Here is something I have never heard of in all my years of turning wrenches and fixing stuff.Got a call, (multiple texts actually) from a close cousin yesterday. They had just got back from a nice time away camping with their small 5th wheel. No problems, truck is like new, runs perfect etc. 196,000 K (122,000 miles) Smaller trailer, nothing for a CTD to pull. They got home fine, parked and went about their business.Next day her hubby started the truck up and in my cousins words, it blew up, filling the whole yard with white smoke, and the revs went up out of control. He shut the key off, but the engine kept running and racing, clouds of white smoke billowing out. Since it wouldn't shut off, he pulled it into drive and somehow managed to stall it out.Wow! Just wow! What the heck?She told me to Google search "Diesel Engine Runaway" I did, and read up on something I am totally unfamiliar with. What on earth could possibly be feeding unchecked fuel to the engine? Has anyone ever experienced this? Or know anything about it?Truck will be towed to a mechanic tomorrow for evaluation. The concern here is the obvious, engine damage, but further than that other driveline damage, especially the transmission after dropping it into drive to stall the engine. Sad, the tranny was new when they bought the truck about 3 years ago from an older man, the original owner.Any thoughts from my Cummins friends here or others?

Yep... bad fuel control so fuel continued to flow with key off...too much so as evidenced by white smoke. Marine, aviation, train engines, all have positive fuel shutoffs...auto/rv never required. Your only option is what he did to stall it, which could cause damage, OR pinch fuel line closed with vise grips, OR crack a filter... if you can get to it safely. Kind of dumb, but not a very common occurence, until it happens to you...then it's 100%, just like a lightning strike or shark bite.He may get lucky.

No.I had a throttle stick in the wide open position on a 1965 Corvette. That was a long time ago. I was on a windy road lined with trees. The steering wheel did not lock up in those days, so when I turned off the ignition, I still had control of the car.

Any turbo diesel engine can have a runaway...and it can be engine oil or fuel issues. The first one I saw was on a tractor and was said to caused by a cracked engine oil line with a huge amount of white smoke. The driver (tractor pull) calmly like he did it all the time placed what looked like a 10" X 10" piece of plywood over the air intake and killed the beast.

A few years ago there was a video of a UPS truck having a runaway. If you were on the highway when it happened I guess you would have to shift to neutral and let the engine fail.

Never happened to me, but known, and I’ve seen it happen to an 18 wheeler.While it can be due to fuel system malfunction, it is more commonly turbo bearing oil seal failure which feeds engine oil into the intake, and since diesels are oil burners, you have uncontrollable fueling. If the engine doesn’t almost immediately self destruct, you can minimize damage by finding a way to stall it. Either way, it is an expensive event.

Diesel Engine Runaway - 2005 Cummins | Good Sam Community

naturist
Nomad
Aug 23, 2020
Never happened to me, but known, and I’ve seen it happen to an 18 wheeler.

While it can be due to fuel system malfunction, it is more commonly turbo bearing oil seal failure which feeds engine oil into the intake, and since diesels are oil burners, you have uncontrollable fueling. If the engine doesn’t almost immediately self destruct, you can minimize damage by finding a way to stall it. Either way, it is an expensive event.
colliehauler
Explorer III
Aug 23, 2020
A few years ago there was a video of a UPS truck having a runaway. If you were on the highway when it happened I guess you would have to shift to neutral and let the engine fail.
JIMNLIN
Explorer III
Aug 23, 2020
Any turbo diesel engine can have a runaway...and it can be engine oil or fuel issues. The first one I saw was on a tractor and was said to caused by a cracked engine oil line with a huge amount of white smoke.
The driver (tractor pull) calmly like he did it all the time placed what looked like a 10" X 10" piece of plywood over the air intake and killed the beast.
ppine
Explorer II
Aug 23, 2020
No.
I had a throttle stick in the wide open position on a 1965 Corvette. That was a long time ago. I was on a windy road lined with trees. The steering wheel did not lock up in those days, so when I turned off the ignition, I still had control of the car.
Twomed
Explorer
Aug 23, 2020
Yep... bad fuel control so fuel continued to flow with key off...too much so as evidenced by white smoke.

Marine, aviation, train engines, all have positive fuel shutoffs...auto/rv never required.

Your only option is what he did to stall it, which could cause damage, OR pinch fuel line closed with vise grips, OR crack a filter... if you can get to it safely.

Kind of dumb, but not a very common occurence, until it happens to you...then it's 100%, just like a lightning strike or shark bite.

He may get lucky.

Forum Discussion

Diesel Engine Runaway - 2005 Cummins

About Travel Trailer Group

Related Content

Used Cummins Diesel Questions

Cummins/ Achates Diesel

CUMMINS 5.9 ISB TURBO DIESEL

Budget diesel truck mods: Ram Cummins edition

275 HP Cummins diesel on a 31' coach