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ME237
Damage to Idle Gear of Drive LO Pump for Diesel Generator
Technical committee

Ship type Container ship

Date of build April 1993
Navigation route Liner (Japan - West Coast of North America)
Trouble machinery
Category Diesel generator
Name Idle gear of drive LO pump for diesel generator
Type Z 280 L-ST
Date of trouble October 16 1993 (during S/B)

1. Outline of breakdown

During S/B for port arrival, when the No. 1 Diesel Generator which had been in operation for the bow
thruster was unloaded after stopping the bow thruster and was running in idle mode for fuel changeover,
a trip due to LO low oil pressure occurred.
Inspection of gear case revealed that the idle gear to drive the LO pump, etc. had dropped off and the
following damages were also observed.
1) One of the two retainer plate bolts for idle gear installation was severed, and the other was found at
the case bottom.
2) According to the assembly drawing, a locking washer is supposed to be used for the bolts. However,
a disc spring washer was used instead.
3) The idle gear that dropped off was supported by a stiffening bolt, which prevented secondary
damage due to the drop off.
4) The idle gear bushing and mount were burnt due to loss of oil, and the idle gear and drive gear tooth
flank were damaged.

2. Cause

After modifying design whereby the washer for the bolt to retain the idle gear mount was changed to
using disc spring washers, no similar incidents have occurred to date. Thus, the problem is considered to
have been caused by inappropriate installation at the time of assembly or by inappropriate material used
for the disc spring washer.

3. Repair

The damaged part was replaced with new parts. All crank pin bearings of the same unit were overhauled
and inspected. The No. 2 cylinder and main bearing upper/lower metals, cam shaft and idle gear retainer
bolts were inspected. No abnormality was found.
Countermeasures by the maker include:
1) changing the length of the retain plate bolt, and
2) changing the locking method (from disc spring type to washer type)
to prevent recurrence of said problem.

1
Fig. Diesel generator gear drive unit