Teksid Expands Production Of GSE “FireFly” Engine Components:

In 2016, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) unveiled a new family of engines known internally as the “Global Small Engine” or GSE family. Outside the company, the engines are marketed as the FireFly lineup. These engines use a modular design (inline-3 and inline-4 configurations) and share the same unitary displacement and components like pistons and connecting rods, so they can be produced on the same production line while using aluminum blocks and cylinder heads. 

Recently we received additional information regarding the FireFly engines, which will be a staple for many Stellantis vehicles across the globe. Looking at the Europe, Middle East, and Asian (EMEA) market specifically, we can confirm that all FireFly engine blocks and cylinder heads for the EMEA region are being produced at the Teksid Carmagnola Plant near Turin, Italy. With the continued investments being made to the plant (nearly $150 million USD), the Tekside aluminum plant should be able to produce 800,000 sets of blocks and heads per year. 

Since 2018, Teksid production has gradually increased with more than 9 million blocks and cylinder heads being produced.

The FireFly engine blocks are produced using steel cast in place cylinder liners and aluminum high pressure die castings. The liners are aluminum thermal spray-coated for optimal bonding with the cast aluminum and placed inside a water-jacketed mold. Molten aluminum is fed into the mold via a shot sleeve, using a plunger and hydraulic press. The hydraulic press pushes the plunger to overpressure the molten material, which quickly solidified while compensating for shrinkage as it cools. 

Using high pressure die casting, high-quality components can be made quickly with precise dimensions and less overall material usage while maintaining strength and dimensional consistency during high volume production.

After casting, the blocks are trimmed and a T5 heat treatment is applied. The T5 heat treatment allows the blocks to naturally cool and then the temperature using low heat to artificially age the material.  T5 heat treatment eliminates material growth and stabilizes the die casting which improves the machinability of the blocks with some minor improvement to the mechanical properties. 

The cylinder heads are machined on-site via a super cubing line which includes 8 CNC workstations.  Both the blocks and cylinder head water and oil jackets are tested rigorously for any cracks or quality concerns with very low rejection rates. 

FireFly engines can be found in the current vehicles…

South America – 

• Fiat Mobi
• Fiat Uno
• Fiat Argo
• Fiat Cronos
• Fiat Strada
• Ram 700

Europe/North America – 

• Fiat 500 Hybrid
• Fiat Panda Hybrid
• Fiat 500X 
• Jeep® Renegade
• Jeep Renegade 4xe
• Jeep Compass 4xe
• Alfa Romeo Tonale (Upcoming)

Teksid Aluminum Carmagnola Plant Image Gallery:

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