Produced by Italian manufacturer Rabotti, the TEC200 might not be the top of the range, but we liked what we saw at Simms Diesel and Turbocharger Services, which is home to New Zealand’s only Rabotti TEC200.

But who is Rabotti anyway?

Well, the company has been around since 1926, producing test equipment for diesel engines and fuel injection systems, as well as for other automotive-related applications.

Over the years they have worked closely with all major European engine and fuel injection system manufacturers, assisting in the design of testing systems and providing production line test equipment.

Recently, Rabotti has devoted significant resources to producing a new line of test equipment for the latest generation of common rail and electronic unit injector fuel injection systems.

So what does this TEC200 do?

It tests common rail diesel injection equipment, which is gaining popularity in this country on an almost week-to-week basis as more manufacturers pick up on the advantages of CRD technology.

There is a problem with any form of new technology however, and that is when things go wrong, they go wrong very expensively. Until now, that has always been a potential problem with CRD.

Any form of CRD engine failure is generally cured by replacement of the injector(s) or the pumps that send high pressure fuel to the common rail and then on to the injectors.

OK, that’s great while the engine is under a new vehicle warranty, but chances are, the engine won’t break in that three year period – at best, they’ll wait for that magic 1096th day – one day after the three year period runs out – before giving a hiccup, and then it’s going to cost the consumer quite a bit of hard earned cash.

All that cash that’s been saved by buying a diesel has suddenly gone out the window on one fuel injection system repair!

Bad luck diesel driver, but he/she isn’t the only one that suffers, because the damaged parts get destroyed, contributing to the consumption and waste of materials used to build injectors and pumps.

Wouldn’t it be better in the first place, to use some test procedures then possibly look at repairing the offending component? Sure it would, and it’s cheaper to do that too, rather than replace pumps and/or injectors.

And that’s where the TEC200 comes in.

Comprising a drive bench attached to an under-load engine simulator, and a computer, the TEC200 can identify a pump or injector fault within the space of 15 minutes and then… oh wait, we should explain how.

The heart of the CRD is the pump, the common rail itself and the injectors. The pump and injectors are taken off the engine and put into the test bench to be tested.

The system is started and the pump pressurises the rail and delivers fuel under extremely high pressure to the injectors, which operate under simulated engine conditions – all carefully monitored by the operator and the computer.

The computer is the key.

Like any other testing unit, the computer has all the information it needs from the four suppliers of common rail diesel engine manufacturers, and once the part numbers of the ‘patient’ CRD pump and injectors are entered, the computer can tell the operator if the specs match the patient’s vital stats when the CRD system is doing its thing.

Now, back to what happens next. Let’s say for the sake of argument, that number three injector is not doing what it should.

The TEC200 tells the operator that and then the injector can be removed and dismantled to find out what might be causing the problem. If it’s fixable, then they’ll fix it, if not, they’ll order a new unit – either way, it’s better than chucking out the whole bank of injectors or worse, the injectors and the pump.

Now, how is it that Simms Diesel & Turbocharger Ltd can do this ‘repair-rather-than-replace’ components?

Well, in the first place, Simms originally started in 1920, under a different name. By 1983, the company was well established as specialists in diesel fuel injection, turbocharger and governor products. Today, Simms supply parts and service for all major brands of turbochargers and diesel fuel injection pumps with an inventory in excess of 35,000 line items.

So the company has all the knowledge required to deal with all manner of diesel technology and just recently, saw the opportunity presented by CRD technology in this country.

Now, Simms can test CRD systems within their own service facility or the team can supply you with a TEC200 for your own shop.

For now though, we’ll give you a quick techno-lesson on the CRD engine and what you are likely to see happen here with it:

Since Bosch brought the Common Rail fuel injection system onto the market in 1997, many major auto manufacturers have adopted high-pressure fuel injection systems.

Bosch recently delivered its 10 millionth common rail diesel injection system.

But how does it all work and what’s the benefit of the system?

Okay, you first have to look at diesel itself as a fuel.

It’s inferior compared to petrol because the particles that make up diesel are larger and heavier than petrol.

This makes them harder to give up their energy through atomisation. In the cylinder, this means imperfect combustion or unburnt particles, which ultimately eject more pollutants with less efficiency than a petrol engine, and less power.

Common rail technology is a good way to solve a lot of these problems.

Rather than just spraying the fuel into the combustion chamber using conventional injectors, you pressurise the fuel first with a pump before it goes anywhere near the injector bank.

And not just a little bit. Diesel fuel in CRD engines can be pressurised up to 20,000psi! Concrete cutting stuff. And what’s more, it stays pressurised as the pump is working the whole time the engine is running.

To get up to the pressure mentioned, you need to have a really robust high pressure pump and then you have to get the pressurised fuel to the combustion chamber. You feed the fuel through a pipe or ‘common rail’ to a series of injectors which are attached to the rail and are only there to facilitate the movement of high pressure fuel into the chamber.

Running highly pressurised fuel gives greater control when it comes to how much fuel is used and more precise timing control when it comes to injection.

Another advantage that comes about through precision and timing is that a CRD system can inject a small amount of fuel during the expansion phase which further eliminates any lingering unburnt particles and increases the exhaust flow temperature, reducing pre-heat time for the catalytic converter and really minimising pollutants.

As far as CRD versus conventional diesels, fuel consumption can be reduced by 20%, power can increase by 25%, greenhouse gases can be cut by 20%, unburnt hydrocarbons reduced by 50% and particle emissions by 60%.

CRDs are quieter and smoother than standard diesel injection systems.

Most car manufacturers who switched onto the growth of diesel as a viable and existing alternative to petrol, will take up CRD as a matter of course. In Europe alone, some 52% of new cars registered in the last year were diesel powered.

At one time, CRD was the preserve of a select number of European marques, most notably Peugeot, which has seen remarkable sales growth on the back of its diesels.

Motor Equipment News believes most manufacturers are aware that a diesel engine has to exist somewhere in their vehicle line up and CRDs are rapidly being recognised as the diesel system of choice.