Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.
August 14, 2019
She was leaking, water, badly. No
outward signs of where. Only a hairline break at the neck of an
intercooler water pipe. Too small to be the true culprit. Jeff Wall,
Washington Eastern’s hands-on “locomotive healer” and
autodidactic extraordinaire, and I change it out anyway and send her
on her way. Next day: more investigating. Jeff’s gut feeling:
“Gotta be inside the engine … shut ‘er down.” Long-hood doors
are opened exposing her all-too-familiar blackened-oil-streaked
10,000 cube 645 prime mover she previously received from a donor
unit. Those round hand-hole (inspection) covers, unmistakable. Off
they come. Airbox covers are first, and just as quickly there’s a
shout from Jeff’s right-hand-man, Steve. “Foun-dit!” Indeed, he
did. It appeared a cylinder liner was weeping water, profusely. Not
good. But most likely a cylinder head gasket. We hope. “Take ‘er
to Davenport. She’s done for now.” There Jeff and I dive straight
away into the task at hand. Tools are readied. Not just any ol’
tools, but TOOLS to pull the hulking EMD “Diamond Five” P/N
9556060 head! But off comes her jewelry first: rocker arms, fuel and
oil lines, injector, etc., and finally the four 2-¾” crab nuts
torqued to 2400 foot-pounds that keep the incredible compression in
check (note the well-oiled torque specs in his shop shirt pocket).
Jeff, like Thor Mjölnir, wields the massive NAPA-supplied impact
wrench into place and waits for the air compressor to build air as
the relentless August sun beats our backs like a seasoned blacksmith
his anvil while our faces absorb the sun’s stream of hot punches:
thermal radiation emitted by the tons of sun-soaked steel. The
pungent-heavy odor of engine and diesel oil, sweat, and spilled,
spoiling wheat hangs like a dead man in the sweltering air.
Red-faced, arms and hands and elbows greased, tensing every muscle
from head-to-toe he unleashes the pneumatic wrench. It jumps, jolts,
and jerks, but he’s got an iron grip on it as its internal hammer
pounds the anvil in deafening staccato cracks and soon the stubborn
nut gives and spins lose. The process is repeated three more times
and with the test-cock removed the head is popped loose, slipped off
of the cylinder liner studs and out with a forklift. It becomes
immediately clear that the head gasket is shot. In short order, after
some cleaning, the new Master Packing made with DuPont Viton gasket
is carefully guided into place. Some additional inspections and
cleaning are carried out to ensure all is well and the disassembly
steps are reversed. In an hour’s time, the 40-year-old former
“Fast-Forty” (nee-UP 8079, ex-UP 3588), retired some two decades
ago by Uncle Pete, is ready to take water, crank up, and go back to
work hauling grain, thanks to all-American git ‘r dun spirit, and
trusted vendors like NAPA and Master Packing. It's what the Right
Stuff is made of.