Microchip middleweight
Page 18
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Steve Sturgess • Cummins' latest US engine launch is the ISC, an electronically controlled, 24-valve derivative of its 8.3-litre, six-cylinder C-Series. Changes to the engine improve emissions for 1998 but there is also a performance hike that allows the lightweight engine to cover many of the applications of the L10 as the 10-litre begins to be phased out.
The engine shares many features with the electronic version of the B-Series, the ISB (CM 410 December). Cummins has not announced if it will bring either into the UK, hut the engines are likely to form the basis of Cummins' European Engine Alliance with Iveco.
The ISC designation stands for Interact System, C-Series and refers to the combination of electronic fuel controls with onboard data collection and interactive information processing.
The technology co-ordinates functions between engine and vehicle systems such as transmission, anti-lock brakes and traction control, dashboard information and collision warning. It also provides links to business systems at fleet operations level, interfacing with Cummins INFORM, INSPEC and InRoads management software as well as other management systems.
With the launch of the ISC, Cummins is announcing its partnership with Amtech Transportation Systems to use radio-frequency tags on Interact-enabled trucks. The technology simplifies extraction of the vehicle and management information from the engine's electronics by reducing data extraction to a wireless exchange as the truck drives by. And as well as data extraction, there is a readback function to the engine to reset recordings and even change parameters. The radio tags communicate with terminal-located readers for wireless exchange of information in a matter of seconds.
The ISC has been extensively redesigned in both cylinder head and in the power cylinder, as well as design changes to enhance durability and noise. Along with the electronic fuel control there is an all-new and patented "mini common-rail" fuel system.
Helped by breathing improvements from the four-valve head layout and the central injector, the revised C-Series has increased power, improved throttle response and better fuel economy, all while meeting 1998 emissions levels without any exhaust after-treatment.
Durability
The previous C8.3 was no slouch in the durability stakes, with more than half-a-million engines running around the world. The ISC benefits from a more even temperature distribution around the cylinder from the four-valve head. Other reliability and durability improvements come from the redesigned front drive and gearcase, from the on-board electronics and from redesigns of both the tube and the cooling systems that increase fluid flows and filtration, with longer oil drain intervals.
Using the radio tags, a fleet can easily download engine information at a terminal gate, halting a truck for only a matter of moments for data extraction and even transmission—such as resetting the counters and writing any new parameters to the engine. Cummins software allows for the reporting of this data to aid in vehicle dispatch, driver moni toring and training, and maintenance scheduling. It even offers additional functions such as tracking how long trucks are sitting in the terminal, for example, to increase the overall productivity of a fleet According to Cummins vice-president Martha Brooks the ISC offers the lowest owning and operating costs in its segment. The nearest diesel engine competitor over 100,000 miles is claimed to be 3% more costly in filters, oil and adjustments, while the ISC's farthest competitor costs two-and-a-half times as much, she says.
On rebuild costs the ISC is marginally beaten by one engine but the rest take at least 50% longer to overhaul.
And, says Brooks, because the ISC can do the work of a 10litre engine, the installed cost in chassis offers further savings of as much as $1,500, (L890) with 5001b (227kg) payload gains over the life of the vehicle.