Hey guys. Got a 1984 Cat 518 grapple skidder. Been a good machine, but after a real long heavy skid yesterday, it was really slow to engage 1st when I got back to the landing. Second gear held good. Time to fix the transmission temperature gauge. Been broken since I bought it, the seller even included a new one. Where is the sender located? I'm thinking right hand side of the machine, on the side of the transmission. Any idea what I have to remove to get access? Belly pan? I should do filters same time. Are there two? A suction strainer and a pressure side? I think I see the door on the belly pan to get to the suction strainer. For the pressure side filter, looks like it's behind the ether dispenser on the right hand side? Any reccomendations for a good generic transmission fluid for this thing? I have a service manual, but it seems there is a seperate "maintenance manual" with all the lube info. Any info you guys got, thanks in advance.
If you’re looking for any sort of information a Serial Number is always a good starting point.
First off, you should have put that temperature gauge on the transmission when you received the machine. You're just asking to kill parts if you cannot monitor their vitals. Secondly go to your local cat dealer and get the correct transmission oil for it.
Serial number 94U00770
You need SEBU5386 for 94U machines up to S/N 1297. A copy can be downloaded from HERE in Adobe pdf format for $30. Simply put SEBU5386 in the box and click the Search button. Meantime to get you started the transmission oil is any SAE30 commercial oil meeting Caterpillar TO-4 specification. All the major oil companies produce an oil meeting that spec. If you buy it from the Cat dealer it's called TDTO. The capacity is approximately 8.5 gallons. Correct. The O&M Manual will give you all the details.
Done and downloaded. Thanks a lot, this answers 90% of my questions. Shows right where the access panels are and everything.
Any other questions you might still have after reading through the manual - ask away.
You're saying I should probably fix the broken hour meter as well? It's not much of a logging operation: just and me and the chainsaw after work a few times a week, cutting wood to feed our little bandmill and clearing land on our farm. I've never run it hard enough to get the engine temp gauge into the green zone. Found a nice stand of some old spruce tucked away on the property. It was a long and heavy skid, only time the temp gauge rose into the green normal area. Had me right way swearing I'd get the converter gauge fixed. I would hate to spend the winter rebuilding the transmission--that's time best spent drinking beer in front of the woodstove.
Still trying to find the location of the torque converter oil temperature indicator/sensor/sender. I pulled off all the engine cowling and managed to trace the old capillary tube down the left side, behind the ether dispenser, and found the end broke off dangling freely in the transmission area on the left side. Attached are a few pics from the service manual. I can't really tell what I'm looking at. It's item 58 in the first pic, and item 30 in the second.
Parts Manual doesn't say much I'm afraid. I think #1 is the adapter where the capillary installs in the converter. It appears as though it's on the LH side. The connection would normally be mounted somewhere either close to or on the outlet relief valve for the torque converter. If it's not there then the other possibility is on the cooler.
Thanks for the pic, Nige. That really narrows it down. I'm thinking the guy in the red circle might be it. I'm guessing that's the converter relief valve and outlet, which heads to the oil cooler. If the sender plugged into that port with the black cap on the picture, it would match the orientation in your parts diagram. I'll find out tonight.
Sounds like you’re on the right track. BTW the connector with black cap is either an oil sample or a pressure test port which never would have been part of this machine when it was first built.
I found it: it was indeed the item in the picture, the upper piece. The black capped fitting didn't exist on mine and was plugged off. Bit of a contortion act to reach under the floor panels and get the new sender in, but it's in. I went to change the transmission pressure side filter out and it was pretty bad. I don't think it's been touched in a long time. O-rings inside the housing were cooked, brittle and cracked. I'll be calling Cat on Monday for an o-ring kit.