Engine failure during dyno test

[veggie]

Interesting video.
Diesel engine self destructs during a dyno test.
You can here the speed being ramped in steps.
Listen closely approx. 1/2 way into the video.
You will here something like a bearing seizing. Shortly after, the thing disassembles itself...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUkXriHjQeI&feature=fvsr

veggie

[Carlb]

pretty cool

[LowGear]

So does Twiddlely Dull have to clean it up now that he wasn't paying attention to the test bed and didn't shut it down when the "bearing" noise started?

Casey

[rcavictim]

So does Twiddlely Dull have to clean it up now that he wasn't paying attention to the test bed and didn't shut it down when the "bearing" noise started?

Casey

He's employed now as an Air Traffic Controller with the FAA at a small airport.

[BioHazard]

Holy crap. A few months ago I found a big dump truck over on the side of the road, a few feet in front of it was a big oil slick and a bunch of engine parts. I was wondering how a piston got all the way onto the street...probably something similar happened to his engine. 

[Westcliffe01]

 I was walking on a Sunday afternoon in a small town, right in the downtown area.  Heard the sound of a large engine throttled up and came upon a concrete pumper truck pumping concrete up to the second floor of a building where a floor was being cast.  While I watched, the engine developed a rattle which became a knock which then changed to sounding like several giants at work with sledgehammers and the next thing a piston came out the side of the block and the big end cap went through the sump.  The oil vapors from the breeched block ignited immediately while the engine continued to run.  The operator leapt out the cab, then ran back to turn off the engine, then got out a fire extinguisher and put out the fire.  Whole thing took about 20 seconds.

After looking at the mess, they figured out pretty quick that they needed another pumper truck or they were going to have to chip out the whole floor when it set up.  The outriggers on the pumper truck were down so unless the engine ran it couldn't be moved.  They started the trashed engine back up and lowered the boom and retracted the outriggers and drove the truck out to the main street, all with no oil in the sump and no oil pressure.  Engine was trashed anyway, but they had to get the job done and a second pumper truck ordered in immediately.

Bad day for the contractor...

[WStayton]

Hi Guys!

  When I worked at Ford, I used to watch "engine destruct" tests for amusement (what can I say, there weren't many topless/bottomless bars in Dearborn!  <grin>) which was a part of the "Passenger Acceptance Standards" tests that everything had to pass before it could be produced . . . anyhow, the engine destruct test called for an engine with coolant and lubricant surrounded by some gauge sheet metal (I'm thinking 20 gauge, but its been a long time . . ) and they warmed the engine up to operating temperature in a dyno cell and then propped the throttle wide open with no load and left it until it quit or for two hours, which ever came first.  If it stopped, and almost all did, no piece bigger than a quarter of an inch (I think) could leave the confines of the sheet metal "cage".  Results were VERY unpredictable - some engines would just, slowly, as they overheated, wind down and quit others would have a spectacular explosion and launch pistons nearly through the concrete block walls of the dyno cell, to say nothing about the sheet metal shield/cage!  It was always interesting to see the result and there was alway a pool on whether or not the engine would pass, and if it failed, how bad! 

What really surprised me was that one of the worst offenders was the early 427 side-oiler version - almost every one of them required extensive tweaking before they would pass for any vehicle that they wanted to put them in - something about the main-bearing bosses being inadequate and allowing the crankshaft enough room to move around and wipe the main bearings and then break the crank and then . . . for want of a nail, a shoe was lost, for want of a shoe, etc., etc. until there were only unrecognizeable pile of pieces-parts left.  It was fun to watch, if only to see the engineer in charge of that engine cry when it failed spectacularly!  What can I say, it was more socially acceptable then pulling the wings off of butterflies!  <grin>

  My two cents, which is worth exactly what you paid for it!

Regardz,

Wayne Stayton

[veggie]

Hey Wayne,

That's an interesting anecdote. Thanks for sharing it.

veggie