A few years back, we overhauled a Caterpillar C series engine for a marine operator.
We’ve been working with them again recently and discovered that the engine has burnt through four HEUI pumps since the overhaul, despite only running for a total of 580 hours.
The pumps play a critical role, producing the oil to activate the hydraulic system for the injectors, so it’s vital they work.
They had called the engine provider to investigate the issue, and after their visit, they concluded that the engine is not the issue.
The operator has since been purchasing replacement pumps as and when they’re called for.
Clearly, this is far from ideal and doesn’t do anything to get to the root of the problem.
Obviously, there’s something going on to make the pumps burn out so quickly, and it needs to be rectified.
They came to us, and after hearing the full story, we’re going to inspect the pump to see whether it’s correctly aligned with the shaft – if not, that’s a sure-fire way to burn out the bearings.
The pump is now at Bartech HQ where we’ll inspect it, free of charge, to determine the root cause of the issue before we can work on resolving it.
Nearly two years have passed since we originally did the overhaul, so the warranty has expired, but we’re going to be looking into it because it’s the right thing to do – we don’t think they should be left without a resolution.
