Zooks527 Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Good morning. Following a suggestion here on the site, I looked up the National Geographic documentary on Mustang production from a few years ago. Really glad for the suggestion, it was a fascinating show to watch. On thing caught my attention. About 5 minutes before the end, they show a car being driven through the plant as the narrator says "Then they drive the car onto what they call the rolling road, to check the output of the engine." The car drives onto a floor mounted dynamometer and there are a few closeup shots of rear wheels spinning on the roller. Are they really doing a power output check at this stage (which strikes me as odd on an engine with so little run time), or are they doing something more in a QC vein, such as testing that all the gears engage appropriately? Or is there something else that I have missed completely, and this is a random test of some cars as opposed to something done to every one? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 The QC checks at the Flat Rock Plant really aren't any different than any other Ford plant. Power output is checked on a Dyno (there's 3 or 4 of them inside the plant) and the so called "rolling road" is to check the interior for squeaks and rattles and make sure the suspension is working properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooks527 Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Really? Wow. If you'd asked me if I thought they would dyno every engine, I'd have taken "no" in a heartbeat. Which tells you everything you need to know about my level of expertise in modern car manufacturing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theoldwizard Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 On 2/17/2019 at 10:15 AM, Zooks527 said: Are they really doing a power output check at this stage (which strikes me as odd on an engine with so little run time), ... This is NOT a full blown, max HP/torque dyno run ! It primary purpose is to check for powertrain proper "functionality", including leaks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 24 minutes ago, theoldwizard said: This is NOT a full blown, max HP/torque dyno run ! It primary purpose is to check for powertrain proper "functionality", including leaks. They do a WOT test to make sure the power curve is what it's supposed to be, but yes the main purpose is to test for functionality of the powertrain and braking system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooks527 Posted February 19, 2019 Author Share Posted February 19, 2019 Thank you, gentlemen. That makes far more sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O.L. Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 That's great to know that it has some sort of check up once in a while on the line to make sure that everything's allright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 5 hours ago, O.L. said: That's great to know that it has some sort of check up once in a while on the line to make sure that everything's allright. That's not a once and a while thing, that's every car as long as it's not snowing. There's contingency in place for inclement weather I'm just not sure of what that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
O.L. Posted February 25, 2019 Share Posted February 25, 2019 That's even better!!! Where I work, it's the exact same thing. Where 14 inspectors who checks near 10k tires every 12 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zooks527 Posted February 25, 2019 Author Share Posted February 25, 2019 14 hours ago, fuzzymoomoo said: That's not a once and a while thing, that's every car as long as it's not snowing. There's contingency in place for inclement weather I'm just not sure of what that is. It occurs to me that the folks at the plant are having a lot more fun with my car than I am having sitting here waiting for it. ?. From the looks of things, I appear to be caught up in the steering wheel issue. Still, as it's coming with summer performance tires, it's probably for the best that I don't have it sitting around tempting me to drive it with wholly inappropriate tires for our current New England conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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