed to be removed before I could do much of anything so I started there. I used a very low tech method of removing the fuel, it consisted of a short length of hose and an old outboard primer bulb I had kicking around. I tried to get a siphon going but the fuel tank is quite low in the boat and it just wouldn't work so I had to pump. It only took about 20 minutes or so. I was quite surprised at how good the fuel looked but I just didn't trust it. Next I removed and drained the fuel lines on the engine and here is were things looked nasty! I am glad I didn't try to push that yuck through the injectors. I slapped in a new secondary fuel filter that came with the boat,put the fuel lines back on the engine and primed the system from a one gallon jug sitting on the sole. I didn't trust that the old fuel hoses hadn't broken down inside so I wanted to wait until I replaced them before I used the fuel tank. I Installed a battery, turned the key and......nothing. Not even a click. Checked out the rest of the boat systems and the same thing....Okay, this could be bad. At no point did I think that maybe the battery I had stolen from work to do this little experiment could be dead, but after chasing fuses and loose connections all over the boat, I finally check and it showed a whopping 10.2 volts. DOH! I had just charged it before I went on vacation but the tractor it is used in must have a slow draw on it's electrical system. Take out the battery, put it on the charger and take a much needed shower....The next morning I put the battery back in and turned the key....nothing. Okay.....this time all the rest of the systems worked fine and after about 30 seconds of searching I found a bad fuse holder at the engine panel. Sitting for six years on the hard had taken it's toll and it crumbled in my hand. A couple minutes later I had spliced in a new fuse and turned the key, we have tone, the low oil pressure buzzer came on! I advanced the throttle a bit and pressed the start button, the engine turned over and started almost at once! I had disconected the raw water pump so as not to burn out the little rubber impeller by running it dry, so I didn't want to let it run too long, but it sounded fantastic. No smoke, no hesitation, just the sound of a well tuned diesel. It is a relief to know I won't have any huge expenditures on the engine right away. New fuel hoses and a new primary filter element should only run me about $25.00 or so. I plan on putting those in after I clean and degrease the engine compartment, then I will move on to installing the new force 10 water heater my boss gave me. Yes, you heard right, my boss gave me a nice stainless water heater that had come with one of his boats and as near as I can tell it has never been used. I ripped out the old one that had nearly rusted in half and the new one will fit in it's space with LOTS of room to spare. I will try to post pictures soon.
Dennis