I had a chance to perform a detailed inspection of the LI-600 engines on our GE 80 tonner. The front engine is stuck, most likely from water in one or more cylinders. One head is missing and the cylinder wall is a bit rusty so this may be the one that is stuck.

The rear engine does run, however the no. 2 connecting rod bearing disintegrated and apparently the engine was kept in service for a while longer probably until the knock became too much to listen to. The crankpin is now of course galled. I have not yet taken a mic to it to find out how much metal was lost. Actually only one liner was still somewhat intact, the other one was in the bottom of the pan in a million pieces.

I need to be able to move this locomotive under its own power to get it out of where it is at and into a new location for rebuilding, probably two miles total. So I am now thinking if there is a way that I can run the engine on five cylinders for long enough to get it where it needs to go.

Some of the issues with doing this would be whether it would be better to try to clean up the journal as much as possible, put in a new liner, disconnect the injector and engage the compression release on that cylinder, or to remove the connecting rod, tie the piston and rod out of the way and install a machined clamp that would provide some of the weight of the rod and seal off the oil hole.

Anyone ever have to do something like this on a locomotive engine? Would such a temporary repair work?

Out of the box - rent a Bigass welder on a trailer and run the leads to the traction motors on one truck. I've moved a lot of streetcars this way.

dave

Great idea Dave!
It sounds like you might have a usable set of parts between the 2 engines in the locomotive. In my experience with automobile engine repairs/rebuilds, you're at risk for breaking the crank and ruining the block if you run without the weight of the piston and rod on the journal. The dummy weight is an interesting idea, but I beleive there is a harmonic effect of the rotation of the assembly that can not be replicated by a free wheeling weight. It's remotely possible that you can clean up the journal with some fine emery cloth and reinstall the rod with a new bearing. I'd give the success rate at a very low percentage, even if the engine is kept at a low rpm. Given the challenge of finding replacement parts, I'd err on side of caution and leave it silent until a proper repair of one prime mover can take place. Best of Luck with whatever turns out to be the best solution to your situation.

Mike Stillwell
Buena Vista, VA.

An idea similar to Dave's:

Some military locos were set up to use their own starting batteries, hooked to the traction motors, to move them in/out of the house. A new set of batteries might not get you two miles, but they might get you partway there, and then you could re-charge and do it again.

If you were going to buy new batteries anyway, or if you have access to a good set, this might be a way to go. . .

JR

Can you borrow or rent a trackmobile or similar car mover? Maybe even a good sized farm tractor or loader, with suitable drawbar, could do the job. I've seen a few "sand plant switchers" with rubber tires. OK, two miles is not an in-plant move, but just take your time-

When you say "liner" I assume you mean bearing insert? I'd try the clean up the journal as much as possible with emery cloth and use a new bearing insert temporary repair. Take a strip of emery cloth just the width of the journal and wrap it at least 360 degrees around the journal. Wind a long piece of rawhide (a leather shoestring works nicely) around that and use it to rotate the emery cloth back and forth on the journal and polish the heck out of it. When you've got it as smooth as it'll reasonably get, mic it and try to find a suitable undersized bearing insert. I'd err on the side of excessive clearance rather than not enough.

The next problem is getting the debris out of the oil pan so it doesn't go through the oil pump and ruin that with the potential of killing the oil pressure you have left. Hopefully you can figure away to flush out the oil pan to get at least most of it out.

I'd think this would last long enough to get you 2 miles down the track at minimum throttle, even if you don't disconnect the injector and engage the compression release. After all, it ran for some amount of time with NO (or at least only 1/2 of one) bearing insert. As long as you're not winding the engine out it should hold up. Just listen carefully for that rod knock and if comes back and starts to get louder, shut it down and go to plan B.

Hugh Odom has a workable idea, but I would add that you should use some nice thick grease between the journal surface and the emery abrasive cloth. If done carefully, this will catch almost all of the loose grit and metal chips. Last thing you want is loose emery grit getting into your oil pump. That could RUIN an engine in a lot less than two miles. The grease will not slow down your polishing by much.

I have used this technique when I had to drill/tap a hole inside an active engine. It is possible to catch almost all of the chips.

I agree that running the engine with one piston missing is likely to break the crankshaft. It might run that way, but starting it will put way too much stress on the crank.

Of course dump the oil and CLEAN everything as soon as possible afterwards.

Good Luck, Kevin.

Hugh,

I may give your idea a try. I'll drain the oil first, clean out the sump and then try the emery and grease method. It may also be worthwhile to rig up an electric pump to flush the oil passages out with diesel fuel while I bar the engine over after I polish the journal.