THE BASIC
ENGINE
THE BASIC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ENGINE
ENGINE BLOCK.........................................................................................................................................2
LINER..........................................................................................................................................................4
CYLINDER HEAD.......................................................................................................................................5
SPACER PLATE.........................................................................................................................................6
CRANKSHAFT............................................................................................................................................7
CONNECTING RODS.................................................................................................................................8
PISTONS.....................................................................................................................................................9
General....................................................................................................................................................9
Direct and indirect injection....................................................................................................................10
Special pistons.......................................................................................................................................11
PISTON RINGS.........................................................................................................................................12
BEARING..................................................................................................................................................13
CAST.........................................................................................................................................................15
Valves....................................................................................................................................................15
camshafts...............................................................................................................................................16
Cam Follower.........................................................................................................................................17
Rocker Control.......................................................................................................................................18
BALANCER SHAFT..................................................................................................................................19
DAMPERS.................................................................................................................................................20
PERSONAL NOTES.................................................................................................................................21
THE BASIC
ENGINE BLOCK
ENGINE
Robust, compact, An engine block must be made robust, compact and light at the same time.
lightweight It must ensure that the internal components are precisely aligned at all times
Precise alignment under all operating conditions. Strongly ribbed and water-cooled, it supports
water-cooled the shaft line at its lower part and receives the bracket mounting brackets at
the front and rear.
cast iron
Made of cast iron, it is made by casting and offers a high resistance to
breakage. Stress relief is achieved through heat treatment.
Caterpillar engine blocks are deep-skirted, and extend below the crankshaft
axis.
Cylinders directly
On some CAT engines (3003, 3013, 3014, 3024, 3034, 3116, 3126), with
bored into the
block small displacements, the cylinders are bored directly into the block. In
the event of excessive wear, it is then possible to bore the block in order to
Possible repair insert sleeve cylinders at the original dimension (see document SEHS9047).
In the event of a coolant problem, there is a risk of excessive corrosion.
Possible deformations:
Shaft line misalignment: Only the main bearings are faulty, not the connecting rod
bearings.
3
THE BASIC
LINER
ENGINE
The "wet" liners slide freely into the holes of the block, they are easy to mount and
have the advantage of being able to expand without constraints in the block. This
type of liner is found on the 3176, 3196, 3300, 3400, 3500 engines.
In the case of the 3300, 3400 and 3500 engines, they are water-cooled
along their entire length. The sealing of the base plate is achieved by 3 O-
Full-length water
rings.
The upper part receives an upper seal to dampen vibrations and ensure
waterproofing (liner band).
Water in the In the case of the 3176 and 3196 engines, they are only water-cooled in
upper part the upper part, a seal ensures the seal with the lower part (oil pan).
Dry liners (in the case of jacketed blocks) are thin sheaths. They are pressed
into holes machined into the block. This type of liner is found on the 3054,
Gripped in force 3056, 3066 engines.
Note that the dry liners are intended either for the original assembly or for
repair assembly (see document SENR5553 for 3066 engines).
Regardless of the type of engine, precise crosshatching is made on the
inner walls of the cylinders to facilitate lubrication.
See illustration
doc SEHS9047
(3116)
Liner piercing:
Presence of oil in water and water in oil. This can be caused by complex electrolytic
phenomena related to coolant acidity problems as well as insufficient pressure in the
cooling circuit
4
THE BASIC
CYLINDER HEAD
ENGINE
Intake exhaust The cylinder head ensures the intake of air and the exhaust of gases in the
water passages cylinder, it has the water passages communicating with the water chambers of
the engine block.
cast iron
They can be made of cast iron or light alloy. (Usually cast iron on Caterpillar
engines).
They have many bores and machined parts intended to accommodate the seats
Valve lifter
and valve guides, possibly the tappets (e.g. Cat 3500 engine), the injectors as
(3500)
well as the pre-combustion chambers for indirect injection engines, manifolds,
etc.
Some engines may be equipped with individual cylinder heads for each cylinder
(e.g. Cat 3500 and 3600 engines) More generally the cylinder heads include 2,
3, 4 or 6 cylinders.
Lowering liner:
Cause: fatigue and overheating
Incorrect height Head gasket does not fit properly and slams which can
lead to gas passing through the cooling water circuit
It is then possible to rectify the block in order to rectify this malfunction.
5
THE BASIC
SPACER PLATE
ENGINE
Commonly the junction of the cylinder head on the block is done by a
cylinder head gasket.
Caterpillar uses spacer plate between the block and cylinder
head(s) of the 3300, 3400, 3500 and 3600 engines.
The advantages of this assembly are numerous:
Cost
The engine block is less expensive to machine.
Protected Parting Line:
Better Held Shirts The parting line is better protected.
The liner are better held.
Metal gasket
The sealing between the engine block and the backplate is
ensured by a metal seal.
The sealing of water passages is ensured by ferrules (socket
generally made of copper, equipped with a seal)
Classic head gasket
The seal between the cylinder head and the Spacer plate is
ensured by the metalloplastic cylinder head gasket.
6
THE BASIC
CRANKSHAFT
ENGINE
The crankshaft transforms the reciprocating linear motion of the pistons
into a rotary motion used to perform a job. The crankshaft consists of many
parts:
Crankpins
Counter weights
The Journals
Drives (flywheel, pinions)
Forged and They are forged and precision machined from premium steel with high
machined breaking strength. Heat treatments are carried out to increase the hardness
of the contact areas and to lighten stresses.
Machined and polished spans with a very smooth finish: (reduced internal
very smooth friction, long life of the bearings).
surface
All crankshafts are precisely balanced, statically and dynamically.
Balancing
Crankshafts have internal ducts through which lubricating oil flows from the
journals to the crankpins.
On the crankshafts of V-engines, there are two connecting rods per crankpin.
The crankpins of the 3408 and 3508 engines are offset.
V8: Staggered The bearings and connecting rod caps are numbered and marked in
crank pins relation to the block, with the number 1 being furthest from the flywheel.
Cylinder position 1 The crankshafts fitted to the new generation engines (equipped with
electronic injection) can be provided with specific markings.
Crankshaft with
specific markings
7
THE BASIC
CONNECTING ROD
ENGINE
The connecting rods provide the link between the pistons and the
crankshaft, they must withstand forces of several tons with each combustion.
The connecting rod head has a cap and bushings that hinge on the crank
pin and thus avoid direct contact between the connecting rod and the
crankshaft. In the event of normal wear and tear, only the bearings need to
be replaced.
The connecting rod leg has a ring and hinges on the piston pin.
The connecting rod body typically has an H-profile on Caterpillar
engines.
The ring is lubricated by spraying
On older models of large engines, the connecting rods had internal oil lines
that routed oil to the lower part of the piston to cool it.
During assembly, a number is engraved on the connecting rod head and on
the cap. This indicates that these two parts are a pair and that they were
machined together. These paired parts should always be mounted
together during engine overhauls.
Bent connecting rod (+ or -)
Possible after an incident (example: foreign object in the cylinder head)
8
THE BASIC PISTONS
ENGINE General
General The piston receives on its upper surface the pressure exerted by the
air during compression and by the gases during combustion and
Considerable expansion. It transmits to the connecting rod the force resulting from
effort this pressure (an effort that is always considerable): of the order of 9
tons on a small engine with cylinders with a bore of 100 mm (3116), of
the order of 24 tons on a large engine with cylinders of 170 mm bore
(3500).
Sealing
The piston is a vital part that must fulfill several functions: With the help
of the rings, it must seal the combustion chamber as best as possible
against the passage of gases to the engine crankcase (blow-by) as well
as lubricants in the opposite direction, under all conditions of speed and
load.
Cat Piston Features
The piston head is elliptical and the skirt has a conical profile, which
allows the liners to fit perfectly at operating temperatures.
Standard pistons are made from low-silicon aluminum alloy and feature
a cast nickel ring for the top rings. This ensures better ring reach and
improves piston strength.
Caterpillar pistons are generally equipped with three piston rings
3 Segments (top ring, intermediate ring, and oil control ring). However, some
engines were equipped with two rings per piston (3208) or even four
rings (3600).
9
THE BASIC PISTONS
ENGINE Direct and indirect injection
Indirect injection engines
Indirect injection engines have pre-combustion chambers at the
injectors. In these pre-chambers, the fuel is sprayed and partially
ignited, thus causing the ejection of the rest of the fuel under
pressure, creating a "blowtorch effect". The pistons are
Heat Plug therefore equipped with "Heat plug" pads made of very
resistant steel and have recesses to house the valves (see
illustration above)
Direct injection engines
The combustion chamber of the pistons is off-center, it has a
internal combustion
Mexican cap shape. The purpose of this very special moulding is
chamber to create a swirling effect in order to mix the fuel and air in the
combustion chamber as well as possible. The aim is to improve
the quality of combustion as much as possible and to create the
minimum amount of unburned (which constitutes a loss of power,
a source of fouling and pollution). Some pistons may have
recesses for the valves.
Mounting Marks The pistons must be positioned correctly in the block, for this two
V-shaped markings must be aligned or the front mark on the
piston must be oriented towards the front of the engine.
Pistons for "beveled foot" (viper head) connecting rods have a
larger amount of metal in the piston head to increase resistance
to pressure spikes.
10
THE BASIC PISTONS
ENGINE Special pistons
2-piece articulated piston all-steel piston
Important In order to enable higher combustion pressures and
pressures and temperatures, special pistons have been developed.
temperatures
2-piece pistons For example, 2-piece articulated pistons can be found on most
engines in the 3100, 3400 and 3500 series: A forged steel crown with
bore and connecting rod bushing and a separate cast aluminum skirt.
The 2 parts are held together by the connecting rod pin.
There are also all-steel pistons with only 2 small portions of skirt on the
HEUI 3400 series engines to limit weight (equivalent to an all-
All-steel pistons aluminum piston)
There are also composite pistons, with a steel crown and a forged
aluminum skirt screwed together (the case of the very large 3600
Composite engines)
pistons
Note: All-steel pistons have a cavity in the piston head. In this case, the
"oil jet" (device to project oil under the pistons to cool them) have 2
holes:
Cavity in piston
One to project under the piston in the central part, the other to project
head
into the cavity to cool the piston at the rings
Piston head perforation:
Burn due to faulty injection, piston fatigue, or the passage of a foreign object
(usually a valve or turbocharger problem).
Consequences:
Loss of power, significant blow-by at the crankcase breather, oil leak.
11
THE BASIC
Piston Rings
ENGINE
Piston rings are of 2 types: Compression rings and wiper rings.
The compression rings (1 and 2) provide a seal at the bottom of the
combustion chamber by preventing combustion gases from leaking at the
piston.
More and more often, the compression segments and their grooves are
trapezoidal. Thanks to this shape, these rings move during the piston's
upward and downward stroke, which prevents the formation of deposits and
gumming phenomena.
The oil control ring (3) is located below the compression segments. This
ring lubricates the walls of the liner during the piston's back and forth
movement. The oil film reduces wear on the liner and piston.
Behind the oil control ring is an expansion spring (5) that helps to hold the
ring against the cylinder wall
All piston rings have a cut clearance. To prevent leaks, the segments must
be tried, i.e. the cuts must be offset from each other.
Broken piston rings:
Due to poor quality or degraded oil.
Rubble in the piston groove may cause lateral piston perforation.
If fragments of (very hard) piston rings are found in the oil circuit, the engine will
need a complete rebuild.
12
THE BASIC
BEARING
ENGINE
1/2 Lubrication The bearings are lined with bearings made up of half-shells. The
bearings have oil inlet holes as well as appropriate grooves to ensure proper
Shells lubrication of the bearings.
The bearings are held in their housings by crush height.
Crush height
The bearing intended to absorb the longitudinal thrust of the crankshaft
is generally equipped with half-friction washers, the thickness of these
washers determines the "end play" of the crankshaft. This function is
End play
provided by half-cheek pads on the 3116 and 3126 engines.
Relatively inexpensive, bearings are wear parts whose function is to protect
the expensive parts such as the crankshaft, connecting rods and block.
Wear parts
protection To this end:
They offer a soft, smooth surface that can withstand a high load. This
protects the surfaces of the crankshaft journals during start-ups or in the
Soft and smooth presence of high engine load.
surface
They capture and drown small particles of metal and debris in their soft
surfaces to prevent damage to the trunnion surfaces.
Capture particles
They maintain proper oil flow and pressure between parts.
Oil pressure Frictional bearing wear occurs when the crankshaft bearings come into
contact with the bearings instead of being separated by a film of oil. This
happens especially in the engine start-up phases.
Start-up phases
13
THE BASIC
BEARING
ENGINE
Aluminu Aluminum alloy With
m alloy surface layer Lead/TinCopper
Copperand lead
Lead/Tin
Copper Lead/Tin Copper
Copper Nickel
Aluminu Steel Steel
m alloy
Steel Copper/Lead
Alloy Lead/Tin,
Lead/tin aluminum Copper
copper
Carefully crafted, the bearings are made of several layers of different
Multiple layers of materials.
different materials The type of metal used for each layer depends on the application in which the
bearing is going to be used. Caterpillar uses 3 families of bearings to optimize
the reliability and performance of its engines.
Steel structure
All the bearings described below have a steel structure over 90% of their
thickness. This structure ensures the rigidity of the bearing.
Aluminum alloy bearings
Easy to
manufacture These bearings, in addition to their steel structure, are made of a layer of
aluminum.
Aluminum alloy serves as the main support layer, has a high resistance to
scratching and is insensitive to corrosion. They have the advantage of being
easy to manufacture.
Bonding layer
Aluminum alloy bearings (with surface layer)
coefficient of
friction These bearings feature a copper bonding undercoat that allows a surface
layer of lead, tin and copper to be applied. This surface layer offers a better
coefficient of friction during the lubrication boundary phases.
very good Copper and lead pads
resistance
This type of bearing is very durable. They take up some of the particularities of
aluminum alloy bearings.
Nickel undercoat They also consist of a steel structure as well as a surface layer of lead, tin and
copper. However, the aluminum layer is replaced by an alloy of copper and
lead. The copper bonding sublayer is replaced with a protective nickel
underlayer to prevent any reaction between the tin and the copper-lead alloy.
(risk of corrosion)
Worn bearings:
Defective or insufficient lubrication (no oil, poor quality or contaminated oil). Overheating.
Misalignment. Excessive stress. This can lead to serious consequences (engine block
failure).
14
THE BASIC CAST
ENGINE Valves
Valves & Rotator (D19)
Significant The valves must withstand wear, warping, friction or constant hammering against
Stresses the seat while ensuring a complete seal of the combustion chamber.
Different Caterpillar valves are made of two or three different materials:
materials
The keying area is hardened through, the steel shank is attached to the forged
chromium-silicon alloy head by friction welding. The valve seat is coated with an
Welding
extra-hard cobalt-tungsten coating.
Scope
The seats attached to the cylinder head by refrigerant are made of a low-
Coating
deformation nickel alloy and a Stellite coating (cobalt, chromium, tungsten)
Cold providing corrosion resistance and hot hardness.
Mounting
The replaceable valve guides are made of graphite steel, they are groove to
Groove for ensure good lubrication.
good Air filling and exhaust gas transfer, and sometimes improved by doubling the
lubrication valves.
The Cat 3176, 3196 and the 3400 engine range from the 3400 engine range
have two intake valves and two exhaust valves per cylinder.
The valves are opened by rocker arms and sometimes by valve bridge(for
engines equipped with 4 valves per cylinder).
The rotators located at the valve pin are intended to rotate the valves on their
seat in order to regulate wear. The rotation is about 3° at each opening.
Burnt valves:
Rotators damaged (check with rocker cover removed, engine idling)
Foreign object
Weared guide, poor valve seat
15
THE BASIC CAST
ENGINE Camshafts
Controls valves The camshaft provides valve opening and closing and injector pump
and pump control for the 3100, 3456 and 3500 engines and some 3406
injectors engines.
For a four-stroke engine, the camshaft rotates at half the speed of the
crankshaft.
Overhead Valve The camshaft is usually housed in the engine block in a overhead
camshaft valve arrangement. However, the latest electronically injected
versions of the 3406 engine as well as the 3456 engine have the
Gear drive camshaft housed in the cylinder head called overhead camshaft.
This acts directly on the rocker arms.
Its drive is provided by gears across the entire range of CAT engines.
The side camshaft controls the valves via single or roller tappets and
rocker rods.
The camshaft timing using the timing gears must be precise. To facilitate
reassembly, timing marks are made on the gears.
16
THE BASIC CAST
ENGINE CAM FOLLOWER
The Cam follower ensure the transmission of movement from the
camshaft to the valves.
Cylindrical In general, they are cylindrical, they can be roller or controlled via
tipping rollers tippers (e.g. Cat 3100).
Rotary movement The simple cam follower undergoes a rotary movement with each lift,
of the pusher either by the cam which is off-center in relation to the pusher, or by a
slight inclination of the latter.
The Cam follower are guided by a clip or a lug.
The camshaft and cam follower are subjected to very high contact
Very high pressure, hence the need for good lubrication.
contact
pressure
17
THE BASIC CAST
ENGINE Rocker Control
The entire distribution system. 3116 and 3126
engines
Roller followers
(d28)
Camshaft and roller follower engines 3116 and 3126
18
THE BASIC
BALANCER SHAFT
ENGINE
Balancer shafts are found in some in-line 4-cylinder engines
4 cylinders
The purpose of these balancer shafts is to eliminate the dynamic imbalance
that results in vibrations along the vertical axis on these engines.
Dynamic
imbalance This imbalance is caused by the irregular movement of the pistons in the
cylinders at the angle described by the crankshaft crankpins (displacement
of the center of gravity of the 4 pistons during operation).
In the case of the 3114 engine (shown above), the balancer shafts
occupy the entire length of the engine oil pan. The shaft mounting housing
3114: is common with the oil pump. The shaft drive is also common with that of
Balancer the oil pump.
shaft
These shafts rotate at twice the speed of the crankshaft. They must be
correctly set to the marks during reassembly.
The 3408 engines are equipped with 2 gear balancers. The sprockets
are located in the front and rear crankcases of the engine.
Timing
These sprockets rotate at the same speed as the crankshaft. As in the
previous case, the timing is very important.
3408:
Balance
Sprocket
Timing
If the timing is defective, strong vibrations in line with the engine speed occur.
19
THE BASIC
DAMPERS
ENGINE
The inertia linked to the weight and speed of the organs generates
vibrations.
Angular offset Under the force generated by combustion and compression, the crankshaft
crankpins undergo a significant angular shift. This is due to the elasticity of
the metal.
Vibration This reaction generates an internal vibration frequency that must be
controlled.
This is why manufacturers use a vibration damper called a damper.
The damper is located at the front of the engine and is usually attached to
Attached to the the crankshaft.
crankshaft
It can consist of a movable crown, attached to the hub by means of a rubber
ring. The two sets are identified:
Movable Rubber
ring Damper in good condition, the markings are aligned.
Landmarks Another solution is to enclose a crown in a casing filled with viscous liquid
(silicone oil)
Viscous Liquid
These dampers, which are more expensive to manufacture, are usually
mounted on large engines.
BE CAREFUL THEY MUST NOT BE DEFORMED
Defective damper: risk of crankshaft breakage, usually at the 5th crank pin (on the 6
cylinders)
20
THE BASIC
PERSONAL NOTES
ENGINE
21