| 01/17/2004 -- Today was the big day chosen to fire it up for the first time under PLA ownership. We did a little clean up work this morning and PLA President Jack Starr was found removing some of the unwanted spray painted lettering on the body. The 4423 had lived in Colorado and it gets mighty cold there so water leaks were found. The broken elbow is in the engine water drain . Evidently, the drain valve leaks so a plug was put in the drain line. This allowed water to accumulate in the pipe between the valve and the plug. The water froze at some point and broke the elbow. Well, better that than the valve which will have to be replaced. Previously, I had rigged up a prelube pump on the oil system and had run it enough this morning to get oil to the valve gear. I used the engine jack to turn the engine over while the pump was running and did not hear any strange noises so starting it was planned for 1:30 to give some folks a chance to get there. At the appointed time, I pushed the button and she came alive all too easily considering that she had not run for at least a year. A quick check around did not reveal any problem so I waited for the air to come up. At 140 pounds, the compressor unloaded and promptly began a serious blow through the intercooler safety valve. This is usually indicative of leaking high pressure outlet valves so I will have to look into that. We decided to see if she would move and happily, she does. Unfortunately, the ground relay tripped once when the throttle was being closed to idle from run 3. This could be a serious problem and will be investigated as soon as the weather dries up a bit. I also noticed that there is a leak in the fireman's side radiator and judging by where it is, I suspect another freeze break. I also found that the fuel bypass sight glass had fuel in it which is usually due to plugged fuel filters. Photo 4 is of (left to right) Henry Luna, Dennis Mann and me after we all had a chance to run the 4423. At one point, I coupled the 4423 into the 5623 to get a photo which would else be very difficult to duplicate today. All in all, it was a very productive and rewarding day. -- Howard Click on any thumbnail
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