Cat Products

[dave337]

Hello

I work on a couple of fast ferries on the south coast of England powered by C32 ACERTs. In the last couple of weeks we have had two aftercooler failures on two engines. One aftercooler was less than a year old and already replaced a previous failure. Both boats have only been in service for just over one year and have under 5000 hours running. Anyone else experienced such failures..?? I know Cat have had issues in the past with aftercoolers.

[njc1979]

Very vague details- define the failure mode....

Suggestion- If you have more details provide them and alert your local CAT dealer ASAP and have them log the events with part numbers, pictures, maintenance records, operating procedures, etc to the factory.  The factory will then review your query and determine any like cases or suggestions, etc.  

More information is crucial for a better definition.  Also, serial numbers and hours of each failure would be needed.  The dealer should also review for any PSP/PIP letters.  

Also, was there an OEM design approval? 

Hope this helps, 

Nick C.

In the UK I think FINNING CAT is your local dealer- they have excellent contacts and resources.  

[dave10010]

Post your engine serial numbers.

[dave337]

Finnings are assisting us with these issues although they have not advised of any PSP's at the moment. I will post serial numbers later on, they are RND series. Thanks for your replies.

[dave337]

They have all failed on the sea water side. Luckily each time we have caught it early.

[dave337]

Serial Number RND 00319, the other engines are close in series with this one. All failures have occured in the welds.

[BlackCat1]

Yes, Cat has had problems with supplier quality with C32 aftercoolers.   Keep pressing Finning for replacements and someday they might fix the problem.

[dave337]

Caterpillar have now responded to our issues with these aftercooler failures.

Two failed coolers were sent back to the States for Caterpillar to investigate. They cut open both coolers right along the welded seam where all 3 have failed..!!! On the inlet side of the coolers is a build up of seaweed, a fair amount on one and a significantly lesser amount on the other. No mention of any x-ray inspection of the welds and fabrications prior to cutting the coolers open. They blame the failures on the seaweed alone. Our sea strainers are made to Cat specs and cleaned at regular intervals. We have never had increased temperatures as a result of a blocked cooler so I find this conclusion hard to substantiate, also given that one of the coolers had a considerably smaller amount of seaweed build up,

We commissioned an independent inspection of the remaining failed aftercooler plus our two new and unused spares we hold in stock. Dye penetrant revealed several small cracks in the areas around the horizontal stitch welds and the casting welded seams. More worryingly, the x-ray of the casting location weld revealed in the failed unit, " A linear indication in the centre of the weld that varied in thickness and extended for 100% of the weld length. It would appear that this was representative of a lack of penetration interspersed with a crack. "

Clearly Cat still have production issues with the manufacture of their aftercoolers (as in other C series engines in the recent past). I am disappointed that they do not even seem to have conducted a very thorough investigation and inspection of the units before they went ahead with the destructive examination. Failure analysis requires the gathering of ALL evidence and a careful assesment of all the information gathered. Steaming in with an angle grinder and leaping to conclusions at the first bit of evidence is not what you would expect of a leading engine manufacturer...???

[alure]

Spoiler

Dave, I have a failed cooler on a commercial fishing boat working out of Banff north Scotland, Agent say this is unusual as early problems with coolers have been sorted out.  I write because we have a mirror failure of yours, cooler failed at 4,176 hours less than 1 year old.

Basically I was wondering how you got to the bottom of the problem, how did your Cat rep react. Cooler is seawater cooled, first impression is welds have gone.

[PeterT]

I have two C32  in my Boat engine Serial Numbers RNC 02373 and RNC 02378

I am concerned about the Aftercooler failures Please can someone explain where

to check for failure with a borescope with out removing the cooler.....I am concerned

as I have had bad experience with my last boat with 3126B and both aftercoolers failed

and had to have new cyl heads.  Thanks PT