Reports have been posted in another group of at least 8 turbocharger fires on new Cat powered, Chinese built locomotives in Argentina. http://misdiasenlavia1.blogspot.com.au/2016/03/mas-noticias.html
Turbocharger fires also happen periodically in North America with EMD and GE power. It is not that unusual in and of itself.
I read the article after I had it translated from Spanish. These are Chinese made knockoff engines of a CAT engine. They are suffering turbo feed line oil failures. It goes to show you how good Chinese QC is doesn't it. The railroad is ordering 50 new turbos in a hope to get the issue fixed.
Thanks for the translation. Didn't realize that the Chinese were knocking off the Cat engines.
I suspect someone in China's going to wind up in jail or a coal mine over this. The Chinese government doesn't like embarassments.
No if it was a State owned business the person that screwed up the reverse engineering will be given a 9mm to the back of the head as punishment and his family will be billed the cost for the bullet and the cleanup. They do not take kindly to screwups like this on the world stage. China lost face in Asian cultures and the person that cost them that will have to pay with their lives.
I asked several of my customers that deal with Chinese companies what happens when they screw up on like this. They all said the same thing private owned they figure out what went wrong and fix it. State owned someone is getting a bullet to the back of the head as an incentive to NEVER screw up that bad again for the rest of the company. Why so extreme 1 man out of over 1 billion over there is not going to be missed.
Buslist Thanks for the translation. Didn't realize that the Chinese were knocking off the Cat engines.
although it doesn't specifically say so this item from Railpage (related to Railway Gazette )seems to imply that these are Cat engines.
https://www.railpage.com.au/news/s/world-rolling-stock-market-october-2016
Argentina: Under an agreement signed by Trenes Argentinos Operaciones, CRRC and Caterpillar, turbochargers are to be replaced within three months on all 24 locomotives supplied for the San Martín commuter route in Buenos Aires. This will be at no cost to Trenes Argentinos as the equipment is still under guarantee."
The "9mm to the back of the head" crossed my mind, but I'm hoping the Chinese have moved beyond that.
But who knows? We could ask but I'm sure they won't say.
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