cat 160h. Never had any issues like this. Started the other day, it sputters at an idle like it’s missing or fuel issue. When I put it under a load, or climb a hill it falls on its face. I can grab lower gears and keep going for a bit but it progressively gets worse. If I stop and drain the water separator I sometimes get a little water , but just draining that for a few seconds, the grader will run good for a minute or two then fall on its face. I swapped filters and it only helped a little for about an hour. Im thinking bad fuel. The Manual says these graders with saddle tanks have an easy access for draining, I have not located any valves to drain the tanks.
Try posting a Serial Number so everyone can look at the manual. I can see 10 different options. Does your machine have the plastic fuel tanks.?
Yes it has the plastic tanks on both sides but below the compartment doors
Underside of the rear frame just behind the articulation hitch. #1 is the water drain. #2 is a "fuel sump" from where the fuel is sucked up to the engine. I suggest you drain them in reverse order and see what comes out. You'll have to be a bit careful because #2 is a plug not a drain tap. What manual do you have BTW.? The illustration above is taken straight from SEBU7471 which is for an ASD-prefix 160H.
was operating a 12h and it would be working away and it would start loseing power running rough miss firing to the point of shaking the machine . changed filters and it would be ok and then play up again.noticed when priming fuel filters it sometimes would not start the pump when the key was turned on moved the wire loom on pump and it started pumping turns out a wire was broken in the deutch connector.when the grader was on a slope or travelling on a rough road the loom would move about and cause the problem .the cat mechanic had never come across it
Update. So Friday when this problem occurred I had no power, and sputtering like no fuel. But no smoke. I went up today to drain the tank, it wouldn’t start. Just turn over and smoke black. It would try to start but wouldn’t take off without starter. Drained the tank. Fuel looked fine
Did you drain fuel from both taps/plugs.? It might be a stupid question but have you checked the condition of the air filter elements.? Next thing to suggest would be to disassemble the water separator completely and check for any blockages in the head and/or in the hose fittings that are connected to it. Also make sure all the seals are in place on the element and lower bowl.
Mine only had the plug. No water drain. Air filter is new I will check for blockages tomorrow. I also planned to bring a Gerry can of diesel, and put a hose direct form the filter to the can to make sure it’s not plugged towards the graders tank
All I can say is that if it appears to be a fuel problem then starting from the tank and taking the same route as the fuel working from one component in the system to the next (don't forget to blow out the lines) is the only sure way I can think of to find any issues in the fuel supply system. Both of them (inner & outer).? The air filter restriction is not monitored electronically. What colour is the indicator showing.? Is there any chance that the filter elements could have got damp.? That would severely restrict the air flow and lead to black smoking. As a test try pulling out both filters and see if the fires up, just for a couple of seconds.
refilled the tank, blew the lines out, and pulled both filters. It wouldn’t fire up. I have it a very small amount of ether and it fired up and runs. Still had the miss and sputter like no fuel. I can rev it up and the only time I get any smoke is a very small amount while accelerating but it goes away immediately. I will note, that when I got here this morning I was able to prime it manually for about 20 pumps and was getting pressure but it pretty quickly lost prime. If I run it and shut it off I can remove the fuel line that goes from the fuel water seperator to the tank and no fuel in it. I would assume it shouldn’t be draining back out.
You assume correctly. Did you pull the head off the water separator and clean the passages inside it.?
this is what came out of my new water seperator . I’m not getting much out of the drain on it. But when I took the housing off I dumped it out and got a crap load of this rusty water. I put it back on and I’ve now got most of my power back. Still sputters a little but not near as bad. I’m gonna pick up a couple sets of filters tonight and swap them a few times tomorrow. I’m figuring the water got down to the sump and contaminated both filters as soon as I swapped them out
Didn't I suggest that earlier.? The passages block up with ****. I would think you may not have just water contamination but dirt particles in there as well. Next time you take it off, remove all the fittings and elbows (even the blank plugs) and try running a length of wire through all the internal passages and/or blow through it with compressed air.