Hi Al and All:
A "RUNAWAY" (deserves all capitals if you've ever experienced one) is
when a Diesel or Compression Ignition Engine gets an unlimited supply of
fuel and continues to increase in RPM's until it disassociates into it's
component parts...way beyond field stripping, maybe to subatomic level.
Since an injector supplies such a small amount of fuel with each spray,
shutting off the electric power to the fuel pump and fuel starving the
engine that way is not an option... the filter cans probably hold 3 quarts
and the engine will come apart long before it runs out of fuel.
Soooo, the only option left if you can't cut off the fuel supply to the
injection pump is to make the mixture too rich to run by shutting off the
air supply to the engine. When my M35A2 ran away last weekend (or 2) I had a
diesel savvy club member (thank you Larry Damour) present who pulled the
mushroom of the air filter and covered the opening (and the one around back)
with various body parts while I sat behind the wheel trying to pull the
"Engine Stop" control 3 feet out of the dash. The engine only slowed it's
increase in RPM's when he covered the inlet and did not die until he covered
the 3/4" opening in back.
Now, when I start the truck, I crank it with the Engine Stop pulled out
and slowly let it back in until the engine starts, anticipating the runaway
from the governor that has not yet happened. I guess ya could say I am a bit
gun shy now. I would strongly suggest that anyone buying a M series diesel
make sure the fuel cutoff linkage inside the injector pump moves freely by
finger movement before you try to crank over your long dormant engine....or
you might just get a lesson in how the Universe was formed by the big bang
theory.
Ron
PS As was pointed out to me, the LD 465 series engines use a pressed on
flywheel gear ring, which is at about the mid upper thigh area when sitting
behind the wheel. If the Engine Stop don't work when ya pull it and the
engine is winding up, get the hell out of the cab or find yourself a wooden
platform with roller skates on it cause you won't be walking for a long
time.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Apr 04 2001 - 08:10:49 PDT