Capital Equipment News July 2016

EQUIPMENT REBUILDS

METRIC AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING prevents catastrophic failures

The cylinder block machining centre at Metric Automotive Engineering.

A ccording to Andrew Yorke, operations director of Metric Automotive Engi- neering, major engine failures occur as a result of poor maintenance practices, and adopting a sound preventative mainte- nance regime will save fleet owners signifi- cant direct and indirect costs. Metric Automotive Engineering is well known in the earthworks, mining and quar- rying industries for its ability to remanufac- ture diesel engine components to original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) specifi- cations, and even exceed these standards. Yorke is concerned that many fleet opera- tors are cutting down on their maintenance programmes in these challenging economic conditions. He warns that this practice will inevitably lead to catastrophic engine fail- ures on costly equipment in industries that simply cannot afford unwanted downtime and unnecessary costs. This is especially likely in the African context where contam- inated and diluted diesel can cause major damage to new, sophisticated engine tech- nologies. “In addition to poor combustion and an increase in diesel burn, long term issues that can arise from ongoing exposure to inferior quality diesel include fuel dilution

One of Metric Automotive Engineering’s heavy industrial customers has never ex- perienced a catastrophic engine failure because of its stringent preventative main- tenance strategies, which involve weekly oil sample analysis practices to identify exactly where fatigue is occurring. Importantly, it also reveals trends and patterns that allow this customer to schedule repair services to avoid catastrophic engine failures. Yorke believes that most of the pitfalls in preventative maintenance can be attributed to the limited role that technical depart- ments now play in choosing best practices to keep fleets operating at optimal levels. This important function has increasingly been delegated to purchasing departments. As he points out, sound maintenance de- cisions can only be based on a thorough understanding of the complexities of the various components, including a quality re- manufacturing operation. There is a reason why all of Metric Au- tomotive Engineering’s customers keep returning. The company has saved them exorbitant costs, while keeping tonnages moving. b

and premature component wear problems, ultimately leading to a catastrophic engine failure,” he warns. Yorke says that one of the critical bene- fits of implementing a sound preventative maintenance programme is that it allows fleet owners to manage and prevent an un- scheduled failure. Corrective intervention can be implemented timeously to eliminate the large costs associated with repairing a failed engine and the expensive price tag attached to downtime on a mine, quarry or construction site. Yorke says other drastic measures are be- ing taken by fleet operators to cut costs and these are also compromising their remanufacturing programmes. In some in- stances, remanufactured engine dyno tests are being neglected despite the significant investment into remanufacturing engine components. These tests ensure that the vital performance specifications of the re- manufactured engine have been achieved to ensure a full service life performance. He encourages fleet operators to analyse oil samples regularly as this can help to iden- tify issues such as coolant contamination and other factors that lead to high wear on engines and components.

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CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS JULY 2016