ALL THE QUALITY HALF THE PRICE
Page 95
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Diesel ReCon offers Cummins exchange engines at half the cost of a new one. Colin Sowman finds out how.
When a truck engine is worn out or suffers a major failure you are traditionally faced with a dilemma: are you going to spend lots of money or lots of time? Cummins says it offers cheaper exchange remanufactured engines that its competitors — that means less time and less money.
Cumbernauld-based Diesel ReCon is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cummins and is dedicated to the remanufacture of around 800 of its parent's engines per year (65% for trucks). And, given that your engine has not destroyed itself and the core is fit for further use, the reconditioned unit could cost as little as 50% of the price of a new one.
Timescale
The price tag is not unusual for a reconditioned engine but the timescale is. Most reconditioners take about a week to do a rebuild and return the same engine to the operator. But ReCon, like the truck manufacturers, exchanges the complete unit putting a surcharge on until the old core is returned in good order.
ReCon reckons that by having access to Cummins' original build specification (machining tolerances, settings, emission levels and the like) it is best placed to recondition the engine. It also incorporates all modifications introduced since the engine was built (typically four years back).
There are two levels of surcharge, one for non-return and the other for an unusable core. These are up to £2,500 and £1,800 respectively but Diesel ReCon's general manager Bill O'Donnell says these are usually refunded. An operator has up to three months to return the old engine. "If all the pieces are inside and the crank turns there is no surcharge. The operator then knows how much it will cost before he leaves the counter," he says.
Returned core arriving at Cumbernauld is stripped and all pistons, liners and bearings are discarded. Valves and valve springs are measured and re-used if within original tolerances (typically around 60%). Camshaft journals and lobes are checked and polished if within tolerance — if not they are scrapped. There is no re-metalling. Crankshafts are checked for straightness, then reground and crack tested.
The blocks are stripped, bead blasted and baked to clean them before crack testing. Mandrels are inserted through the main and camshaft bearings to check if the block has distorted. The top of the block is checked for flatness and skimmed if necessary (and marked if an oversized gasket is required).
Cylinder heads are not blasted as removing all the particles cannot be guaranteed. New valve guides are installed and seats checked. Where inserts are used these are renewed and recut. Con-rods are checked to ensure they are straight and a new small-end bush is inserted.
Engine sets are then compiled with new parts (direct from the relevant Cummins factory) being added where required for the engine to be assembled on a production line. The rebuild will include a compressor, injection pump and injectors that have been rebuilt to the same exacting standards as the engine. (These and other units can be purchased separately and account for 55% of turnover.)
Test run
Each engine is test run on a dynamometer for up to 4.5 hours after rebuilding. They are then shrink-wrapped before dispatch to prevent parts like turbochargers being taken off to cover shortages in the distributors' stores.
O'Donnell says: "A customer can expect a ReCon engine last as long as a new one." He gives an example of one of the engines running in a customers' vehicle which covered the same route with the same driver every day. The original L10 engine covered 1,216,000km (760,000 miles), then the ReCon unit did 1,184,000km (740,000 miles) before needing to be replaced.
To underline this, from 1 January all Diesel ReCon engines will carry the same two-year unlimited distance warranty as with the new Cummins engines. Parts sold individually such as crankshafts, heads and injection equipment will continue to have the current one-year guarantee.
ReCon units are available in the UK through dealers for truck manufacturers that use the engines or direct from one of 12 Cummins Diesel outlets. Circle turbo 65 for more information.