Some of you maybe aware that 40013 failed yet again while carrying out the load bank testing. This time B7 decided to cause problems while carrying out the 850 RPM on 50% load, these particular bearings were starting to get far warmer than the others. The engine was immediately shut down this causing the engine to seize. The company that overhauled the engine have taken full responsibility for this failure has they were on site with us over seeing these tests. After a lot of investigating it’s looking like the crankshaft was not cleaned thoroughly after A3 main journal was machined and the whole crankshaft polished as all big end bearings were showing signs of contamination.
A7 pin was inspected by specialist crankshaft engineers to find the pin was cracked and beyond repair.
The good news is I have located 2 Mk2 16 SVT power units in Wick, inspected and had delivered. These crankshafts are the wide webbed type fitting to class 50s and some to class 40s. Hopefully we will have some good news to report shortly!
I must thank Stuart Sellers for tipping me off regarding these 2 spare power units.
