Fuel filter C&P. Clark FJ-2S. EMD SD-40-2 locomotive. Unkown service interval.

[User_19876]

Pulled this out of the trash. Unfortunately, I believe this spent some time rolling around in the open sump below the prime mover. That element is 5.5" wide and about 10' long. I wish all louvered filters were machined like this. These locomotives run two of these.

 

[PF52]

Whose SD40-2? Those things are getting long in the tooth. Newest ones are, what, about 40 years old I think? Most were built in the 1970s.

 

[User_19876]

Whose SD40-2? Those things are getting long in the tooth. Newest ones are, what, about 40 years old I think? Most were built in the 1970s.

NS.

They’ve rebuilt a bunch of them. First Union Rail actually owned a rebuilt fleet that they would customize for different roads and lease. I remember getting on one in 2006 that was, basically, completely new.

 

[wwillson]

That's a lot of trash in the filter. Is this normal? Seems to be some pretty contaminated fuel.

 

[User_19876]

That's a lot of trash in the filter. Is this normal? Seems to be some pretty contaminated fuel.

It’s hard to say. This was probably removed, dropped in the open sump, and then pulled out at a later date. That sump will have crankcase oil, boron coolant, governor oil, etc. It’s likely it was fouled primarily in that manner—rolling around in an oily soup for a year or two. Or it could have been changed at an outlying point by a shop truck specifically because the fuel tank on that particular engine took on too much water and fouled the whole system.