The Cats are back
Page 16
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by Colin Sowrnan • Foden is reintroducing a Caterpillar engine option starting with its 3000-Series multi• wheelers and lightweight tractive units.
From November it will offer 325 and 365hp charge-cooled Euro-2 variants of the 10.3-litre 3176B Caterpillar engine.
Other versions will be offered in the 4000-Series next October. These will include the 14-litre 3406E which is the electronically controlled version of theinline six engine previously on offer from Foden.
When Euro-1 approvals caused Foden to drop the Cat option more than half of its trucks were powered by the American engine. In the longer term, Foden's general marketing manager Gary Rowlands expects that position to be regained.
"We are not looking to convert customers to Caterpillar there are lots of operators with Cat-engined trucks who may want another," he says. As to weight and price, Rowlands expects them to be similar to Cummins Mll engined variants.
Following in-service problems with the previous engines, Caterpillar has opened a UK base and Charles Avery, truck engine manager, is working with Foden on network training prior to the launch.
"We had some problems with the previous engines but those have been solved and our ser
vice and support is much better than , _ last time," he says.
While Caterpillar's 3176B engine is rated at 325hp (242kW) and 365hp (272kW) at 1,900rpm, it produces peak power at a lower speeds: 341hp (254kW) at 1,650rpm and 383hp (286kW) at 1,700rpm respectively. Torque output from the lower powered engine is 1,2501bft (1,695Nm) at 1,200 while the higher rating produces 1,3501bft (1,830Nm) at 1,35Orpm.
The version of the engine offers a 3-5% improvement in fuel economy courtesy of Lucas's electronically controlled unit injectors rated at 1,725bar (25,000psi), articulated pistons, new head gasket technology, a 200/0 increase in coolant flow and wider cam followers.
At the heart of the uprating is a dual microprocessor electronic control unit (ECU) offering eight times the memory of its predecessor.
This means that speed limiting, cruise control, radiator fan switching, speedometer and tachometer drives and Jake Brake control can be integrated into the ECU. Also included is a datalink to allow the system to join up with ABS, ASR and electronically controlled transmissions.
If a fault is detected on the road the ECU records all parameters immediately before and after the failure and will decrease the power to protect the engine. There is also a selfdiagnostic option which can be used to re-rate the engine and take information out of the ECU.
Data on driving times and fuel consumed in: normal use; idling; and driving a PTO are permanently logged. This information is also available on a 'trip' basis which can be reset by the operator and used to keep records.