An offshore client contacted us last week as they were experiencing issues with their Cummins KTA50 emergency generator performance.
Once the engine was up to running speed and the running light illuminated, the engine kept accelerating.
Shortly after this, the vent flaps tripped and the engine rapidly slowed down to below idle before stopping completely – all within 30 seconds.
After a few conversations to gain all the information surrounding this problem, we identified the reason – the fuel pump.
In fact, the control lever was seized.
Because of the criticality of the engine, the operator had the sense to have a spare available, but when installing it, found the following…
Although the pumps appear the same, their setup is quite different so cannot be used on this engine. Their supplier had misidentified and supplied the incorrect pump.
With different part numbers, this could have been picked up on supply, but sometimes there is over-reliance on suppliers. Any differences should be picked up and questioned.
Now the cause has been identified, we’ve supplied the correct pump on order and will be attending site to replace it shortly.
