Ever seen a diesel engine "run away"?

[MEC407]

Photographer Zach Pumphery was in the right place at the right time to capture something many of us have heard about, but probably never seen: a diesel engine "running away." Note that we're not talking about a runaway train; we're talking about the diesel engine runaway phenomenon (click the link for a helpful Wikipedia explanation).

And here is the link to Zach's photo of KCS 4688 in its final moments of self-destruction.

Have any of you ever seen something like this in person? If so, what was it like? What were the sounds like? Were there any last-ditch efforts to try to shut it down?

[Steve F45]

i saw that pic and was like whoaaa! I tried to find the video i saw on youtube a few years ago of a CP or CN GE and employee's trying everything to kill the motor.

[MEC407]

Here is another shot of 4688, taken after the engine finally seized up: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3158451

[PEIR]

I never saw or heard of such a thing happening before. There are a few more pics on http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locoPi ... x?id=90969 and the smoke show is definitely impressive.

[jr145]

I don't get it, did the emergency shutdown button not work?

[pswag115]

Shutdown button won't help as it only shuts off the diesel fuel. This situation happens when oil leaks into the intake (almost always from the turbo) and the engine oil itself provides combustion, with no way to throttle or shut it off. Cutting off the air supply is the only way to stop a runaway, but that is difficult & dangerous to do.

[RickRackstop]

Drill rig engines are required to have emergency shut down dampers that will block off the air side. If you can't control the fuel at least its possible to eliminate the oxygen. They could rig up something in the cab with a real big red PANIC button on it.

[Gadfly]

Old diesel trucks used to do that, sometimes causing wrecks because they couldn't be stopped, or injury to the driver due flying debris (rods, crank, etc) Their emergency stop consisted of a "compression" rack where the compression could be relieved. This would stop the engine from running away.

GF

[Alloy]

It's not like I was ever a pro mechanic, but I used to work on my own cars, and listen to my friends talk about their cars. I had one buddy who did fix cars for a living, but I don't know that he worked on diesels. Surprised I've never heard about this situation. It makes sense when it's explained, and I would think it would be in the news more often. Anyway, thanks for the info.

[GSC]

I've had truck diesels run backwards, usually caused by almost stalling them. On Detroit diesels, the emergency shutdown knob shuts a damper on the air intake to the supercharger and you can shut it down that way, but getting the damper back into position afterward is a pain. I've had a Mack run backwards, and got it to shut down by switching off the key. I was lucky.

A little odd seeing white smoke come from the air cleaner, while the engine makes all kinds of evil metallic noises.

[RickRackstop]

Since this is a "ES" locomotive it must be a GEVO engine. Seems that they have carried this problem over from the FDL engines. Bot not to worry KCS can get an unit exchange engine from the new GEVO rebuild line that GE announced earlier this year. If GE won't add an overspeed shut down damper the railroads should.

[MEC407]

If it was something that happened all the time, I'm sure GE would do exactly what you described -- they wouldn't be able to afford not to. My guess is that it's such an infrequent occurrence that it's cheaper to simply replace the engine than to add a new feature to every locomotive that rolls out of Erie.

[RickRackstop]

If it was something that happened all the time, I'm sure GE would do exactly what you described -- they wouldn't be able to afford not to. My guess is that it's such an infrequent occurrence that it's cheaper to simply replace the engine than to add a new feature to every locomotive that rolls out of Erie.

Maybe GE will give them an extended warranty.