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Ford Valencia Plant Employs “Engine Listeners” for Powerplant Perfection

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Ford Employs Specially Trained ‘Engine Listeners’ to Ensure

To help make sure that every 2.3-liter EcoBoost engine that ultimately gets plugged into a 2016 Focus RS is up to snuff, Ford employs a unique team of skilled workers to use one of their strongest senses. These individuals are called the “Engine Listeners.” So, no, that doesn’t mean they lick the engines, person who may have had this particular thought.

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“This team knows what a perfectly calibrated engine sounds like and they know the tiny sounds to listen for in case there is a problem,” said Gunnar Herrmann, vice president, Quality, Ford of Europe. “Think of it like a doctor who has the most advanced diagnostic technology but still uses a stethoscope to gather vital clues to a patient’s health.”

These “Engine Listeners” do their work at the Ford plant in Valencia, Spain, where they are taught how to listen for specific defects in engines. The process takes several months to learn, and at the end of training, the specialists are put into sound-proofed cells at the end of the assembly line to listen for potential issues with the engines.

Ford conducts similar testing on engines for the Focus ST, S-MAX, and Mondeo, all of which are built in Valencia. All in all, “Engine Listeners” perform their magic on approximately 2,000 engines per day.

Added Herrmann, “The skills of Ford employees, supported by the latest technology, help us deliver high-quality vehicles which perform better, look better, and provide outstanding durability throughout their life.”


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