"Engineman1" wrote in message
...
A friend just bought a yacth with twin Hino diesels. They are started by a
key
switch but when they you want to shut them off you have to press a stop
button
until the engines quit, then turn the keys off. I don't have much
experience
with diesels but years ago when I had a job repairing forklifts I ran into
a
similar situation.
This seems to me to be unecesaralary complicated. After all, most diesel
powered cars turn on and off with a key switch. I have asked many people
this
question but have gotten answers that didn,t seem plausible. So now I'm
asking
the experts.
Thoughts?
Engineman1

This isn't an answer to your question but is an experience with a diesel not
shutting down that I won't ever forget. Thought I'd share....

In an earlier life I was an auto mechanic. I worked for a short time at a GM
dealership. One day I heard a sound that I had never heard before in an auto
shop. I sounded like a jet engine winding up. I looked up and notice people
running out of the shop. The sound was coming from an Oldsmobile sitting a
few stalls away from me. The guy working on it was frantically trying to
shut off the diesel engine. He was trying to stuff rags into the intake,
tried a vise grip on the steel fuel line, and the engine just kept going. It
sounded like it was going to fly apart at any second. Smoke was pouring out.
A truly ugly scene. The sevice manager came running across the shop with a
bucket in hand. He got to the car and dumped the radiator water/antifreeze
mixture into the intake, the engine sputtered and died.

The mechanic had been working on the fuel distribution system and eveidently
didn't do something right. Turning the key off didn't do a thing. I'd like
to know how high that engine rev'ed up to. They torn the engine down and
rebuilt it. I never did hear if the customer was ever told about it.

Lane