Caterpillar test engine running since 1950s

[snopes]

Comment: I have heard several times that Caterpiller Inc. has a diesel
engine that has been running as a wear test, well since the 1950's.

[Troberg]

Provided it gets regular basic maintenance (new oil, new cam chain once in a while, perhaps an occasional gasket or filter), I see no reason why it shouldn't work, especially since it's probably working under a small, but constant load. Diesels are very reliable, especially under constant load.

[Black Belt and Socks]

Originally Posted by Troberg

Provided it gets regular basic maintenance (new oil, new cam chain once in a while, perhaps an occasional gasket or filter), I see no reason why it shouldn't work, especially since it's probably working under a small, but constant load. Diesels are very reliable, especially under constant load.

It would seem the original comment is implying that the engine has been in constant operation since the fifties, precluding the maintenance you suggest.

Suprisingly, I have heard this legend from an engineer I used to work with.

BB&S

[Not_Done_Living]

Caterpiller was one of my customers when i worked for a logistics company. I took a tour of their plant in Newton Iowa or was it Morton? (center of the universse apparently) and part of the tour was a parts "library"... they keep replacement parts for every single model they have ever built.. so if you have a tractor made in 1909 .. they got pieces for it.

THAT's a reliable company...

[Debunker]

You would think that if Caterpillar had such an engine running that they'd trumpet this fact in advertising or on their web site. Nope.

[hambubba]

I've joined and asked the question on the Antique Caterpillar Collector's board. The responses aren't visible unless registered, but here's a few:

From user Ozdozer:

The story is highly unlikely to be true. Why would Cat continue a wear test on an engine from the 1950's?
Those engines built in the 1950's, were obsolete by the 1980's. Why would Cat continue to test obsolete engines?? Technology changes yearly, and new items are regularly being tested .. however, Cat have all the wear test results they need, from decades ago, as regards known steel and alloy types.

Cat do not need to run an engine for more than 2-3 years to acquire all the wear data they need.
They also check on equipment in customers hands, that is running 24/7/365, to find out wear levels and problem patterns.

It IS likely, that SOME company has a Cat engine, that is still in everyday use, and has been since the 1950's .. but it wouldn't be Cat.
There are many Cats still in use, that are 4, 5, 6 and 7 decades old .. but as the age of the item increases, it is generally regarded as being less reliable than a newer rig, and is often used only intermittently, or as backup.

The BS in the Snopes thread about ''any part is still available, for any Cat ever made'', needs to be cleared up.
The person who posted that, obviously has little to do with Cat parts purchasing.
Cat threw out the ''no orphans'' policy in the late 1950's, when it became obvious, the cost of supplying and keeping on hand, parts for any Cat ever made, would be a burden too big to carry, for the long term.
Cat will assist with blueprints for parts that can be fabricated, if they are still available .. but overall, Cat are in business to build, sell and support new Cats, not old ones .. you have difficulty getting most parts for Cats that are older than 40 years ..

From same user, some info I had already found:

After some thought, I think that maybe this 'urban legend' has some basis in it .. but it has become a little distorted after being repeated 10,000 times ..
I think the story might have come about, because of Cat's oil test engines .. single cylinder engines, that were designed around 1935, to test oils .. due to the huge gumming and sticking problem that the early Cat diesels had.

The Cat diesel was first produced in 1931 .. but by 1935, a large number of them were having major problems with oil consumption, ring sticking, carbon and sludge buildup .. which was only cured, by stripping and laboriously hand-cleaning every major engine component.
Cat were seriously alarmed by the problem, and set about finding the answer. It was found that a previously, naturally occurring detergent in oil, which kept engines clean, had been eliminated in a new refining process, which commenced in most U.S. refineries around the early 1930's.

Cat realised that the detergent had to be replaced to keep their diesels clean .. and chemical tests weren't enough .. so they built the oil-test engines .. and in conjunction with Shell and Texaco, produced the first oil standards for diesel engine detergent oils. These oils were designed for heavy duty use in all diesels, but Cat were the first to set the standards for them.

Those oil-test engines are still built, and are still in use today ..but they are built for oil-testing, not engine wear testing, as some may have thought ..

The entire story is here .. in the Caterpillar engine history story .. http://ohe.cat.com/cda/layout?m=85361&x=7

Having driven a Cat engine in the truck I am driving for the past two years, my response (other than cackling hysterically) is not likely. Granted my engine is under heavy load, but there are too many parts designed to wear. Cylinder heads and radiators for example, don't last forever, neither do oil pumps, alternators, fuel pumps, etc. If the engine was built in the 50's and has been running since then, it can't be continuously. I can believe an engine from the 50's still runs, but not that it has been running continually without maintenance and the occasional rebuild.

If you do the math, and take as an example one of the miraculous Volvo 2-million-mile B20 engines: an average speed of 35mph would equal about seven and a half years constant running.

You could build a "rig" that would allow you to change oil filters and oil while running, though spark (or for a diesel, glow) plugs and injectors / carbs would be a problem (but again, possible), but then you would have to address the "why" of it, which could only be to brag about it, because there's no engineering utility to running 8 years instead of 99% of each year.

Or, you could ask Caterpillar.