Diesel Runaway? Anyone had it happen?

BuzzLand · Oct 22, 2011

Just wondering if and how people get this happening to their lannie.

I've seen one comment on Youtube claiming a landrover engine withstood it buy draining the sump dry.

Do people carry expanding foam / fire extinguisher to block off the intake?
Which Fire extinguisher is best to use?

I'd not even heard about this until a few hours ago...

Stoneytd5 · Oct 22, 2011

Put it into gear and stall it yes had it happen on a few customers cars.. luckily they wasnt auto's

jamesmartin · Oct 22, 2011

or you could stall it

fett · Oct 23, 2011

what can you do if its an auto??

i got my first doozil now

ricc · Oct 23, 2011

ive been driving diesels of one sort or another for 40 odd years and never had it happen to me , not something that id worry about.. only ever heard of it in the last couple of years.... guess it mostly happens when turbo seals go...which have only really got common this century. i gather blocking the air intake with your balled up shirt is a handy way to stop it if it does happen.

Sir DD of Cumbria · Oct 23, 2011

So what is it? never heardf of it!

karlosthejackel · Oct 23, 2011

Ive had it happen on me a few times when carrying out the smoke test on the MOT. You can usually tell when its gonna happen as you get diesel knock first. If i hear the knock i abandon the test and dont rev it no more. Scares the life outa me!

Dartmore its basically the engine running on its own oil. It will rev past the limiter and you cant turn it off til you stall it or it blows

gtland · Oct 23, 2011

Had it happen on a Volvo truck.
Turbo blew, but pulled into side of road and stopped. Volvo mechanic came out, checked dipstick and oil was low but still there. (oil was bypassing turbo seals). So, new turbo fitted, engine started, (cab still raised) and all seemed ok. But revs started increasing slowly, then rapidly, and followed by a loud bang with a cloud of steam & smoke!
The engine was running on engine oil that had been spat into the intercooler when the turbo failed. Couldn`t stall it as cab was raised. Didn`t think of it at the time, but a jacket or summat to block the air intake should have choked it off.
The garage doing the repair had to foot a big bill, after a lot of arguing, as they should have cleaned out the intercooler first.
Any of you with smoky engines due to worn turbo seals beware! The oil getting past the turbo seals will drop the level in the sump and also risk run-on. Not a common outcome, but a very expensive one if it does happen!

fett · Oct 23, 2011

so if you drain the sump oil while its doing it does it stop it or knacker your engine?

Pikey · Oct 23, 2011

fett said:
so if you drain the sump oil while its doing it does it stop it or knacker your engine?

what does ya think???

storm99 · Oct 23, 2011

fett said:
so if you drain the sump oil while its doing it does it stop it or knacker your engine?

I dont think you'd have time...plus...running with no oil would probably be insane.

Series71 · Oct 23, 2011

I heard that if you use sea water in the fuel system it will cool the engine down enough for it to run on the sump oil,also you get over 100 mpg ....is it true ?

fett · Oct 23, 2011

fett · Oct 23, 2011

there is a good vid on tube of a kiwi people carrier running on its sump oil. it took about 15 mins to die

BuzzLand · Oct 23, 2011

Series71 said:
I heard that if you use sea water in the fuel system it will cool the engine down enough for it to run on the sump oil,also you get over 100 mpg ....is it true ?

The seawater would knacker the seals and rubber eh?

V8jon · Oct 23, 2011

Best thing to do is stand back and wait for the bang!

If you watch this you'll understand

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zx3qKX_Pno&feature=youtube_gdata_player]Runaway Diesel Defender 200 TDI - YouTube[/ame]

davek0974 · Oct 23, 2011

Probably need a head-skim doing

DEF49 · Oct 23, 2011

A diesel engine will run on the oil in the air filter from the breather pipe on a worn engine have to keep it clean. had a few runaways on chieftain tanks when the bellow seals go have to drop the seat close the hatch and wait till all the noise goes then see if anybody got killed.

Optimus Prime · Oct 23, 2011

co2 extinguisher into the air intake would surely stop it as there would be no oxygen (as seen on scrapheap challenge I think)

fett · Oct 23, 2011

yeah but it didnt work on scrapheap challenge did it!

if you take the oil out lets hope it runs outta fuel before it chews itself to bits!

Diesel Runaway? Anyone had it happen?

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