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How Cat® Reman Gives Used Engines New Life
Remanufacturing a Cat® engine goes beyond a simple rebuild. The Cat Reman team in Corinth, Mississippi, takes us inside the process, detailing the inspection, preclean and disassembly steps that bring a used engine back to life.
Estimated read time: 3 minutes
As a new machine nears the end of the engine’s first service life, some contractors put the machine up for sale. But with equipment demand high, keeping the machine and purchasing a Cat® Reman engine can be a savvy move. And you’ll get more years out of your equipment investment.
The process on your end is simple: Pull the engine and turn it over to your dealer. From there, Caterpillar’s remanufacturing process creates a simple result: new life. Remanufacturing involves a multitude of engineering inspections and procedures. And once they’re done, other equipment owners reap the benefits of your decision to return your engine to Cat Reman. In this series of three articles, we’ll show you how it’s done.
HOW ENGINE REMANUFACTURING BEGINS
When Cat Reman customers return their qualifying used engine — referred to as core — to their Cat dealer, they receive a core refund1. Following the dealer inspection, the core (fully assembled and complete) is sent to one of Caterpillar's global core processing facilities.
More than 95% of Caterpillar’s worldwide core returns come through the Cat Reman facility in Corinth, Mississippi. This state-of-the-art facility processes returned cores for distribution to other Cat remanufacturing facilities and specializes in full remanufacturing of Cat engines.
Every remanufactured engine at Corinth undergoes advanced cleaning and inspection as well as salvage and re-machining where necessary, all so they meet Caterpillar’s rigorous performance specifications.
“It comes in as a dirty piece of iron,” says Kegan Luick, Cat Reman engineering team lead. “We disassemble, clean and inspect the core, determine if salvage repairs and engineering updates are required. Then we assemble, test, paint, package and ship the remanufactured engine to a Caterpillar distribution center. From there, the engine goes to a Cat dealer for installation into a customer machine to perform like new.”
Step 1: Receiving
The Corinth Core Processing and Disassembly facility receives about 21 trucks per day. When the core delivered by these trucks is unloaded, it is logged, and the 48-hour timer starts for the next step in the process: inspection.
Step 2: Inspection
Michael Kirk, a Caterpillar logistics technician at the Corinth facility, says the team uses Cat Reman’s Core Acceptance Criteria checklist to inspect the engine visually and internally and then deliver a diagnosis. If the core is approved, it proceeds to preclean and disassembly.
But why wouldn’t core be approved? Specific engines and parts have their own unique criteria. Generally, core won’t be accepted if they are cracked, broken, welded, display non-operational damage or do not have a valid Cat part number. In some cases, however, what you might think of as an old and unusable core might be perfectly acceptable. Have a core return conversation with your Cat dealer, regardless of condition. You'll find out if it's eligible for a core credit, and it might just make its way to Corinth.
Luick explains that the inspection is an essential step. “This allows us to determine if the component adheres to Caterpillar's specifications to be remanufactured,” he says.
Step 3: Preclean & Disassembly
After inspection and a preclean, the core is disassembled. Precleaning aids technicians in the disassembly since an engine with caked-on oils and hardened deposits is more difficult to assess and take apart.
And every single wear component is removed. Engine Technician Jennifer Sparks says everything from O-rings to oil plugs gets replaced later, during assembly.
Workers then determine whether each component is salvageable and includes the necessary piece parts. If the core passes this careful review, it continues on in the remanufacturing process.
To read more about the next steps in the process, see part 2 of this series.
Check out the range and variety of available Cat Reman parts.
1Additional guidelines may apply. Contact your authorized Cat dealer for more information.
