Engine Plant Testing Question

[mustang]

When working in the assembly plants I was told that most of the engines we installed we never started and run at the engine plant. The first time the new engines fired was when the new car was started to drive off the end of the line. Is this true or was I misled?

[Powertrain Pimp]

When working in the assembly plants I was told that most of the engines we installed we never started and run at the engine plant. The first time the new engines fired was when the new car was started to drive off the end of the line. Is this true or was I misled?

 

 

I can't speak for all engine plants, but I know that Lima Engine does not fire the engine. They only cycle it through a cold test at the end of line. Hot Test, I've heard, is too costly (fuel prices/EPA Regs/ETC) and that is one of the reasons why they have gone away from it. I hope this helps.

[duanesz]

Ya I wonder if shipping engines with fuel in the injection system would cause issues too. How many cars or trucks come off the end of the line dont start? I bet not many.

[theoldwizard]

I can't speak for all engine plants, but I know that Lima Engine does not fire the engine. They only cycle it through a cold test at the end of line. Hot Test, I've heard, is too costly (fuel prices/EPA Regs/ETC) and that is one of the reasons why they have gone away from it. I hope this helps.

Hot test IS too costly but not for the reasons you mentioned. Time. And we all know time = money. Total time from engine moving in to cell to next engine moving in to cell is much lower on cold test.

 

Also cold test is (almost?) fully automated while hot test requires an operator.

 

Bad news is, cold test lets a very small number of engines through that would fail hot test. Management saw the data about 5 or 6 years ago and choose to ignore it.