Is your engine at risk due to crankcase corrosion?
You might not be aware, but there’s an avoidable problem with the crankcase on most standby engines, and often, it’s as a result of anti-freeze.
As standby engines aren’t used that often, water sits in the coolant system for long periods of time.
If you haven’t maintained the right concentration of anti-freeze, the water begins to attack the cast iron, and – if left unchecked – will weaken the engine to such a degree that you’re risking a major engine failure.
The most common place for corrosion is the bottom of the cylinder liner bore, also known as the e-bore.
When corroded crankcases are discovered they’re often deemed unfit for use and discarded, but the issue here is that replacements are expensive and hard to come by.
Over the years, we’ve come up with our own 5 stage solution to this problem:
Stages 1 to 4 of Bartech Marine Engineering’s 5 Stage crankcase repair solution
- Firstly, we Identify the corrosion in the crankcase and whether this repair is right based on the engine output. We would not use this process for high performing engines, which operate at higher speeds, under higher pressures.
- A vital stage of the repair is the preparation – we prepare the surface of the crankcase to ensure that it forms a sound bond with the material.
- We then use epoxy resin reinforced with silicon steel alloy so add material back to the crankcase.
- Even when dried, the resin will not form a perfectly smooth surface, which means that a critical part of the process is machining it to the right specification, within new tolerances.
- After final inspection and measuring, we’ll install liners and then carry out a pressure test to ensure that the o-rings are sealing properly with the new surface.
The result? Well, on the case we’re working on right now, we’ve saved our client 83% by working on their original crankcase and not sourcing them a replacement.
In this case, it does pay to look into all options; our advice here is to make sure that if you are going to extend the life of your existing crankcase, you do it properly.
For advice or help with your crankcase, or anything else related to your engine, contact us or call on +44 (0) 1206 673101.
