Idle Control System for Caterpillar Engines Gives Drivers Comfort, Saves Fleets Money

Used with a bunk thermostat, the new Driver Comfort Control System for Caterpillar heavy-duty truck engines starting and appropriately stops the engine to maintain in-cab temperature at the comfort zone selected by the driver. The Driver Comfort Control System, an electronic idle control system manufactured for Cat truck engines by Temp-A-Start Inc in Peoria IL, also monitors engine temperature and battery charge, and can automatically start the engine to recharge batteries.

Other automatic features include engine starts and stops based on oil temperature, starts to recharge batteries, and stops to eliminate excessive warmup and idling. The system also will stop the engine when the driver forgets to turn off the ignition switch and will maintain engine idle rpm at the selected level.

Three model options are available. The first includes a programmable thermostat/microprocessor that reports the number of system-initiated engine starts, road hours, truck stationary hours, and idle hours. It also will identify the cause of any system malfunction. The second option includes a non-programmable thermostat, which will start and stop the engine based on driver-selected cab temperature settings, but has no diagnostic or data output capability. The third option is an engine-only version designed for circumstances where cab temperature control is not required, or for non-sleeper applications.

For complete details, contact Caterpillar, Engine Division, PO Box 610, Mossville IL 61552-6110.