Posted by David N. Lundstrom on Thursday, January 01, 2004 at 10:07AM :
In Reply to: Re: Darn cold and started posted by Russ/Wyo on Thursday, January 01, 2004 at 2:02AM :
Russ,
WHen I worked at Cenex years ago, I was sent out to get a guy and his Cummins Dodge that had run out of fuel. It was an easy 25 below F. I put some #1 in the tank, and the guy pulled off the intake hose next to the turbo and started to spray WD-40 into it. The truck wouldn't start and he sprayed the whole can in! I was just a kid, and had almost no exposure to diesel engines at the time. I towed the truck back to town, figuring that it had also gelled up right before it ran out of fuel. We put it in the shop for a few hours to warm up, then pushed it outside and the guy tried to start it again. It started right up, but because it had about a pint of WD-40 in the intake and turbo, it revved up to about 6000RPM and stayed there for about 30 seconds. The guy didn't shut it down, and the engine didn't blow up but it was the most terrifying sound I have ever heard! I was watching the tach, and it pegged it against the stop and stayed there. It then idled down to normal speed, the guy filled it with fuel and went on his way. I still can't believe the engine didn't let go, it was amazing. Imagine if he had used ether!!
WD-40 works great, just don't use too much, I guess is the moral of this story!!
Happy New Year to all,
Dave