Perhaps the Lock-N-Stitch, Inc. method used to repair cracks in a driving wheel hub might also be of use in repairing the cracks in the D17000.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=34049

The companies website mentions designing fixes for flaws in other engines.

http://www.locknstitch.com

It's been a long time since I considered this repair technique but if I recall correctly it depends on having a certain amount of mass in the cracked area into which it is installed. Some areas of the ehads might....but there are many fairly slender parts of the heads which contain such things as inlet, exhaust and coolant passages which are probably the areas that are cracking due to relative weakness. Maybe some of the guys that have the cracked heads handy can check it out and get better information. It would be nice if this could lengthen the working life of some of them.

dave

Since there is already so much good information in this thread, it seems an appropriate place to ask this question.

What is the best lubricant to use in the reverser's air cylinders on a 44 tonner? The manual says to use something called GE D50E5B oil, but I am having trouble finding information on that, let alone a source.

This unit has leather packing in the cylinders.

Our society was given a 23 ton GE switch engine. Some time in the 70's the original engine and generator were replaced. Then the bell housing cracked and it was put o/s for about 40 years.
We pulled the injectors and sent them to be re calibrated, then poured a mixture of ATF and motor oil into the cylinders. We added rear engine mounts as well as repairing the cracks.
Finally, the engine could be easily barred over.

It has been awhile since I've cleaned a 44 Tonner reverser. The RR I worked for had a can of brake cylinder grease that we used for both the air cylinders on the reverser and the brake cylinders. I think the grease was GE supplied. I recall that after I cleaned the bores, I applied a very thin coat of the stuff to the cylinder walls. If you can find the specifications for the grease for the brake cylinders, I don't see why you couldn't use that on your reverser. Once you've cleaned and lubed the reverser, it should properly function at a very low air pressure, 20 psi, if I remember correctly.

For leather packing cups the AAR brake cylinder grease M-914 is good. An oil which was used for both GE and Westinghouse Electric magnet valve cylinders was Texaco Stazon H. I am not sure it is still available. An alternative is refrigeration compressor oil that is a mineral oil, not synthetic. You are looking for an oil that is wax free. In looking at my GE “Standard Materials, Parts, and Finishers” book from 1950, the lubrication section only goes up to D6B13. I would guess your reference is fairly modern.

I worked on a 44 tonner in 2002 and found that Cat still stocked seals, copper rings , and other small parts. When I asked the parts guy he told me many ranches still used elderly Cat graders on their ranch roads. Never had problems with the heads, of course they used anti-freeze. By chance I found a D17000 irrigation pump and got all the fuel injection and other parts with the landowner's permission of course. As for a suitable grease for airbrake equipment I found food grade grease will not attack rubber seals. I had run out of the AAR specified grease and my supplier was out also. The soda ash plant where I had switching locomotives also made food grade baking soda and they gave me a case. It worked very well and we had winter temps down to -20 degrees.

Thanks for the advice on lubricants. I've gotten the reverser to move smoothly now. You are spot-on about needing a wax-free grease, before I started work the pistons had seized due to a buildup of hard material that resembled dirty paraffin. Of course, I have no idea when this reverser was last serviced.

The locomotive I am working on is Canadian National 4, built in 1956. It is one of the last four 44 tonners built, and has 6-cylinder naturally aspirated CAT D342 engines. Only CN 3, 4 and 5 and one more unit for an American shortline were built with these engines.

This locomotive was sold by CN in 1967 to a pipe mill in Camrose, AB. At that time the new owner obtained a complete set of manuals and parts books from GE and Caterpillar, which is what I am working off of.

It is indeed amazing how much stuff you can still get from Caterpillar for these old engines. Probably helps us that a division of the world's largest CAT dealer (Finning) is located nearby in Edmonton.

We found when going with a D17000 part number and description to Giles & Ransome, the local Caterpillar dealer in SouthEast Pennsylvania, it was best not to tell the clerk what we were installing it on, lest he immediately say "We don't have locomotive parts", and refuse to fetch something that was in his stock.

I am watching this tread with interest… In our case we have a 1953 GE 80 ton center cab with Cummins LI 600 diesels… possibly harder to maintain/find parts for than a Cat D17000.

In our case the locomotive is a core part of our collection… used in Nevada at the test site as part of the Mars nuclear rocket development program. We (try) to maintain the locomotive as a working, operable locomotive, for light duty use, but would retire it before re-engining… possibly as a runnable but not run locomotive. Currently one engine has a blown head gasket… we have located one, and/or can have one made… These engines are known for liner leaks… not our problem but could be in the future…
We have IDed several takeout engines, but the owners are less than communicative, and as a state museum our purchasing is clumsy at best…

I would suggest that part of this issue is that the tourist/train ride side of our profession is not generally a great business model, with most of us living on old junk, using it up and looking for more old junk… Instead of collecting “museum” artifacts which we preserve and use gently. Alternately we gut and rebuild, re-engineer to make our old locomotive “modern”… possibly good mechanical decisions, but not good preservation…


Randy

Great rationale for different collections having different rules and replication. No reason you can't do both. I think a real problem is that we haven't developed another business model that is as useful for both providing a memorable experience to visitors and attracting railfans in to volunteer.

The best penetrating oil... 50/50 mixture of acetone and transmission fluid. Works great.

How does a 569 generator compare to the output and wiring of what is in a 44 ton from the factory?