Got a call from one of my National Account Customers today regarding a complete Final for a 330BL. Apparently, theirs has "gernaded" and is not rebuildable. I spoke to several of my salvage partners and they all told me the same thing: you and dozens of others are looking for Final Drives for these machines. I get the feeling that the 330BL Final Drives are not one of Cat's finest moments in design. What have you guys and gals (political correctness) heard or witnessed?
Nobody's final drives will make anyone any money in used parts. The problem is that most owner's don't change oil in them at recommended intervals. The finals are usually behind the operator when traveling so they can't hear any unusual noises to be concerned about until it's too late. The parts and clearances inside the units are so tight that all it takes is an ant's butt in there to bust a gear and start making metal. When they do break the operator keeps trying to move which makes lots more metal to get balled up and making everything into hundreds of thousands of mini daggers and razors. When the track finally locks up for good there is nothing inside the case worth saving. You can't even use the parts that aren't broken because they might chip or crack and start the whole avalanch of trouble all over. All the manufacturer's final drives last a long time anymore so when they break you really need to bite the bullet and buy a new one. Trying to rebuild one to save a few pennys is a recipe for a dead track with the machine in the worst of all possible places. Murphy's Law always applys more to penny pinchers.
Equipparts, I think it is pretty well known and well documented that the B and C series 330's had final drive issues. There were a few major field campaigns to get the issue resolved. Not one of Cat's finer moments at all... Tony
I haven't heard that there were any more problems with Cat finals than anyone elses. I have only seen one failure in a B series machine and it had 14,000 hours on it. I have never seen a C series machine with a final drive failure yet. If there was or is a campaign on them then I would suggest posting the numbers and dates so that everyone can use that information.
John C's answer doesn't help find final drive assemblies, but he has a big point in preventing future damage, downtime, and excessive cost. I can't remember all the places I've worked that neglected the maintenance on smaller gearbox compartments. Pump drives, final drives, drop boxes, auxiliary transmissions, differentials, swing gears, planetary gear compartments. All these need more maintenance than bigger components, but rarely get it because people don't think about them or simply ignore them untill failure. Check the fluids in these compartments often. Sample them. Change the fluids at half the factory recommended intervals, it will pay off big time in the long run. Been there -- done that. Last big final drive failure I experienced was about a week after I started a new job in West Virginia. It was good sized, A Demag 485 front shovel. Not lots of spare parts around, no new parts in the states at the time, had to come from Germany and were hugely expensive. Finally found a good used take-out from western Canada. Price, 100,000 bucks US, plus freight. That was just for the guts, not the housing. Installed several hours after receiving. That's when we found out that the gear ratio was different than the other side. Turns out our serial number machine was a serial number "break" machine, meaning that it was built with newer final drives than the serial number indicated it was supposed to have. That big old thing is probably still running around with one side traveling slower than the other.
Simpley put, (just like everyone stated) lack of maintenance!!! This will eventually cause a gernade effect in any manufactors final drive. People are very lax in checking and changing oil in finals. As far as major problems are concerned, finals should never really go if maintaned. And when they do on a 330 excavator, you need a big press in order to properly set the preload on the bearings and duo-cone seals. NOT tipically a do-it-yourself job.