September Trip
I went down the checked on the boat two weeks ago. The drive down 395 is spectacular. By far my favorite stretch of road. It hugs the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains and has some of the most majestic and rugged views. I took a small detour and drove the June lake loop. It was phenomenal and recommend it if you are ever down that way. Next camping trip will be in that area.
The boat had no issues from Hurricane Hilary. Talking to my neighbor at the marina the storm was mild and lost a lot of power coming in over Baja. The rear cockpit was full of rain water. I need to flush the drain lines next time I have the boat out of the water.
I reinstalled the diesel return line from the injectors in the fuel system. Bled the fuel system. The engine still wasn't starting. My neighbor came over and helped me with troubleshooting the issue. It was interesting seeing the parallels between diesel engine troubleshooting and debugging software.
The diesel engine in Suddenly is very simple. Based on an Isuzu DL201. Manufactured in the 1960s by Starrlet; A company out of Tampa FL, which closed down in the 1980s. Parts are difficult to find. We figured out that the issue was with cylinder number 4's glow plug. Unfortunately it failed in such a way that it shorted directly to the engine block. So the wire that runs from the cockpit control panel to the glow plugs also needs to be replaced. Now I need to find a replacement glow plug, which is proving to be difficult.
The plug has some markings on it: JKC, 5G, 10.5v. So far no luck in finding a match based off that. I will likely replace all 4 once I find a proper replacement.