We have recently carried out a full overhaul of an IVECO 8281-SI-15 and it’s back in our workshop after successfully completing its acceptance test.
For this engine and application, it was vital we fitted a temporary pre-heat system to test.
You see, this engine is used by the operator as an emergency fire pump and is situated in a location where the temperature is constantly around 35°C.
As you can probably imagine, we don’t quite get that kind of temperature in our workshop, so it was necessary to install a pre-heat system* to enable safe testing, (which it went through without an issue.)
As a guideline, if an engine is designated for emergency situations, it should be kept in an environment with a temperature of 20°C minimum, but ideally, nearer to 40°C.
If it isn’t, the engine should have a pre-heat system installed to aid start-up and avoid issues ranging from having to repeatedly turn the engine over, to unburnt fuel getting into the exhaust, causing an explosion when the engine does fire.
Previously we have seen significant and avoidable damage caused by lack of pre-heating system, including silencer explosions and a turbocharger blown off it’s mounting!!
We’ve installed pre-heat systems on many platforms and engine rooms where the temperature is not ideal, or the current system is over 40 years old and ineffective.
*The installation of this pre-heat system allows heated coolant to be pumped around the engine, instead of relying on convection from the old static elements that are currently installed but do not heat the engine efficiently.
The new pre-heat system was set to a factory thermostat setting of 38-49 degrees centigrade. The installation of this pre-heat system will greatly help the engine when starting from cold and ultimately improve the reliability of the engine.
