Achim, your comment prompts me to tell a supporting story. Every company should have a “Knowledge Base Library” within their engineering organization. Here’s an example that shows why.
When I was a young engineer with Ford Motor Company, I was the Dynamometer Development Engineer for the 351/400 CID engine design group. That was 45 years ago. As a part of engine design verification, I ran lots of standard dynamometer tests and proposed, based on my tests, to eliminate the tin plating on the pistons to save money for the company.
The department manager praised my initiative and suggested that I run one more dynamometer test, fondly called the Death Rattle test (or Engine Loss of Coolant Test), without the tin plate on new pistons. The requirements were that the engine had to not lose more than X rpm from a 3,000 rpm wide open throttle full load condition within a certain period of time after losing all its coolant instantaneously. There were other requirements but I don’t remember what they were. It was to simulate blowing a radiator hose while pulling a heavy trailer through the desert at highway speeds.
I had the engine built, ran the test according to procedure, and proceeded to destroy completely a perfectly good brand new prototype engine. The engine seized completely and the pistons had to be removed with a hammer and a block of wood during teardown inspection.
It was an expensive and embarrassing lesson but I learned it and lots of others over the years on my way to a comfortable retirement.
A “Knowledge Base Library” would have taught me the lesson with destroying an expensive engine, and without the embarrassment. Fortunately, that manager was still at the company and had not yet retired. Later, other retirements cost the corporation lots due to knowledge lost and mistakes repeated. I was never successful at getting company engineers interested in documenting their failures for posterity, no matter where I worked. I’ve got tons of stories like that.
I suspect that Daimler Benz is probably the best “old” automotive company at documenting their engineering history. I doubt, however, that it is organized as a searchable data base.
I now have to go into the garage and remove the lubricant from my recently cleaned, lubricated and reinstalled heater control levers module.
Tom Kizer
