Very close shave

[GLX_Rtist]

Hi all,

I need advice. I am not a mechanic and pretty much don't have a mechanical bone in my body. What I do have, though, is a very strong desire to ensure that I get exactly what I am entitled to relating to what I would consider to be a fairly major 'moment' I had in my '09 GLX-R with 36000ish kms on it two days ago.

I found myself cruising along the highway with the cruise control set at about 110 when all of a sudden I started to hear some significant engine noise coupled with the largest plume of smoke one is likely to see coming out of my exhaust. First reaction was to 'turn off' cruise control and pull over to assess the issue. Unfortunately the cruise control decided it didn't want to release and the vehicle in fact wanted to speed up. This, naturally, caused the old heart rate to rise a bit. Throwing the vehicle into neutral worked and I was able to bring myself to a stop on the side of the road. Turning the key off had little effect on the engine. It worked momentarily with the engine almost coming to a stop before kicking back to life on its own and roaring for another 20-30secs. Luckily plan B worked as I threw her into 1st gear and conducted an engine stall.

Roadside assistance man noted extremely high oil levels in reservoir coupled with oil in the air filter.He said I was extremely lucky to be able to get the engine to stop at all. Vehicle was towed back to dealership who had a look at it and said the diesel common rail had blown, forcing diesel into the oil reservoir which set off the chain reaction resulting in the engine going into a frenzy.

They made what seems to me to be a major issue seem petty and said they would have the replacement parts in a few days and would have me back on the road. Sounds a bit odd to me. I asked whether there would be any engine damage from the incident to which they replied that their diagnostics show the engine to be working fine. I also asked about the fouled exhaust and they said they would clean it as best they could.

So now to you guys. Does their response sound acceptable? Are there any further questions I need to ask? Should I be asking to see the engine diagnostics etc etc? Should I be getting things in writing? Or do they appear to be doing a good job and should I stop being so darn difficult? As far as I know, the repair will be made under warranty but I really don't want to be doing another 300000kms over the coming years in a vehicle that might have a major blowout ready to occur at any time as a result of something that wasn't my fault.

[4wd26]

has happened before with tritons. I know of one first hand- and you were lucky to stall the engine- once the chain of events start it is usually terminal as the engine starts to use sump oil for detonation and will continue until gone = no lubrication= dead engine is what happens I believe.

now as to what happens next?

be looking for some reassurance that the engine is still good, don't know how that happens though.

BTW was it 3.2 or 2.5 engine?
the instance I know about was a 3.2

[mattz]

sounds like you had a bit of a scary moment there.
But they said they will fix it under warranty.
I guess that is about all they can do and you just have to trust them to do it.
If they don't fix it properly then you should jump up and down
Hope it is fixed quickly .
Oh and welcome to the site

[GLX_Rtist]

BTW was it 3.2 or 2.5 engine?
the instance I know about was a 3.2

It is the 3.2

[ag9111]

What part of the common rail failed?

[Homer]

It's called diesel runaway mate.

The only thing different I would be asking for, is a report and written acknowledgement that the engine life of the vehicle is guaranteed to not be compromised, just for your records.

They are fixing it under wty so no issues there and sounds like you managed to catch it in time as it takes a little while to damage them from this and you would know if and when that was happening....

Click here to see how bad this problem can become if you don't catch it

[Diablo]

Does not sound good at all mate. Glad to hear you were able to get it shut down before it self destructed.

Makes me wonder how I would be able to shut down my auto if that ever happened :S

[borngeek]

If this was a runaway I would be concerned as to the cause....

The commonrail is a simple device and if something failed there killing power to the engine (stopping the fuel pump) should have killed the engine...

Was the vehicle serviced very recent? This usually is caused by overfilling the oil.. Especially as you have said there was oil in the air filter which could only get there from venting from the PCV (the tube that runs from the top of the engine to the intake tube)

What I dont like about their response is that they have not really said what has caused it... The commonrail failure sounds like BS to me and I know a member here that has had a part of the fuel system blow off and it didnt cause this runaway incident.

You were lucky and very quick thinking to be able to stall the engine well done

As for long term wear/problems etc. By the sounds you stopped it before it became a huge issue and they are covering the repair so I wouldnt be too concerned there.. If there was going to be a problem you will find out pretty fast when you get it back.

How to kill this if you have a auto... Be quick and choke the air intake (easier said than done a snorkel will make it easier)
Have a C02 extinguisher and fire it direct into air intake to starve oxygen...

If it gets out of control.. Stay well back!

I am sure there is another thread here where it has happened to a triton? Scary stuff but pretty uncommon.

//Welcome to the site

[Homer]

How to kill this if you have a auto... Be quick and choke the air intake (easier said than done a snorkel will make it easier)
Have a C02 extinguisher and fire it direct into air intake to starve oxygen...

If it gets out of control.. Stay well back!

Now that's an idea I never thought of

My first reaction would be to stuff your mates shirt down the intake...

[borngeek]

I have put my hand across a idling engines snorkel to starve oxygen (my hand wasnt quite fat enough to get the whole intake) and got the member to rev.. The suction is quite big (left the grill of the snorkel imprinted in my hand for a minute where it sucked the blood to the surface) so dont use your hands

a thick plastic bag with a tshirt (has to be your mates tshirt not your own ) shoved into air intake if you dont have a snorkel. I recon a bag will work over the snorkel intake..

I suppose even if it sucks in it only getting to under the filter... Shove enough stuff you can get your hands on in and it will starve pretty quick

I yet to put my little super crap C02 extingisher in might get onto that...

//Pays to check oil level after a service.. I have suspicion this is what happen here and dealer covering arse

[NTBB]

I know of a Triton that this happen to.... they couldn't stop it before damage was done...
My dealer has also seen a few. the most common cause is after the tappets had been adjusted and the fuel return line which runs inside of the rocker cover has come adrift. when this line leaks it floods the sump and starts to by pass the rings which is why the oil is over full.

[dazza_241]

the extinguisher answer is pretty common in motorsport but very messy/costly!
have seen it done a few times on speedway bikes (sliders) ...one night at newcastle showground springs to mind as a standout...never thought it would be of use on a triton!!!
definately will make sure that extinguisher of mine is in the truck from this afternoon!! sheesh

[Lee-thal]

The CO2 extinguisher is costly for sure, But the ones used in motorsport are the Dry chemical type, they are cheap as chips but very very messy, the CO2 leaves nothing, its just air.


Were the Valve clearances done at the 30000km Service, I wonder if they broke the fuel line and just not willing to tell you. Very very lucky though as others have said.

Make sure they change the oil and filter, and the air filter.

Cheers

[NTBB]

Once they start running on there is only 2 ways to stop them... 1 at the crank or 2 starve it for air... option 1 can't be done with a auto so you have to use option 2.... you could always try a floor matt.

[ratstriton]

Once they start running on there is only 2 ways to stop them... 1 at the crank or 2 starve it for air... option 1 can't be done with a auto so you have to use option 2.... you could always try a floor matt.

Plastic bag over the head of your snorkel if you have one, I know it works I tried it on mine when I was testing for air leaks it stopped it in no time.

[rocknut]

i would be testing the shit out of the engine when you get it back. up bush, beach and flying down the freeway (when no double demerits are in place ) if it happens again i would go back to the dealer and abuse the shit outter them and demand another engine be put into it under warrenty or trades and comsumer affairs will get in on the act. i had to do that with my old ss commodore and i got clubsport running gear without the chip but it worked

[borngeek]

I know of a Triton that this happen to.... they couldn't stop it before damage was done...
My dealer has also seen a few. the most common cause is after the tappets had been adjusted and the fuel return line which runs inside of the rocker cover has come adrift. when this line leaks it floods the sump and starts to by pass the rings which is why the oil is over full.

Which fuel return line is this? The fuel return at the end of the common rail/fuel limiter goes down the side of the engine and presumably back to tank? I have removed this so am aware of it...
To do tappets they would not pull apart this far down the engine???

It sounds feasible (your statement) but I just wonder what this particular fuel return line is and why it is located inside the rocker cover... The dealers assersion that the common rail pumped too much fuel into the sump sounds like BS as the engine would have run significantly different if that were the case and the problem would have been identified before the issue occured? There is a safety return line and pressure limiter on the common rail specifically for this task.

//I still suspect a overfill and the dealer arse covering...

[NTBB]

BG it runs accross the top of the tappets on the right hand side and has to be removed to gain access to the all the tappets. It is a brass colour that is crimped at the front of the rocker cover if you take the rocker cover off you will see it. My local mech bitched and whinged about me wanting to get my tappets checked because he did not want to disturb it...... The local RAA mech towed one in a couple of years ago that had just had the tappets adjusted in Adelaide and it shat it's self over 700k's latter.
When my dealer was trying to locate the rail pressure drops that my ute was having one of his first Qestions was has the oil level gone up any he had seen this before due to this pipe leaking. So fu#ked if I know BG it's jut what 3 tradesmen told me.

[ag9111]

Its called the fuel leak off pipe. The pipe doesn't seem to leave the rocker cover area and has 4 or 5 banjo bolts along the lenght.
Dont know what it does.

[Joe]

Did a little research and have found out that the fuel leak off pipes are used to return excess fuel after injection.

I assume that because they run under the rocker cover on the 3.2 (not sure about the 2.5) that if they start leaking (because they may not have been re-installed correctly by a dealer maybe?) then fuel will mix with the oil, thin it down and cause the engine to run on.

[borngeek]

Well you have sparked my interest guys! thanks for the input NTBB!!

I have dug the service manual and found this to discuss...

AK500567AB00ENG (Small).PNG

the up arrow from each injector (well the up arrow is on the left most injector diagram but rule follows )
some kind of "injector bleed"/"fuel leak off" and could this be what is passing up into rocker cover and joining the fuel pressure limiter's valve's path back to tank somewhere?

Why the hell they bleed the injectors and run fuel lines in the rocker cover beggars belief but this gives a feasible explanation given the k's and likely tappet adjustment at 30K.... I definately dont see these lines around the injectors going into manifold..

something to look out for every 30K service now... increase in oil level = huge problem!

//oh so interceptor chips are lying to ECU about the pressure... yeah we knew that still dealer telling porkies they damage the engine servicing!!!!!

[borngeek]

ohh got Joes attention too

[Joe]

ohh got Joes attention too

Sure did. Another stupid Mitsubishi design. I can't work out either way you would have these line running inside the engine so to speak. It beggars belief really.

[Longranger1]

I just wish they could use hydraulic lash adjusters so negating the need to adjust valve clearances and disturb the fuel rail .
If VW can do it, why can't Mitsubishi?
Good earner for the dealers I guess .

[Homer]

This was discussed ages ago.
I don't know if it was Chaser...but I suspect Mitsiguy... talked about this being the reason to get a MMA service when adjusting the tappets.
Actually think there may have been a thread on it...or a hijack