Ka-Boom! Diesel Engine Explodes On Dyno, Throws Piston into the Stands

No, this is not a scene from a movie.

In 1998, Peter Bernstein published a noteworthy bestseller by Peter Bernstein titled Against the Gods, the Remarkable Story of Risk. The author's premise was that in whatever endeavor one undertakes, there is risk involved and we need to learn how to manage it. No one is infallible when predicting outcomes because there are always variables outside of our control. In short, risk is a part of business. There are no sure things. As Robert Burns noted in his Ode to a Mouse, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

This book came to mind when I read a recent Truck Trend story about a 12-valve Cummins diesel engine that blew up on the dyno in a somewhat sensational fashion. It didn't just throw a piston; it threw a piston into the crowd.  

Competition pushes people to discover the limits of their equipment. Nevertheless, these efforts always involve risk. You can choose to play it safe and minimize risk, but you won't bring home any trophies.

The explosion took place a few weeks back at the Ultimate Callout Challenge in Brownsburg, Indiana. The team Power Driven Diesel had its truck named Godfather up on the dyno. They were looking for spectacular numbers. Instead they experienced a spectacular debacle.

According to the story by Monica Gonderman, the truck's main engine had been having trouble during the drag racing portion of the event so they replaced it for dyno day. Evidently they had a small fire a couple hours before their turn on the dyno, but must have felt they were good to go. 

They were aiming for an earth-shaking 3,000 horsepower, which they hoped to achieve with a little squirt of nitrous. Having hit 2700 hp a week earlier, they were feeling upbeat about it. Gonderman writes:

After shifting into fourth gear, the truck was under full power and pushing probably 250 pounds of boost. It was ripping through the pull nicely--until it wasn't. The internet reports that the truck made 2,369 hp and 3,039 lb-ft of torque before exploding. 

As we said at the outset, there is always risk involved, especially when you are pushing the envelope. The truck experienced serious damage as parts flew everywhere. The piston landed two rows in front of a guy shooting video. 

The PDD team seems to have been good sports about it all, because they offered to sign engine parts as souvenirs for those who witnessed the calamity. Todd, the man in the driver's seat, said the reverberations from the explosion felt like what you might feel when surrounded by an exceptionally good sound system. Good vibrations? 

On May 23 the Power Driven Diesel team posted a video about the event on YouTube and has already had over 200,000 views. You can watch it here. 

You can also check out the Truck Trend site to read more and see a gallery of photos.  

NOTE: This coming weekend it's the Daytona Truck Meet at Daytona Beach, from June 10 - 13. Will we see you there? 

Diesel-Powered Vehicle of the Week: Stainless Diesel Sets New Pro Street Record in the 4s

There are people who try to tell us that competition is bad. It hurts people's feelings when they don't win, they say. 

One of the arguments to counter this is that competition makes people dig deeper, work harder to achieve success. "Winning" is meaningless if it isn't achieved the old fashioned way, through competing with rivals. When everybody wins, nobody wins.

When Roger Bannister broke the four minute mile in 1956, he was able to achieve this because he was in a foot-race with someone else and he wanted to win. Even though he did it by only six tenths of a second, the world went crazy because pundits said it couldn't be done.

Today's "Diesel Vehicle of the Week" is the new record holder in the Pro Street class, Team Stainless Diesel. The event took place this weekend at the Ultimate Callout Challenge where their diesel powered Ram 1500 clicked off a 4.96-second pass to break the 1/8th-mile record previously held by Firepunk Diesel, also a Ram 1500 pickup. (The record for a diesel dragster is a much snappier 4.10 seconds and 181 mph.)

You can be sure that there will be more tweaking by each of these teams this year as they strive to best one another's times. 

The Ultimate Callout Challenge in Brownsburg, Indiana, has become a major battleground for these kinds of 4-wheel ground wars. Still ahead, there will are plenty of other events coming up this year to test their wits and their resolve. 

The truck's sponsor is Stainless Diesel, a company that provides products for diesel powertrains. According to autoevolution.com they've been upgrading this truck for a couple years now. 

It's apparent that High Fives are a thing of the past for diesel pickups. We have at least two teams now giving us High Fours.

AS THE COMPETITIVE RACING SEASON RAMPS UP be sure your lubrication needs are taken care of. Check out our Champion Racing Oil Contingency Program, which covers a full range of motorsports racing events.