A Certified Power Train Rebuild event at Milton CAT gives customers a closer look at the rebuild option – who, what, how, where, when and why.

You may have heard equipment owners talking about the rebuild option for machines – and you may have wondered what exactly is a rebuild? Even customers who have worked with a dealer for many years may not know what a rebuild entails, and what are its benefits.

Let’s go a step further. How about witnessing a real-life rebuild, and talking to other equipment owners who have already chosen that option? That’s a great opportunity. In the words of a rebuild event participant, “I’m really busy, but I came because I knew I’d learn.”

The recent Milford, Massachusetts rebuild event was led by the Milton CAT Massachusetts/Rhode Island product support team. It included a formal presentation, a tour of the service area where the work is being performed, followed by a meal. One of the attendees, Gil Lopes of G. Lopes Construction, is actually the owner of a 988F CAT that was undergoing a Complete Certified Rebuild (CCR) at the time of the event. Several other attendees including Ed Dailey superintendent at Douglas, Massachusetts company Pyne Sand and Stone, as well as Lou Vergato and Len Paglio from Rhode Island Resource Recovery, commented that their companies have had several machines undergo a Certified Power Train (CPT) Rebuild.

Guests definitely took advantage of having access to equipment owners and operators who had personal experience with certified rebuilds, and asked for their opinions about the process. Parts and Service Sales Representative tour leaders answered a variety of questions, from “How long does it take?”, “Can I add other work?”, “Do I really get a new machine ID number?” to “Why is a new operator seat always included?”

In some cases, the conversation went beyond that to comments about their relationship with Milton CAT in general. Eric Jakubowicz from JBJ Construction was the one who told us that he was there “To learn and gain knowledge,” while Mark Carr from Allied Waste had a one-word answer to summarize the event – “Awesome.” John Medeiros and his colleague, Mike Flaherty from JF White Contractors, commented on the presentation itself, saying, “It was very well explained.”

What exactly is a rebuild and how long does it take? There are two types of certified rebuild program options offered by Milton CAT, a Complete Certified Rebuild, or CCR, and a Certified Power Train Rebuild, or CPT. Usually a Certified Power Train Rebuild takes between four and six weeks and a Complete Certified Rebuild, eight to ten. According to Milton CAT, a Certified Power Train Rebuild will restore your machine to like-new performance, and Caterpillar, who has certified the rebuild, will issue a new guarantee and extended power train coverage. Approximately 3,000 parts are replaced in the process, including hoses, belts, seals, gaskets, bearings, knobs, wiring, switching and gauges.

Roughly 7,000 parts and components are changed in a Complete Certified Rebuild, but that’s not all – another crucial step included at this stage are engineering updates, incorporating improvements that have been made to the model since the original manufacturing. Finally, a new serial number identifies the machine and entitles the owner to a like-new warranty.

Who should consider a rebuild, and why? A rebuild may be a good option for a large or medium size machine that has given you many hours of top performance and fits your requirements as far as size, power, features and operator friendliness. As an example, on a larger machine, you can save up to 75% of the cost of a new machine by having a Certified Power Train Rebuild.

You’ll get parts warranties and extended coverage, and the performance of your machine is going to be at least as good as its performance when it was new, if not better, since any critical improvements that have been made to that model since it was originally manufactured, will be incorporated into your machine at the time of the rebuild. The rebuild is also a good opportunity to easily and cost-effectively perform any needed emissions upgrades. And when all is said and done, one of the biggest advantages may be that this is a machine your operators know and are comfortable with.

When is a good time to look at the rebuild option? The answer is, when the first component is due for overhaul or major repair. Typically that will be the engine, and there will be external symptoms such as loss of power, high oil consumption, water pump leaks, head gasket leak, skipping…that will let you know that the time has come.

The common temptation then is to just take care of the one or two components that are causing trouble, but this can actually have the opposite results. If you think about it, there are five systems in an engine; Exhaust; Air intake; Cooling; Fuel; Powertrain. When you take care of just one or two systems, the machine’s components will be “out of balance”. A lot more will be asked from the other systems that have not been fixed, and they will be much more likely to fail.