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Diesel engine issues

I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Is it bad when your diesel engine does this?
 

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I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
Wasn't my train, it was a buddy's and he took the pics and sent them to me. The initial theory by the diesel shop guys (after the fire dept. came and sprayed foam all over everything to put it out) was that maybe a piston cracked, letting crankcase oil come through and burn. The engine was running the whole time though, despite all efforts to shut it down--so that would point to a fuel problem rather than oil, I'd think.

Either way, it makes for some interesting pics and a canyonful of smoke. :D
 
RockMonkey

RockMonkey

Suddenly Enthusiastic
I've seen some chipped dodges put out that much smoke. I'd be interested to know if that engine is salvagable. If it ran the whole time... Looks like it was on fire for a good long time.
 
I Lean

I Lean

Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
RockMonkey said:
I've seen some chipped dodges put out that much smoke. I'd be interested to know if that engine is salvagable. If it ran the whole time... Looks like it was on fire for a good long time.
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It was burninating for something like an hour. I'd bet the engine will be fixed, pretty much no matter how much is wrong with it--they can't be cheap to replace.
 
crimsonride

crimsonride

huh?
Location
Murray
huh, Twice I've seen loco's with flames coming out of the tops of them. Always made me wonder if it was a "normal" thing or not...Never that much fire though.
 
I Lean

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Mbryson's hairdresser
Vendor
Location
Utah
crimsonride said:
So, just curious here. Why couldn't they shut it down? Don't they have control over that?
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Normally yes...but the fuel shutoff wasn't having any effect. Here's a copy/paste from a smart guy on an Email list:

BCGPER said:
Yeah, I must admit I've had more than my fair share of stack fires. Judging by the amount of actual flamage, I'd guess it's an injector failure. You stated on RME (if I'm remembering right), that they couldn't get it to shut down. That might also indicate a mechanical failure such as a broken piston. Once that kind of failure occurs, the engine will continue running even with the fuel shut off. How is that possible you ask??? The crankcase oil is getting forced into the breather due to the mechanical failure. Although they'll run poorly, diesels will run on just plain motor oil, at least till the crankcase is empty. The only real way to kill an engine in that situation is to cut the air off to it, or overload it to stall it out. I run butterfly valves on my intake systems for just such an occurance.
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J

jrussell3176

Registered User
Location
Salt Lake City, UT
They couldn't shut it down by stopping the fuel supply because it was running on the oil that leaked in from the crankcase. Usually the only way to shut one down in that condition is by stopping the air flow into the engine (since it has another supply of fuel to it keep running). From what I've heard almost all diesel engines are susceptible to this if that crankcase oil finds it's way into the combustion chamber(s).

Edit: I guess all that was pretty much already stated in the above quote.:rofl:
 
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