I have a 2009 CAT 262C Skidsteer. It runs fine in the winter, but when the summer comes around, It runs fine for about 2 hours (depending on how hot the weather is) before it starts to misfire and occasionally cough up some white smoke, will no longer rev up, and loses all hydraulic power - this eventually leads to it quitting until it has cooled down again. I have replaced the fuel pump, and the fuel filter, and the air filters are brand new. I ran the fuel delivery pump to test the lines, and all of the fuel lines are clear, and I bled out the air all the way to the injector lines. All fluids are new, clean and topped up. Has anyone else had this issue, or have any idea what it might be caused by? The troubleshooting section in my CAT manual is not giving me any new leads. None of the diagnostic codes have anything to do with the fuel system, and I am getting frustrated with how often the machine has to sit and cool down...
check your fuel tank for rust and debris. We had one of our cats exhibit similar symptoms to yours. It plugging the fuel filter with large debris restricting fuel flow. Our mechanics opened the tank cleaned and re coated the inside. Solved the problem. We ran a small inline filter pre filter for a summer to help before doing the tank. Remove and clean was easy, the junk it collected was considerable. You might want to look at something like this.
I'm gonna guess something electrical, based on the heat, and the coughing white smoke. On the other hand air going through the system can make for misfiring and white smoke. Did it do this last summer and then run fine in the winter? Did you check the old fuel filter for gunk or water?
Very likely a fuel delivery problem. Speaking of inline filters, check to see if your machine has one before the main filter. My Terex has a pre filter, and it got plugged with junk from when the filter on my slip tank came apart. Exact same symptoms, run fine' stop etc. What was happening was the pieces of rubber would slowly align under the vacume from fuel system and eventually stop fuel flow. Machine stops, particles settle back down and all is good for a while. Good luck
We drained the fuel tank - no debris. It already has an inline filter before and after the fuel pump. It has done this for the last 3 summers, but seems to run fine every winter. There is never anything in the fuel filters - they always look really clean. We do seem to have some sort of air entering the system, though, as the fuel filters will drain occasionally, and we end up having to reprime the system. We are currently looking into getting an separate fuel tank so we can bypass the one in the machine to rule out any cracks in the tank itself. Thanks for the suggestions!
I may be wrong but have you pulled the cold start solenoid. Should be the one on top if the injector pump. I would just unplug it to test it.