From Birth to Rebirth, The “Journey of Life” of an Engine

In this Caterpillar 2022 Sustainability Highlights Guide, the achievements of CAT® (Cat) remanufacturing are eye-catching. In 2022, Caterpillar recycled 140 million pounds of old parts through remanufacturing.

Since 1973, CAT Remanufacturing has always focused on quality and is committed to providing customers with a variety of options for purchasing remanufactured parts. Remanufacturing is different from refurbishment and repairing. It uses advanced remanufacturing processes to bring old parts back to life, restore them to performance comparable to new ones, and put them into use again.

Through the multiple “journey of life” of an engine, the following will take you to appreciate the “Nirvana rebirth” of remanufacturing.

The birth of an engine
At the Caterpillar engine factory in Seguin, Texas, the brand new CAT C9.3 ACERT” engine rolled off the production line after the completion of painting, serial number pasting, first power-on hot test, etc. This is a power Powerful and reliable industrial diesel engine. It will be installed on a CAT D6 medium-duty dozer.

First life cycle
The D6 bulldozer equipped with a C9.3 ACERTM engine works for a civil construction company in Indiana. It is engaged in daily work such as bulldozing, site cleaning, and road leveling. It also helped rebuild the community during a flood. Thanks to proactive equipment care and management and Caterpillar’s warranty policy, the C9.3 ACERT” engine has been running efficiently and smoothly for many years.

First Life Week Chat Ends
As the engine works for a long time and at a high intensity, its performance begins to decline. The cost of replacing a new engine is high. Considering various factors such as capital, equipment quality and service, the owner finally decided to purchase Caterpillar remanufactured parts and exchange the old ones for “re”. The remanufactured parts are of high quality, have the latest engineering technology update, and enjoy the same warranty as the new parts, especially the quick installation, which solves the urgent needs of the owner.

Remanufacturing, recreating a new life cycle
Old engine parts are sent to a Caterpillar remanufacturing facility to be “reborn”. After undergoing a complete set of advanced remanufacturing processes, the old engine is reborn with new life.

Start the second life cycle
A remanufactured CAT C9.3 ACER engine enjoys its second life cycle in a CAT 336 excavator in Oahu, Hawaii, which played a vital role in the construction of the solar station . And if it is not remanufactured, the old parts of the C9.3 ACERT engine may spend the rest of its life in the junkyard.

After 50 years of development, Caterpillar Remanufacturing has established a complete global used parts recycling and remanufacturing product sales system, including: more than 2,300 Caterpillar global authorized service outlets, 21 global Caterpillar parts distribution centers, to Customers provide more than 8,000 remanufactured exclusive part numbers, and most parts are available from stock and ready to install, thereby significantly reducing downtime and maintaining productivity.
Compared with new machine manufacturing, remanufacturing contributes to sustainable development: greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 65%-87%, new material consumption is reduced by 80%-90%, and process energy consumption is reduced by 65%-87%.