Reliability measures EMD Locomotives.

Following reliability measures may be incorporated in maintenance action plan for improving loco reliability.

1.    Incorporate all items of standard schedule form in Shed’s maintenance schedule form. It should also include Shed practices & lessons learnt. Action plan made section wise must be part of schedule form.

2.    Benchmarking of maintenance practices with other leading Sheds should be immediately started. It will help Shed in arresting problems which have already been eliminated by other Sheds.

3.    All drives must be completed in a time bound manner. Preferably within two months.

4.    Shed failures should automatically trigger launching of drives & review of maintenance practices in every section instead of waiting for line failures to happen.

5.    MMC (Mis-Management by Crew) list to be compiled and focused training should be arranged.

6.    All line and Shed failures must be reported to HQ & firms. Quarterly summarized reporting vendor wise should also be ensured.

7.    Power assembly testing, checking practice should immediately be audited.

8.    Time bound implementation of proven ALCO modifications in failure areas to be started.

9.    Welding should not be done in running schedules. Welding should be done during pre-commissioning & 3 yearly/6 yearly Schedules. Reason for frequent welding should be identified & same should be made part of major schedule work content.

10. Shed has identified vulnerable locations of water & lube oil leakages. Root cause of leakages from these identified locations should be ascertained. These root causes should be attended during major schedules to avoid recurrence of leakages.

However, joint drive to check lube & water leakages should continue to arrest line failure & to judge efficacy of corrective measures taken during major/medium schedule. All recently received loco (0-2)yrs. should be re-commissioned on the basis of root causes identified jointly with lab.

11.  Stablisation circuit should be provided to arrest large failures of Wood word governor coils by providing suitable diodes. Drive must be completed in next 2 months.

12. Proper layout and checking of all cable connections during commissioning of the locomotive should be organised. Checking of OFC cable and its alignment should also be organised.

13. Changing the position of the CPC coupler provided in ECC3 from outside to inside to avoid failure due to thermal load.  One clamp to be provided in compressor room.

14. Application of silicon rubber sheet to prevent the damage of cable insulation in panel mounted modules like FCF, TLF, DVR, ASC, FCD; etc, in all locomotives.

15. Comprehensive instruction sheet for drivers based on last 3 years failures to be pasted in the drivers cab in the form of stickers.

16.  Application of GE 2000 RTV sealant on grid cover joints, ECC1 panel top, cyclonic filter joints, DB grid fans etc. during commissioning.

17.  Installing modified version of DVR software to reduce the battery charging voltage from 72 V to 69 V for improving the battery life. Latest version of EM 2000 software 23.08.00 as recommended by OEM should also be installed.

18. Cleaning of aspirator hole provided in the clean air chamber for draining the water to arrest problem of the grounding should be done.

19.  Sump cleaning and fuel tank cleaning during pre-commissioning to be done.

20. After cooler pipe should be realigned to arrest the water leakage. All such similar rubbing prone pipes to be realigned.

21.  During commissioning valve bridge should be removed and proper pressing of lash adjuster should be ensured to avoid damage of cylinder head seat.

22.  Use of anti seizure compound in all high torque areas, where removal of bolts is problem like top and bottom bracket mounting bolts of dampers etc.

23.  Provision of clamp in water inlet pipe of compressor to arrest water leakage.

24. Tightening of radiator header bolts during commissioning & yearly schedule to arrest water leakages.

25.  Welding of drain pipes to arrest dropping of drain pipes and subsequent water leakage.