• What locomotive damage does this do?

  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

  by Noel Weaver
 
Could be a turbocharger problem, I would put the unit on idle in this
weather and tell the dispatcher.
Noel Weaver

  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
Clogged air filters, improper rack setting, lagging turbo, etc., could be the cause. Running rich never hurt anything before. If it was gas powered, fouled plugs would result. Incomplete combustion doesn't harm the diesel, in fact, it might even be running cooler, due to the fact all the fuel is not burning. Deposits could form, in the combustion chamber, if allowed to run like this, for extremely excessive periods, but they will burn right off, once the problem is resolved. Makes for some interesting photos, though....... :-D

  by blippo
 
You get locomotives smoke like that intermittently. Mostly older GE's. I've had a newer locomotive that continuously smoked like that even when in idle and it eventually shut down. Mechanical told me it might be a turbocharger problem.

  by charlie6017
 
Cool photos!

  by cifn2
 
those are awesome photos. I was going along the railroad tracks not too long ago, and a train was sitting at light, it was just before daylight in the morning hours of the winter. This train was getting ready to roll it was a CSX unsure about locomotive type I don't know them apart yet lol. Anyway it was starting to rev, the smoke was pouring out and it started moving and we followed it on the road running adjacent to it and we saw smoke and some flames for a while, then once it warmed up and got going the flames disappeared as far as we could see. We thought we were going to have to call the Fire Department lol

  by blippo
 
You want to see some sight, you should see it when it is shooting flames when you go through a tunnel

  by rocketman
 
GOLDEN-ARM wrote:Clogged air filters, improper rack setting, lagging turbo, etc., could be the cause. Running rich never hurt anything before. If it was gas powered, fouled plugs would result. Incomplete combustion doesn't harm the diesel, in fact, it might even be running cooler, due to the fact all the fuel is not burning. Deposits could form, in the combustion chamber, if allowed to run like this, for extremely excessive periods, but they will burn right off, once the problem is resolved. Makes for some interesting photos, though....... :-D
Maybe if it was a GE...

EMD's rarely run that bad unless something is seriously screwed up in it. Black means too much fuel is burning and has no where to go. I would guess it's one of three things:

1 - Turbo is shot - can't spin, can't provide the engine with enough air, and combustion gases are being backed up in the manifold. As the combustion process backs up and RPM's drop the governor is going to compensate with more fuel. This could be caused by anything too - Gear Train, stub shaft, over running clutch, internal disintigration of the turbo itself to name a few root causes.

2 - Turbo Over Running Clutch - The turbo depends on this clutch to free wheel above the sixth notch(?) otherwise the turbo is gear driven to supply adequate air for combustion (two stroke scavenger). If this pack of gears won't let the turbo freewheel and the governor is giving the motor eight notch fuel - the fuel is going to back up somewhere. Unlike GE's I haven't witnessed too many EMD's shoot flames (atleast out of the stack).

Symptoms one and two can cause blow back through the turbo which will often melt the air filters.

3 - blown power assembly. If a piston has self destructed or a valve drops - the engine will still run - even while the P.A. literally destroys itself. Now in this case the tip of the unit injector on that cylinder head could become damaged. Allowing an uncontrolled amount of fuel to pump into the cylinder and subsequently into the exhaust manifled and turbo. Some GE's where notorious for blowing the tips off the injector nozzles in the early days of electronic fuel injection, I'm told.

These are some basics. Anythings possible especially on the railroad.

  by U-Haul
 
Thanl you for all of your responses.

STAR TREK 40TH ANNIVERSARY