Caterpillar showcased the 13-litre diesel engine at Excon 2023

The six-cylinder Caterpillar C13D engine platform made its Indian debut at Excon 2023, at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) Bengaluru, from December 12-16. The engine offers eight power ratings from 340 to 515 kW with up to 3,200 Nm of peak torque. Engine-mounted after-treatment and cooling packs will also be available from the factory to reduce installation and validation costs.

Caterpillar C13D at Excon

The C13D will come into production in 2026, meeting the emissions standards of higher regulated markets, with models available for lesser regulated markets. While in production, the engine will be capable of being certified to future India CEV Stage V and TREM Stage V emission standards while continuing to serve unregulated non-roadable CEVs within India, such as machines with steel tracks like rock crushers and screeners. By supplying comparable power and torque available from Caterpillar’s current 13-, 15- and single-turbo 18-liter engine platforms, the Cat C13D platform provides an opportunity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to downsize the engine and simplify design, assembly, and supply chain requirements across multiple applications. This consolidation can also reduce maintenance, parts, and technical training complexity for end users. The Cat C13D engine is targeted for a wide range of off-highway equipment, including rock crushers, screeners, and grinders; trenchers; agriculture tractors, harvesters and self-propelled sprayers; woodchippers; material-handling equipment; and large industrial pumps.

ICE? It’s the prevailing workhorse

“Off-highway OEMs and equipment owners face a rapidly evolving business environment that demands improved worksite productivity and reduced operating costs,” said Steve Ferguson, senior vice president of Caterpillar Industrial Power Systems. “Internal combustion engines are the prevailing workhorses on most job sites around the world, which is why we’ve invested in the next-generation Cat C13D diesel engine platform to address their challenges.”

The Cat C13D engine platform has been engineered to deliver the performance, durability, packaging, and ease of maintenance demanded by both manufacturers and buyers of off-highway equipment.

The new engine platform offers up to a 20% increase in power and up to 25% more low-speed torque than the previous generation of Cat engines in its power class. It is designed to perform at altitudes of up to 12,000 ft – maintaining higher power than legacy engines at higher altitudes – and in extreme ambient temperatures as high as 140 F (60 C) and as low as minus 40 F (minus 40 C) with aids.

Engineers have designed the Cat C13D engine for quality, reliability, and easier maintenance through a number of improvements, including integrating components and reducing the number of leak joints by more than 45%. Together, the upgrades result in lower fluids consumption and extended service intervals as long as 1,000 hours, reducing operating costs and downtime.

The new engine platform will be equipped with Cat Digital Services, an integrated suite of robust software and hardware solutions supplying the insight equipment owners need to make decisions on the fly, secure the health of their equipment, and minimize nonproductive time.