One of our Caterpillar trained engineers, Charlie, has just returned to the workshop after remedying a knocking noise on a Caterpillar 3516 DI-TA engine offshore.
The knocking noise was a result of a worn small end bush and piston bore, but Charlie also found a common problem affecting a lot of engines we come across.
Check out the quick video he took to demonstrate:
And that drop of 67% in temperature comes after the pre-heater had been left on overnight!!
I have commented before on the importance of properly pre-heated engines, in fact, I put together this article showing the issues we have seen here.
The problem is simply that the hot water is not being circulated, so the engine does not get properly heated, causing starting difficulties (amongst other issues).
Compare this to an MTU 20V4000G62 engine we attended the previous week, where the pumped pre-heat system had the top of the engine hot 20 minutes after being activated.
There are various options available to upgrade pre-heat systems, and all very cost-effective compared to the costs of downtime or a damaged engine.
