Greetings, I have opened up the left and right clutch\brake compartments on my little D3B. The clutch is barely working and brake isnt working at all on the left side, and I am investigating the cause. As seen in the pictures, the right side is dry as it should be, but the left side is oily. When I pulled the bottom drain plugs there was about 1 gallon of thick gear oil that came out of the left side. So, I think my final must be leaking into the compartment on that side. I'll deal with that at some point down the road. For now, the big problem I'm having is that the brake adjustment rod on the left side won't turn at all in either direction. The right side turns freely and adjusts the brakes as it should. I have put a good amount of force on the left side adjuster and it still won't budge. I could put more force on it but I'm afraid I might break something. Any ideas what could be causing it to hang? I can't imagine it would be frozen due to rust since all of that oil is coating everything on that side. I suppose it could have been rusted due to some water being in there before the final started leaking into that compartment. As seen in the pictures, I do have some brake lining left so I'd like to avoid pulling the clutch and brake band for now if I don't have to. The drums are also in perfect condition and I don't feel any grooves worn into them at all. Any thoughts on what could be causing my issue with the stuck adjuster? I'm going to clean out that left side more tomorrow and see if I can see anything that could be causing the issue. I did find flat spots worn into the rollers on my clutch control valves and I'm going to replace them. I'm also going to put new seals in both control valves and in the slave valves as well. I'm hoping this sorts out my clutch issues on the left side. The worn roller was worse on the left side which lines up with how the clutch was working on each side. The left side clutch was barely working at all, and the right side was pretty decent. Thanks in advance for any feedback or suggestions!
That adjuster might be coated in oil now but it is rusted tight. Might try some heat and get it dull red and let it cool off and try it. If you can get a hammer head under the clevis and hit it with another hammer, could also shock it enough. Can’t even see the lock nut on it but it has to be there, looks to be rusted solid. With all the oil, take precautions for fire and hot work.
OK, thanks for the confirmation. That is what I planned on trying today. I will report back on how it goes.
I got the left side brake adjuster free today. I carefully applied some heat and then a lot of PB Blaster and back and forth with a breaker bar. It must have been rusted pretty good but at least it moves now. Next I ran into a little snag while rebuilding the hydraulic clutch control valves. I can't figure out how to get the little spool valve out due to the round piece seen in the pictures below. Also, see the picture below of the flat spot on my roller. What am I missing here? Thanks in advance!
This has got me really stumped, so I am hoping someone can guide me. The top picture below shows that the roller is too big to be pulled through this side. The bottom picture shows the round piece that looks like a washer on the other end of the spool valve. I say spool valve but Cat has it listed as "stem" in the parts book. I don't see how this can be removed. The spool valve (stem) and that round, washer looking piece seem to be machined together as one part. What am I doing wrong?
Looks like the roller should pass through the opening. If not rotate the shaft 90 degrees and remove the roller.
Thanks Old Magnet! The solution was staring right at me and I just didn't realize it without that much needed kick in the pants. Once the stem is pulled in far enough, it goes past the end of the pin that indexes it and prevents it from rotating. Then the stem can be rotated 90 degrees and the pin holding the roller in place can be punched out. Thanks again!
I got both steering clutch control valves rebuilt today. New springs, seals and rollers. It was more challenging than I originally thought because it seems like someone buggered up the stems somehow previously. I had to do some really careful grinding and polishing on the end where the roller is. I'll test them out tomorrow.
I had to get one of the spools rechromed on my 931B. I was overcharged though. The place that rebuilt it based their price on what the chroming cost and figured they should get double. There isn't much to the valves. Of course they gave me some BS story they had to get adaptors and test it blah, blah, blah. It was over $600cad. if I recall.
One of my stems has a small spot worn down on it. I’m hoping it still works ok. I’ll know later today. The seller gave me 2 of the newer style valves from his parts machine so I should be good either way. Cat wants almost 3K for new ones!
I have 2 of those off a b if you cant find or dont have what you need
I'll send you a DM
There was an upgrade on later machines I think was also used on the C series. If the spot on the spool doesn't rub on an o-ring you should be OK.
The spot on the spool does rub on the oring. I could feel it momentarily hanging on that spot today when the clutch pedal is depressed. I'm thinking it will be a problem eventually. Looks like I am in the same boat as you, and may need to have the spool machined and plated.
I think it's hard chrome plated. Maybe you could polish it enough it doesn't leak??
The spot on the left stem is pretty smooth, but unfortunately there an indentation in a small area. It is felt when depressing the clutch pedal and its right at the spot where the oring is. The clutch is working for now but I'm thinking it will have a leak in this area sooner or later. Its also a little weird to depress the clutch and feel the snag when it hits that spot. Just overall not ideal.
I got the rear end put back together for a test today and I'm happy to report that the brakes are working now on the left side. There is still a lot of oil residue in that left clutch/brake compartment and the brakes don't grab very well but they do work. Pedal travel is now equal on the left and right sides. I plan on washing out that compartment with some kerosene or something that will break up all of the oily residue.
Most likely will need to replace brake band When I needed a control valve I contacted CAT and they said new part was high dollar (don't remember how much), asked about good used and they found one for me and cost a lot less and still working today
Good to know, thanks.
My track adjuster seals aren't holding grease and need to be replaced. The parts book shows the alligator-style main link, but my machine doesn't have that. I also can't find a master pin. The pins on the left are all like the first picture below, and the pins on the right are all like the last picture. What would be the easiest way to pull the track without access to the specialized 100-ton hydraulic press for it? I was thinking of using another machine to push the idler all the way forward and then moving the track off to the side enough that the idler can be pulled forward to allow for the track adjuster seals to be replaced. Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
A couple of things those are salt track can't imagen them not having a split link and the idler looks too far back on roller frame
Thanks, I'll look again but I'm not sure how I could have missed an alligator-style split link on both sides. If indeed, its missing, what could explain that? Could someone have removed it to shorten a stretched track? If so, that could explain why the idler is back so far. I'll count the number of links on each side tomorrow.
Remember if they are CAT tracks there should be part numbers cast into/onto the various links. Also put a mark/paint on one track pad so you can see from the seat as you move the machine…with those rock guards you’ll need to be sure the link it does hide on you. I know with my luck, I’d roll that link from the rear rock guards, right up to the front rock guards and never see it ; )
I've found the split link has a slightly different bolt pattern than regular links. Easy to see as pads roll by
You can see the "Cat" logo cast into the links in both photos posted by @ksliger but some of the digits that form the number are out of view to the right. Looks like 6Y-something. Post up a photo of the complete link please
Good eye! Yes sir, I'll clean up some sections and get new pictures uploaded tomorrow. I'll also check again for a master link.
Yes sir, I was thinking the same thing and didn't see any with the tighter bolt pattern of the master link. I will double check though, in case I just missed it.
As per your earlier photos looking from the side every link will have 2 holes in it where you will find the nuts for the track shoe bolts. Every link apart from one that is. That one will be solid with a diagonal line through it where the teeth of the crocodile-style master link are.
Yes sir, I just didn't see this on either side. I won't rule out that I may have missed it, but I think its unlikely. I'll give it a thorough look tomorrow and report back. If the master link is missing, are there any thoughts as to why this could be? The only thing I could think of is that someone may have removed a link to shorten a stretched chain. However, I don't think it would make sense to remove the master link in that scenario. Any other thoughts?
Would be good to remove the rock guards. No alligator link doesn't make sense unless maybe it got stripped and was replaced with a normal link? I don't remember if you listed the serial number but later models went to 37 links from 36. Post your serial number and the number of track links.
I was thinking about removing them. This is going to be a farm dozer that gets light use. The SN is 27Y1185 and it was made in 1981. The parts manual for this SN shows 36 links. I'm going to be out there with it tomorrow and will count them.
Mystery solved. I just missed the master links the first time I looked. I counted links today and I have 36 on each side. I also got part number 6Y0936 from each link and 6Y0938 on the master links as seen in the pictures below. We broke the master link on each side, split the tracks, and I replaced the track seals on each side. Thank goodness for the alligator-style master links! Then I took her for a nice test drive, and the clutches and brakes are working on both sides. The brake doesn't grab very well on the left side due to some oil residue in there. I plan on using some type of solvent to clean it up. Overall, I'm very happy with this little machine right now. I'm going to keep chipping away at little things. She needs all new hydraulic hoses for the blade group. After that, I'll put her through some more rigorous tests and jobs around the property.