On Tue, 12 Oct 2010 11:46:22 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Skip, after reading this and responses, a couple questions.

1. Ever thought of setting up an isolated starting battery?
Some boaters keep the house and starting batteries isolated.

Welcome back Vic.

Yes, a lot of boats have isolated starting batteries. It's good
insurance, also a switchable voltage meter is a good idea for keeping
an eye on things, and a switch for paralleling the batteries in an
emergency start situation.

I'm still concerned that there is some other issue with Skip's engine
however. Usually if a small diesel will crank, it will also start
right away. That's assuming that compression is good and that the
injection system is not leaking air someplace. Until confident that
all possible slow starting issues were under control, I'd run it for a
short time every day just to be sure that everything was OK.