Question received this week: Would EMD F40PH locomotives have all been built with "heavy" construction 645 series engine crankcases?

Answer: Yes. The final series of crankcase enhancements to 645 engines became effective with September 1972 production, for all 645 applications: rail, marine and industrial, and for turbocharged and roots blower engines.

All new production F40PH locomotives built by EMD beginning in 1975 would therefore have been fitted with crankcases with all the production enhancements. Any Amtrak F40PH locomotives that were "rebuilds" from an SDP40F trade would also have heavy crankcases since SDP40F construction began in 1973, after the date when the final series of engine crankcase upgrades became the production standard.

What this means in terms of current upgrades and rebuilding is that any engine that was original to an EMD-built F40PH can be brought up to 645E3C parts standard without any restrictions.

PC

Preston, question on history you might know here. Didn't those crankcase changes start with the early 20 cylinder prime movers that went to the SD45s? Or were there other reasons for the design changes to the crankcases?

The primary weld problem that led to the upgrades was with the 20-cylinder crankcases but there were also a few weld problems with 16-cylinder units in 1966-1968. This led to a lot of warranty adjustments with the customers who owned the locomotives, and discouraged some from buying more 20-cylinder locomotives. The SD45-2 production got the modified crankcases, but by that time a lot of potential customers had been scared away.

PC

With the F40PH now at 45 years since its development and introduction, I contacted some of the very few people still around, who worked on this project, gathered their input, and it has developed into a very comprehensive two-part draft article for printed publication. I have not decided where to send it for publication (yet), but when it is accepted and scheduled I will add that information here.

PC