<p>One of the major challenges in the field of internal combustion engines is keeping up with the advancements in electrification and hybridization. Automakers are striving to design environment – friendly and highly efficient engines to meet stringent emission standards worldwide. Improving engine efficiency and reducing heat losses are critical aspects of this development. Therefore, accurate heat transfer prediction capabilities play a vital role in engine design process. Current methods rely on computationally intensive 3D numerical analyses, there is a growing interest in reliable simplified models. </p> <p>In this study, a 1D diesel engine model featuring predictive combustion was integrated with a detailed finite element thermal primitive based on the 3D meshing feature available in GT Suite. Coolant and oil hydraulic circuits were incorporated in the model. The model proves to be an effective means to assess the impact on heat rejection and engine heat distribution given by an engine calibration and operating conditions. </p> <p>This work also contributes to the advancement of virtual IC engine development methods by focusing on the design and tuning of complex engine system models using GT Power for accurate prediction of engine performance. The current processes in engine simulations are assessed to identify sources of errors and opportunities for improvements. The methods discussed in this work include isolated sub system level calibration and model evolution specifically address the issue of identifying noise factors and issues in smaller parts. Additionally, the study aims on improving the model’s trustworthiness by computing 1st law sanity checks, replicating real-life compressor map calculations and refining GT’s existing global convergence criteria. </p>