Van Won't Start! (Has a happy ending)

Thursday, 10 June: We are intending to drive Patience to the Magic Hat Brewery, Burlington, VT. Patience won't start! I tried to start her while she was in reverse, without my foot on the clutch, which resulted in a sad sound. I put her in neutral & try to start, she sounds happy, but the engine won't turn over..I am not VERY worried...Maybe she needs a rest, I think...We take Sarah's car for the day.

6 hours later, I try Patience again. Same deal. I call Will, and he talks me through things, and I then notice that the glow plug light wasn't coming on. He thinks maybe a glow plug has died. And/or maybe I flooded the engine. He tells me to plug the engine block in overnight & call him in the morning.

Friday, 11 June: Wake up, call Will, we try to start the van. Glow plug light didn't come on, but the van DID start. I keep Patience idling, Will does some research & I first go to a very nearby mechanic who doesn't normally work on diesels, while waiting to hear back from better mechanics. We take out the factory repair manual, run some tests & determine that the glow plug relay is bad & that there has been oxidation around the glow plug relay & the fuse. We go to Craig in Colchester, VT, about an hour away. He ordered glow plugs & a relay which will get there by the time we do.
He is very nice, worked on VWs for 30+ years, had a homey waiting room with lots of photos & articles..He did an 8mi swim across Lake Champlain not long ago, as a fundraiser.
Fixed: New glow plug relay, new fuse, new temperature sender. He showed me how to jump the glow plugs, in the event that the temp sender or glow plug relay ever fail in the future. (Goes along the general understanding of how the glow plugs work.)
He tells me to feel free to call him if I ever need.
$150, we are on the road & feeling great -- sun is now shining, we got into Montreal (all on veggie) well before sundown. I still have cubies of that golden oil from Morrisville, VT.