Renault 34-07-012 All Types of Vehicles - Cooling Circuit Cleaning

The aim of the “Renault 34-07-012 All types of vehicles - Cleaning of the cooling circuit” standard, developed by the French automobile company Renault, is to reduce the overall final particulate contamination level of the assembled cooling system to a value equal to or lower than that specified in the “ISO 16232 Road vehicles - Cleaning of components and systems” standard, by eliminating particles remaining during the production and assembly process. Depending on the stage at which the system is being inspected, there may be particles originating from the system in use. The ISO 16232 standard specifies requirements for the application and documentation of methods for determining particulate contamination on functionally important components and systems of road vehicles (cleanliness inspection). Cleanliness inspection forms the basis for the evaluation of technical cleanliness, for example, under the following conditions: initial inspection and evaluation, inspection of incoming and outgoing components, and quality control or monitoring of production processes related to cleanliness (e.g., cleaning, surface treatment, and assembly processes).

Current product specifications define the vehicle cooling system cleanliness, i.e. the maximum permissible particulate contamination values ​​for good operation.

The supplier must establish the resources required to ensure the cleanliness of the parts, as this is their responsibility. The level of cleanliness must be maintained down to the customer line. The supplier makes recommendations to ensure this cleanliness. Quality control ensures that the cleanliness of the parts complies with the current standard. Cleanliness inspection ensures that the supplier is able to produce parts that meet the cleanliness requirements of the drawings. If the parts do not meet the cleanliness requirements or there is a deviation in the process, the supplier must initiate an immediate action plan.

Contamination should be measured on all surfaces of the part that come into contact with the system fluid. Other surfaces (unrelated surfaces on the same part) may be added depending on the type of conditioning used on the part. The type and level of cleanliness that can be applied to the various parts of the cooling system are defined in this standard.

• Mechanical cleaning of parts. This cleaning refers to physical parts where the surface to be examined is known or can be known. The examination of the level of mechanical cleanliness is carried out using an appropriate extraction method followed by gravimetric and granulometric measurement of the contamination thus collected.
• Fibers. Fibers are defined by the NF L41-101 standard as particles longer than 100 µm and having a length-to-width ratio greater than 10. Lengths shorter than 2,5 mm (small thicknesses) are accepted without counting. Larger fibers that are not accepted are subject to separate counting of large particles without specification of quantity. Lumps, balls, amalgam, tangled fiber bundles should be counted as large particles.

Fluid cleanliness is the level of cleanliness of the parts in relation to the coolant and liquids used in the production process. In some difficult cases, when it reaches the interior of the system or when a surface cannot be measured (e.g. paper filter), a liquid can be used to measure the cleanliness of the part. This method of measuring the volume of a part remains an exception in cases where it is impossible to define it (e.g. filter paper). In order to be applicable, the volume of the liquid used for decontamination must be clearly stated and referenced by Renault in a specific procedure. If the volume changes, the particle concentration in the liquid changes and the level of cleanliness of the part changes for the same original contamination. The control of the specified level of cleanliness of the liquid is carried out by evaluating the level of contamination and is expressed as described in the ISO 16232-10 standard. These values ​​are expressed for a reference volume of liquid equal to 100 cm3.

The cleanliness measurement inspection reports must meet the requirements of the Renault 39-00-005 standard test procedure. The supplier must archive the results of the cleanliness inspection performed for the finished product within the scope of the applicable product specifications and specified in the monitoring plan for N parts.

Among the numerous tests, measurements, analyses and evaluations our organization has carried out for businesses in various sectors, it also provides testing services defined in the “Renault 34-07-012 All types of vehicles - Cleaning of the cooling circuit” standard with its trained and expert staff and advanced technological equipment.