
Ford Motor Company – Award Winning Engine Hot Test POD
Spin designed a unique solution for the engine hot test of Ford’s Dragon 1.5l Petrol engine (at their Bridgend facility) and the Panther 2.0l Diesel (at their Port Elizabeth facility)
Ergonomic Design
The Engine Hot Test POD design provided a complete engine test facility to be shipped within a standard 40ft ISO container. This allowed the test facility to be shipped utilising standard logistic carriers, reducing the overall carriage costs.
- Minimal external services required for installation.
- Manufactured in the UK at our Worcester facility.
- Clear access to all services for easy and efficient maintenance.
- Optimised hose and connector positions for efficient rigging and de-rigging of the engines, reducing overall test time.
- Quick connect engine exhaust and turbo clamps.
Safety System
The Engine Hot Test PODs are designed with safety at the forefront. The operator is completely removed from the test area, with all of the access doors being fully safety interlocked. The operator is unable to enter the test cell until it is completely safe to do so. Should an engine failure occur leading to a thermal event, the onboard CO2 fire suppression system will activate, starving the fire of oxygen. CO and Hydrocarbons are constantly monitored within the Engine Hot Test POD.
Should levels of these toxins reach an unacceptable level, the onboard ventilation system will automatically react to bring the levels back to a safe state. The overall status of the Engine Hot Test Pods is indicated with audible and visual alarms.


All of these safety features led to Spin being awarded the Ford Powertrain Manufacturing Excellence Achievement in Safety 2018.
Spin designed and manufactured the units at our Worcester, UK manufacturing facility. Full testing and commissioning of the units was carried out prior to shipping to ensure site activities were kept to a minimum to save costs.
