We received quite a few comments regarding Tom Bauer's, Simpler Fidelis 37VT59 article. Most of the discussion centered on how a thermostat functions and questioned whether operating the Cummins engine without a thermostat would indeed cause the engine to overheat. Further research on the issue uncovered a warning in the Cummins Operations Manual (provided below) which hopefully helps clarify the issue.
Knowing Which Way to Go
ReplyDeleteAl Peterson, Kedge 37VT43
Last Tuggers Issue's article about thermostats reminded me of a past funny incident. The Kedge had several thermostat failures. We generally had a spare thermostat in the spare parts locker, but one time while in Muscatine, Iowa there was not a thermostat available in our locker. We went to an auto supply store and purchased a thermostat for a Cummins six cylinder diesel truck. The river was at flood level, and the next upstream lock was only about 300 yards away. The lock was closed as a result of the high water. A lady in that marina had told us how to avoid the lock on our return by passing over an adjacent spillway. We wanted to test the Cummins truck thermostat before going north, so we went south. The lady called us on the ship-to-shore radio and said, "You are going the wrong way to Minnesota." [See drawing on left - ed.] We had to explain we knew North from South, but we were testing our new thermostat. By the way, that truck part did get us all the way back to Minnesota.