Diesel Dilemma

One of the first things on my to do list once we got Saninel to the boatyard last year was getting the engine running. The diesel had never been installed, it was just resting on the stringers when we bought the boat. Actually it was rusting on the stringers due to a bad leak from the cockpit floor. The engine was suppose to have zero hours on it after a full rebuild, but nearly a decade of sitting in the

boatyard had took its toll on the beast. The injectors were just balls of rust, the starter was full of rust sludge, and the rags hanging out of the exhaust ports were wet and probably whisking water into the head. Despite its dismal appearance I went forward trying to get it running. I reassembled it with new injectors and starter, mounted and aligned it and to my surprise, it started.



I haven't been able to test run the engine as much as I would have liked since then, but its time to come back alive has come. I recently installed the control cables, fuel tank and wired it in. After some priming and starter time, she fired up. She would start and stop now but I noticed some drips from the fuel injection pump. Actually, four different drips. I promptly consulted with my friend Google on the amount of drips in a gallon and found at least six different answers, why, who knows but none looked good for our fuel efficiency.

Well, next step was to find a rebuilt injection pump. $1225.00.(Which is what we would probably take for Lorie's entire car) Or they could rebuild mine for $725.00. "Oh, okay" I said, "cool, and do you sell rebuild kits?"  Well, yes. $25.  I'm not a gambling man but I will throw down 3% and give it a try. To be continued.