Yea, a diesel over-revving its brains is truely a frightening occasion.
The GM's (lots of Oldmobile diesels.) did this so often it was amazing.
What's really amazing is that GM never got sued for it.

I'm surprised the motor didn't hydraulic when the service manager dumped
the antifreeze water mixture. That's why we used the Halon and had a second
bottle ready if the first didn't stop the motor completely.

Long rags, don't forget the long rags. Normal shop towels could be sucked under
a valve and demolish the motor as well.

As you can tell, we had a "system" for this issue.

--
Bart D. Hull

Tempe, Arizona

Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/engine.html
for my Subaru Engine Conversion
Check http://www.inficad.com/~bdhull/fuselage.html
for Tango II I'm building.


Lane wrote:
SNIP
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