Last week, while one of the engineers was changing the coolant pump and oil cooler on a #Caterpillar 3412, he came across some further issues that couldn’t be ignored.
Even with travel restrictions in place, the UK #oilandgasindustry is managing mobilisations with additional pre-flight checks to enable work on their critical equipment, but even with increased pressures, corner-cutting only results in problems.
To remove the coolant pump, the coolant was drained.
Then the free end guard, amots and hoses, pump outlet and oil cooler assembly were all removed.
When it got to the pump, we found the adapter plate 101-2749 was corroded to the point it was crumbling.
Due to the urgency to get the engine back on-line, the #engine had clearly been rebuilt with the old plate and once filled with coolant, not surprisingly, was leaking where the pump is meant to seal!
Fortunately, we were able to get a replacement plate on the next helicopter, so it could be changed, and the engine completed a successful test run.
Whilst the current situation is putting more pressures on all operators, this was another reminder that things still need to be done in the right way.
