Indicative of Metric Automotive Engineering’s strategy of implementing best practice to the advantage of its customers, the company has introduced innovative technology that will guarantee the cleanliness of coolers and will eliminate the issues that many customers have faced in the past with secondary failures during operation.

This pressure testing and flushing system can be implemented on any type of cooler, whether for engine oil, transmission oil, hydraulic oil, intercooler or radiators. “Until the introduction of this technology, pressure testing and flushing have been undertaken using ultrasonic cleaning processes. The primary disadvantage of ultrasonic cleaning technology is that the flow through the cooler is uni-directional, which results in the particles becoming lodged in the cooler,” says Andrew Yorke, operations director at Metric Automotive Engineering.

“It makes absolutely no sense to spend money on rebuilding a complete component and then reinstalling a cooler that is not perfectly clean back. In general, we find that once the component starts operating and reaches a specific temperature, debris will be released and the customer could then experience a secondary failure,” he says.

The new technology being applied by Metric Automotive Engineering utilises a flushing fluid which runs at 85˚C. This temperature causes expansion within the cooler and opens it up to free any debris that is trapped. The system operates at 3 bar pressure, something which cannot be achieved with ultrasonic cleaning.

“Most significant is that this technology has a bi-directional flow whereby the fluid flows in one direction for three seconds and then the flow is reversed for one second. This alternating cycle continues for a user-determined period of time. It is this reverse flow which creates the hydraulic shock that dislodges trapped particles and produces superior cleaning efficiencies,” Yorke points out.

In addition to this, the return line coming out of the component being cleaned then passes over a 10 micron filter that enables visual checking to ensure that all the debris has been cleared and the lines are completely clean. “The ability to do a visual check on a filter screen is one of the more important advantages of this technology. Adding optimum flexibility to the benefit of the customer is the ability to test both in situ as well as on components that have already been stripped from the engine or vehicle,” Yorke concludes.

Metric Automotive Engineering is South Africa’s most comprehensively equipped diesel engine component remanufacturer. The company, established as a family business in 1969, has an established reputation for the quality remanufacture of diesel engine components and offers services which include cylinder head remanufacture, cylinder block line boring, milling, honing and boring, camshaft grinding, crankshaft grinding, engine assembly and dynamometer testing.