We're currently looking for a 140H grader. The machines in our price range are in the 5 to 10 thousand hr range, I was surprised at the number of tier two machines that have had transmission rebuilds by the time they get to about 7000 hrs. Is there some inherent weakness there, given that our G series machine has done 15000+ hrs and is still going strong, touch wood. Cheers, Greg
I'm not out to bag this particular machine, in fact I'm 99% certain we'll buy one. I'm just keen to hear of others experience with them and if I should be budgeting for transmission repairs sooner rather than later. Cheers, Greg
Counter shaft seals leak and allow the clutches to slip. Easy to replace if they are replaced before the transmission is wrecked.
Thanks for the reply FinnTech. We're looking at this one later this week ,with 74oo hrs on it. Not sure yet if it has had any transmission work done. Is it common for them to need attention around this age or do they usually last a bit longer? Cheers, Greg http://www.constructionsales.com.au/buy/details.aspx?R=15245061&__Ntt=140H&__Qpb=1&__Dx=mode%20matchany&__Ns=p_StockRankSort_Int32%7c1%7c%7cp_Make_String%7c0%7c%7cp_Model_String%7c0%7c%7cp_Year_Int32%7c1%7c%7cp_StockPrice_Decimal%7c1&keywords=140H&__N=1552%201711%201715%201600%201601%201602%204294958853%204294954963%2079&__Ntx=mode%20matchallpartial&silo=1701&seot=1&__Ntk=StockAll&Cr=10&__Nne=15&trecs=28&__D=140H&__sid=143EDBDD5F5C
It is common for the 140H and 160H to have tranny failures before 10000hrs. I replace the tranny filter every 250hrs and the oil every 1000hrs on these machines, it is also a good idea to replace the counter shaft seals once in a while (they are pricey $100/seal and there are 12 of them). I used to work for a contractor with a large grader fleet and we never had a failure running this maintenance program. Many of the graders were over 10000hrs.
The machine I mentioned above was very tidy, but only the base model, ie. no VHP etc.. Dealer shrugged his shoulders when I asked about transmission history. Ended up buying this 2007 VHP PLUS model with 5000 hrs and Topcon System 5 for less money. The previous owner has already had the tranny out to replace countershaft seals. We will be fitting new 17.5R25 rims and tyres when it arrives here. Graders like this are hard to sell here at the moment with completion of flood repairs, slowdown in mining and gas work and govt. road construction outfit disposing a lot of gear. Ideal time for us to get into later model machine. Cheers, Greg
As Finntech says, take special care on oil & filter changes (cheap insurance), selecting the correct oil (some TO-4 oils are better than others), and on top of that I'd recommend an oil analysis program that also includes a ISO Cleanliness Code test. On top of that be careful with the park brake. With it being inside the tranny if you start to burn it up the contamination will take out the clutch piston seals in short order. That's the reason for including the ISO Code test in the oil nalaysis.
Thanks for the advice Nige, no doubt I'll be asking for more as we get to know the machine. We've always used Cat TDTO 30 for the 12G tranny with good results, so I can't see any advantage in using cheaper oil. Grader only arrives here tomorrow so I'll keep you posted . Cheers, Greg PS. I'am a big fan of British comedy.
To stop burning up park brakes we did have a mod for the air system on 16 graders (up to H anyway) that made it impossible to release the park brake unless the air pressure was built right up, also if the operator applied the park brake he got the service brakes as well......!! They only needed to have to wipe themselves off the inside of the windscreen once to know not to do it again. Strange to tell we never burned up another park brake ever again.
We are fortunate that hardly anyone other than myself or my son operates the grader so if we abuse it we have to fix it. Seems we have our first problem already. Previous owner , generously, replaced the water pump prior to despatch, along with a new serpentine belt. When we unloaded the machine the belt was slipping badly, I suspect he may have misrouted the belt. The only diagram I have been able to find on SIS is this one, which appears to be different to our machine. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Serial no. is CCA03674 Cheers, Greg
Belts are different depending on whether you've got A/C or not. Are you using web sis? If so, search for "belt" and uncheck the little red box at the top right of the screen.
Does this help at all..? This is the belt tensioner set-up for your particular engine (3PD19993). Maybe you can marry the belt picture with the tensioner setup and make some sense out of it. Your belt should be a 312-8934. Can you see a P/No. marked on the replacement belt..?
Yeah thanks fellers, I didn't have time or tools to investigate too far yesterday, but I should be able to sort it out with these drawings. This one is with the ac included. Cheers,Greg
Out of interest I had a look at at 140H CCA today. There was a sticker on the rocker cover showing the belt routing. Maybe yours has one as well?
Sometimes we overlook the obvious...........
No sticker on the rocker cover but, in the end, only a ten minute job to put things right. New rubber to go on tomorrow. Cheers, Greg
First day on the job. Cheers, Greg
Did you change the tranny oil & filter before putting it to work..? If this is a CCA-prefix machine there is a power train filter upgrade that might be worth doing. PM me your e-mail address if you're interested.
Well, technically the grader hasn't made it all the way home yet. We had it dropped off at this job which is very low stress,working with local council. I'll be changing all oils and filters when it does get here. It is a CCA,certainly interested in any upgrades, PM on it's way. Cheers, Greg
If only I'd had the O&M Manual when the grader arrived. There is no confusion as to how the belt is fitted, this identical drawing appears twice on this page and again on another. Cheers, Greg
Couple more problems, Transmission has been failing to pick up some speeds, occasionally, when shifting. I have an error code which is, transmission shifter lever,data erratic, intermittent or incorrect. Are these repairable or are they considered a throw away item, Cat wants $1087 for a new one. Also the engine oil pressure light, check engine light and buzzer have come on a couple of times over the past week. After stopping engine, turning master switch off and on then restarting, the lights have gone out. I have another code which is, atmospheric pressure sensor, low voltage. As this sensor appears to share the same harness as the oil pressure sensor, I was wondering if it could be a dodgy connector or the like. Any thoughts much appreciated. Cheers. Greg
PM me with the machine S/N, the exact Diagnostic Codes you have, & your email address. There will be detailed troubleshooting procedures for both issues that I can send to you. I strongly suggest you work through these before replacing sensors, controls, etc, until you finally change something and the problem goes away. I guess your Codes will be: - 081-0668-02 for the shifter control 036-0290-02 or 04 for the atmospheric pressure sensor
Nige, Paperwork arrived , thank you, we should be able to work through most of it without any trouble, except for step 3 in the shift lever diagnosis. It says, Perform the Testing and Adjusting, "Transmission Control(Shift Lever)-Test" Procedure Would it be possible to get a copy of this procedure? Many thanks ,Greg
on it's way ........... sorry, never read that bit ......... And unfortunately you are going to need someone with Cat ET to do all or part of the test - bugger.
Local Cat dealer here has been offering discounted rates for field servicing and travel the past few months, so I decided to let them loose on these faults, as well do a 1000 hr pm service. Turns out both the atmospheric pressure sensor and shift lever were faulty. The aps was causing the false oil pressure warnings. Thanks to the codes, they brought both these parts with them so we're good to go. Cheers, Greg
I always like the 140 H Blade. The last H blade I ran was a 160. I think they are very similar even have the same motor. Curious as to where the Air Conditioner belt is located. Mine was a 1998 model and the belt was located separately, right behind the cab. A son of a gun to replace as you had to pull the Hydraulic Pump drive shaft as well. Did they change that in the later models? I have to admit that is a good thing about the M-series. No shaft at all on them. The Hydraulic pump is located in the Engine compartment rather that under the cab. That is a good looking grader by the way...
The tier two models have a different motor, 3176, but the hyd. pump and drive shaft setup is still essentially the same. The serpentine belt is in the same place, although in the engine enclosure now, and also drives the alternator. Haven't had to change one yet, touch wood. Cheers, Greg
Grader has done another 1000, largely trouble free, hours since my last post. Overall, I've been pretty impressed with the way it has performed. Few weeks off now, so we'll give it a good going over. Did notice the fan drive motor weeping slightly. New motor, 224-7040, is around $750 ... are they worth trying to reseal when new is, I think, reasonably priced?
Provided the input shaft is not grooved in the area of the lip seal and there is no major wear in the guts of the motor then a reseal ought to work. To give you a comparison price-wise I'm showing the motor at US$600 and the 199-4320 seal kit at $75. The seal kit is readily available. The contents of the seal kit are those indicated in red in the illustration below. Note that the kit does NOT include the pressure seals.
OK, It's worth having a look at then, Thanks Nige
Hi Nige We run a 12h 2 s/n cbk are there any upgrades on transmission on these ,like Queenslander we have just purchaced it at 8400 hrs having had nothing done to the trans Not knowing the full history it will be SOS and oil changed
I can't see any iron updates to the transmission itself since first production of the CBK-prefix machine. A larger transmission filter was fitted from CBK953-Up but it's not adaptable to earlier machines. If your machine S/N is above CBK953 it will already have the larger filter element. That element was originally 1R-1809 which is cancelled and for transmission use is replaced by 328-3655. To use the 328-3655 element the original springs in the filter bypass valve spool need to be replaced by 334-2679 & 334-2680 (1 of each). There was a Power Train software change made starting with machine CBK01408 to improve the inching modulation. Earlier machines CBK1-1407 can be updated to the new 298-1563 software which will require ET.
Thanks Nige missed out on upgrades s/n cbk 801