Anybody out there know what is wrong with the new ge dash9-es series engines. in the past month 8 of the engines have blown up on the bnsf. none of these engines are over 4 months old!!
they are not dash9s anymore. they are es44dc or ac’s. They are the same design prime mover as the 6000 hp G.E.s less 4 cylinders. I’ve been told that some of the same troubles are plaguing the small engine as the 6000 hp unit.
what do you mean by blown up… engin room fire? computer soft ware issues? traction motors locked up? what? cant realy give you an awsner if your dont give more info …
csx engineer
i was on one of our newest bnsf engines the other day. the engine was not more than a month old and would not load anymore than 12klbs even in run 8. i toned up mech. and mech told me that within the past month that 8 engines had blown up. i serously dought that it was any type of computer problem. the mech guy made it sound like the engines had caught on fire or something. i do know that these engines are only v12’s and not like the old v16’s . i wonder if there is some type of design flaw with the new motor. has csxt ordered or recieved any of these new engines?
bnsf engineer
by the way mech told me to isolate the engine and live it in the lead isolated
i cannot speak for all railroads. but on the bnsf all dash 9’s and es series engines can be either 4400 hp or 6000 hp. for some reason the bnsf has decided to make all dash 9 and es series 4400 hp. only god knows why?
that still dont mean anything… mechanical people use slang just like the rest of us… so blown up could mean any number of issues…sounds to me like your problem was computer related or electrical in some way…
csx engineer
yea i know that statement is vague i was just wondering if anyone could shed some light on the subject
Sam, they don’t make dash-9’s in a 6000 hp version. Look at the locomotive data table in your SSI.
if you have a bnsf newest ssi, look at page 7 at the top left item 3 it list the followning engines as upgradable to 6000hp. bnsf enginesc44ac&c60/44ac, up engines c60/44, and last but not least cp engines c44ac all upgradable to 6000hp
those are none dash 9s. Those are all A/C motors. look at the loco data table again. Item 2(b) lower left corner…c44-9w. No #3 note for h.p. I do have the newest SSI. We don’t own any c60/44ac’s we do have some es44ac’s and ac4400.
so far as I know,the only upgradeable locomotives were built as C60’s,but with 7FDL-16 engines (cooper-bessimer design).the intent was to replace the prime mover at some point with the 7HDL-16 (m.a.n. design)…to the best of my knowledge,this has never been done…there are numerous differences between a C44 carbody and a C60 carbody,radiators being one of the more noticeable…big job,lot more than just a software change or fuel rack adjustment…
I work for BNSF as an engineer and recently I had 2 new es-ac4400 on a coal train going to Chicago and did not have any problems with them I have had the dc version on “M” trains with no problems.
Rodney