Caterpillar 3512 Specs
by Herb KirchhoffThe Caterpillar 3512 is a large industrial diesel engine for powering heavy equipment including boats, locomotives, off-road trucks and very large industrial generator sets. Caterpillar sells it as a stand-alone engine that the buyer can install in his own equipment as well as built into Caterpillar-brand industrial equipment. This engine is sold worldwide and is in Caterpillar's current product lineup..
General Specs
The 3512 engine is a 4-cycle, turbocharged, direct-injected, liquid cooled V-12 with a 6.7-inch bore, 7.5-inch stroke, 13.5:1 compression ratio and a displacement of 3158 cubic inches. It is 9.5 feet long, 5.5 feet wide and 6.75 feet high and weighs 7.1 tons. It is offered in four different configurations ranging in horsepower from 1207-1750 hp, with fuel consumption ranging from 58-93 gallons per hour. It comes standard with a Woodward 2301A isochronous mechanical governor, but an electronic load sharing governor is an available option.
Capacities
The 3512's cooling system takes 75.8 gallons of coolant, with 41.5 gallons in the engine block and 34.3 gallons in the radiator. The oil sump holds 81 gallons of motor oil, which should be changed after every 1000 hours of operation. When running, this engine inhales about 3250 cubic feet of air per minute through a single-element, canister-type dry air filter. It emits 8185 cubic feet of exhaust gas per minute and pulls 44,000 cubic feet of air per minute through the radiator to cool the engine. It has a 24-volt DC starting system.
Options
The 3512 engine can be ordered with a variety of optional equipment including dual-element and heavy duty air cleaners, an engine block heater, a variety of mufflers and silencers, stainless steel exhaust flanges and a duplex fuel filter with water separator. Other available options include an extra-deep oil sump, electric or pneumatic prelube pumps and a duplex oil filter. Electrical system options include a 45-amp charging alternator, oversized starting batteries and heavy-duty starting motor. There's also an optional ether injection system to assist cold-starting.
Other Features
The 3512 engine is equipped with an annunciator panel with digital displays of RPM, operating hours, oil pressure, coolant temperature and DC voltage. It also has an automatic shutdown feature that cuts off the engine in the event of low oil pressure, low oil level, excessive coolant temperature, low coolant level or overrunning the governor; it also has a manual emergency stop switch. Remote annunciator modules and remote monitoring software are available options.
References
Writer Bio
Herb Kirchhoff has more than three decades of hands-on experience as an avid garden hobbyist and home handyman. Since retiring from the news business in 2008, Kirchhoff takes care of a 12-acre rural Michigan lakefront property and applies his experience to his vegetable and flower gardens and home repair and renovation projects.
