Backing up a bit to recap the saga of our misfiring engine: After arriving at beautiful Monterey Bay, resting and then seeing the sights we had a few days before our next weather window opened up for heading south. It seemed like a good opportunity to get a head start on some maintenance that would soon be coming due on our motor. So I changed the oil & associated filter and both filters on the fuel system. I bled the fuel system but still had a hell of a time getting her started again. Finally it ran but not great.
The next day she wouldn't start and the bleeding began all over again until she finally came back to life. After the third day of the same we hired a mechanic off the docks who was was recommended by a guy that was working on a nearby boat. That was mechanic #1. I called him and he agreed to come down the next morning. He showed up and worked on the engine for an hour, mostly bleeding the fuel lines and he did give me a good lesson on how the fuel system works. The engine still wasn’t running well and he had to take off for another job but promised to come back in an hour or two. Six hours later he showed quite drunk and said that he had a party to go to. We encouraged him to be carful and enjoy the party. The next day he was down on the dock when 3 police men and a uniformed harbor patrol guy kicked him out of the marina. Too bad as he seemed like a good guy who just didn't have everything sorted out quite yet.
We then went to the nearby Monterey Bay Boatworks and met their mechanic Glen who seem very knowledgeable, especial about our particular engine and more importantly he was sober. We made an appointment for him to visit our boat the next day but he didn’t come into work that day. It turned out that he ended up in the hospital so his boss Eric, came instead. Eric was a very nice and a concerned guy who did a good job of bleeding our fuel system and getting her started again but the next morning we were back to step one with a non starting engine. Eric stoped by and to his credit he admitted that he was stumped and so he called a full-time mechanic they often use, Kevin from from Blue Water Marine. Kevin was “slammed” with work but in spite of that he listened to our predicament and agreed to try to fit us into his busy schedule. That was yesterday.
Today dawned all bright and shiny. I went of a walk along the wharf. The first thing I noticed was surfers out in the water which I hadn't seen at that spot before and the water seemed so calm.
The next thing I knew was, cowabunga, the swells started to come in and the surfers were jumping on them.
In spite of all that had happened recently with our engine, I took the beautiful sunrise as an auspicious sign.
Kevin showed up a little later as promised. He got right to work and seemed to know our engine type intimately. After hearing the history of our problem, he instantly went right to the source of the issues which turned out to be the gasket on our secondary fuel filter gasket. It was an undersized O-ring when it should have been a copper crush washer. He changed that and instantly the engine started up and ran noticeably better. He then made a few quick adjustments to the throttle and the engine sounded like it’s old self again. Now the proof of the pudding will be if it starts up tomorrow morning and I’m feeling quite optimistic about that.
Here is the wee beastie that seems to have been the source of all our troubles.
It's has been a long day. Bev and I celebrated it with a walk around the harbor at sunset. We didn't get back until after dark.
So much seems to have happened in the space of just one day. I hope and pray that our engine starts tomorrow...
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