Forrest Anderson's Brackish Empirical Anecdotes
Posted by: Randy Anderson
Week of August 31st
I got to view the results of a failure analysis on a small Caterpillar engine that had the oil filter incorrectly installed. All the oil drained from the engine the safety system failed to shut down until the engine seized.
In 35 years I’ve never seen a connecting rod get this hot.
I got to view the results of a failure analysis on a small Caterpillar engine that had the oil filter incorrectly installed. All the oil drained from the engine the safety system failed to shut down until the engine seized.
In 35 years I’ve never seen a connecting rod get this hot.
Forrest Anderson's Brackish Empirical Anecdotes
Posted by: Randy Anderson
Week of August 24th
Diamond Back Rattler Protects Randy from Texas State Trooper
The quickest way to the job site this week was a 100 mile drive down a very lonely 2-lane road (which only sees 1 or 2 cars per day). About 80 miles into the trip, I came over a hill and a Texas state trooper was sitting along the road. Fortunately, I was driving about 10 miles under the speed limit. The trooper pulled on the road and followed me for about 20 miles before pulling me over. The trooper cautiously approached my rental car with his hand on his revolver and a very serious look. From about 10 feet away he asked what I was doing on this road (driving to work of course). When he walked up to the door to get my driver’s license and registration he jumped back frantically. A 4 foot diamond back rattle snakes was directly under the driver’s door. After checking my ID and my story, he decided everything was okay and wished me a good day. I have been wondering what the trooper did with the snake after I drove away???
Randy Observes Record Peak Firing Pressure (4400 psi) on Worthington Mainliner Engine – NOT GOOD
This week, I worked on a Worthington Mainliner that was detonating badly and sending out lots of NOx emissions. To help identify the problem, we started by collecting balance data for the engine. We observed one cylinder with a peak firing pressure (PFP) of 4,400 psi and two others with PFPs of 2,800 psi. These engines have a maximum rated PFP of 800 psi. It turned out that the air/fuel controller was not properly adjusting the turbocharger wastegate. By adding about 10 “Hg of air manifold pressure, the detonation disappeared and the engine began to operate very good (with much lower emissions).
Diamond Back Rattler Protects Randy from Texas State Trooper
The quickest way to the job site this week was a 100 mile drive down a very lonely 2-lane road (which only sees 1 or 2 cars per day). About 80 miles into the trip, I came over a hill and a Texas state trooper was sitting along the road. Fortunately, I was driving about 10 miles under the speed limit. The trooper pulled on the road and followed me for about 20 miles before pulling me over. The trooper cautiously approached my rental car with his hand on his revolver and a very serious look. From about 10 feet away he asked what I was doing on this road (driving to work of course). When he walked up to the door to get my driver’s license and registration he jumped back frantically. A 4 foot diamond back rattle snakes was directly under the driver’s door. After checking my ID and my story, he decided everything was okay and wished me a good day. I have been wondering what the trooper did with the snake after I drove away???
Randy Observes Record Peak Firing Pressure (4400 psi) on Worthington Mainliner Engine – NOT GOOD
This week, I worked on a Worthington Mainliner that was detonating badly and sending out lots of NOx emissions. To help identify the problem, we started by collecting balance data for the engine. We observed one cylinder with a peak firing pressure (PFP) of 4,400 psi and two others with PFPs of 2,800 psi. These engines have a maximum rated PFP of 800 psi. It turned out that the air/fuel controller was not properly adjusting the turbocharger wastegate. By adding about 10 “Hg of air manifold pressure, the detonation disappeared and the engine began to operate very good (with much lower emissions).
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