Fleet QHSE Alert

No. 001 1st September 2001

ENGINE ROOM MAINTENANCE

Bearing Failure
Confirm that you have the makers updated instructions onboard, and a torque wrench of the appropriate range. 2. Connecting rod bottom end bores should be accurately calibrated to ensure that the inner diameter is above the minimum allowable figure and that the ovality is within limits. The connecting rods should be calibrated without the bearing shells in place, only after tightening the bottom end bearing bolts as specified by the makers.

Bearing white metal wiped out .

Melted down bearings due to lube oil failure

Over the years, we have had a few instances of damage to 3. Carry out dye penetrant crack detection tests on the auxiliary engine main bearings and connecting rod bottom serrations of bottom end bearing keeps and on the end bearings. This has almost always resulted in damage of threaded section of the bottom end bearing bolts. crankshaft beyond repair, necessitating expensive renewals. Check for burrs and distortion at the serrations of the bearing keeps, and at the threaded sections and landing Your attention to the following would greatly help reduce faces or fitted sections of the bolts. Some makers recsuch break-downs: ommend checking the bolts for elongation.

Routine Operation of the Engine

1. Follow correct starting and stopping procedures.

4. Outer diameters of crankpins should be measured along two perpendicular axes, at three locations along the pin.

2. Lube oil pressure of approximately 1.0 Bar must be 5. Maintain a proper record of the service hours of the bottom end bearing bolts and should these be apmaintained continuously by means of hand pump or elecproaching the makers recommended replacement intertric priming pump during starting, until the engine driven vals, ensure that the bolts are renewed during the overpump builds up a pressure exceeding this. Similarly, haul. lube oil pressure must be maintained during the stopping of the engine and for a few minutes thereafter. 6. When using new bolts, it is important to break-in the bolts by tightening and loosening them in the connect3. Maintain the lube oil in good condition and carry out ing rods a couple of times. weekly drop tests as a test of oil quality. Check and clean lube oil filters periodically and ensure that filters 7. When connecting rod bottom end bearing bolts are and coolers are purged after any work is done on them. being re-used, please ensure that they are fitted in the same location from which they were removed. 4. When carrying out crankcase inspections, verify proper lube oil flow. Remember to check for correct end float 8. Only use recommended lubricants/ anti-seize comof bottom end of the connecting rods. pounds on the bolt threads before tightening.

Engine Overhauls

9. Check for correct end float of bottom end of the connecting rods after these are fitted in the engine. 1. In view of a large number of cases of bottom end bearing bolt failure due to incorrect tightening torque, Yanmar and Daihatsu have revised their procedures for tightening 10. Ascertain the zero error of all calibration instruments used, and take this into account as appropriate. bottom end bolts from the torque method to the rotated angle method which require preliminary tightening by torque and further tightening through a specified angle.

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