Posted by Steve on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 17:10:04 :
In Reply to: Re: OT electrical question(positive ground) posted by Steve on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 17:00:57 :
Been doing some research on this.
Apparently diesel engines using a mechanical injection pump can indeed run backwards. One of the antique tractor sites talks about it being fairly common on old diesel tractors because if it was pulling and was stalled out, sometimes when the tractor rocked backwards in gear, it would start the engine backwards.
However, I read two things repeatedly: First, if it is using an electronic injection pump, then there is no way it would run.
Secondly, (and most importantly), when the engine is running backwards the oil pump is also spinning backwards. As a result, no oil gets pumped into the engine...
You might tell your uncle to get rid of that truck asap!!!!
Was his really running backwards? Who knows, but this is what I've learned and thought that I'd pass it on.
Best,
Steve