Hi all, got a clearing sale coming up soon with a 980 in it. Done some searching through a few old posts and I'm getting the impression that the v8 d336? Is not very desirable. There is a spare engine,or blown take out at the sale also, which might be a hint. Just thought someone might share some knowledge about these loaders, thanks neil.
I ran the wheels off of one back in the 80's and it was a real machine, but parts were $$ even then. When idling they had a odd rattling sound from all the cams and gear train. I suppose if we knew the price and the job at hand we could help with a more informed opinion.
Hi. This will just be a farm loader, might clean a bit of timber up and load a bit of gravel. Will never do many hours. I don't know price as its in a farm auction sale. Just was a lil unsure what the engines are like that's all. I have only seen pictures so I don't know what condition it's really in, will have to wait till sale day. I assume these we're a solid loader, not always good to assume though lol. Thanks
There was a thread the other day about the terminal problems with a D336. Caterpillar even had a procedure to convert some machines to the 3406. HeavyEquipmentForums
Guess it all depends on price and how much you intend to use it. Well and of course if it runs good right now! Big difference if you are going to be using 2,000+ hours a year or 200 hours a year.
This time of year it will start hard and white smoke for a while until it gets a little heat in the heads. This may well scare off bidding competition and score you a good deal. Ignore the sound of the cams overhead, it will sound like a bunch of FM magnetos snapping. If it idles with the oil pressure in the green and moves without hesitation in all four gears, don't be scared of it. As to a repower, a 3306 would be the natural choice as the B's had that as a power unit. Did see one once that someone had put a 8v71 in, I wish I could have seen it run!
I asked my old Caterpillar shop manager if Cat ever made bad machines/engines. He said the 980A with a V-8. This guy bled Cat yellow. I'm sure it's find for very limited use. I was told they shouldn't be re-powered with a bigger engine as it will break the tranny case. The only difference between a 980A and a 980B transmission is the case.
Thanks for the input. I'll wait and see what the machine is like and go from there I guess.
Remember, Down Under it is mid summer, so I don't think he will have the same problem you are thinking of the cold start.
Oops! Didn't check his profile and I didn't hear his accent, too many years banging around without earplugs. Anyhoo, the ones I ran always needed a count of 10 when it was 90 out first thing in the morning no matter what. That might be enough to scare off the faint of heart.
Hi, bought the loader 15k. Still on the truck atm ill put up some pics when I get home.
She is a bit rough around the edges and I payed a lil more than I wanted to but that's how it goes. Get her off the truck in the morning and give it a good once over, wish me luck lol.
I like the rippers! The local rental yard has a 966c with rippers and it makes grading and digging a lot easier.
Neily Don't even think about repowering it, repowers rip the trans case apart. The exact torque curve needs to be duplicated with repower and that's too involved for the Low Budget repair people to deal with. Later Bob
Hey bob. I'm hoping I won't have to re power it, with any luck the engine will last me a long time. The transmision has only a few hours on it since supposedly being rebuilt. Got a reasonably long list of repairs that need doing already though unfortunately, haven't found anything major as yet though. - no brakes - few small oil leaks - fuel leak - only steers full lock one way, I assume I can adjust that out. Anyone got advice? - couple of dribbling wheel-hub seals - centre pivot a lil sloppy - y piece feeding into turbo rusted out, that should explain the lack of power and the cloud of smoke that almost blackens out the sun under load lol Wow the gear train in the flywheel housing rattles at idle, is this normal or should I be worried?
I'll start with the last one. That engine has a set of gears going up both ends of the engine. One for left cams and one for right cams. Both ends also have balancer gears down near the oil pan level. These are all straight cut gears. Four or five gears at each end each with a little free play. Each time a pair of cam lobes goes past full open there is a snapping sound from the free play in the related gear train. Most noticeable when cranking over by hand or at low idle. At higher speeds it more or less smooths out. So without hearing it in person I can't be 100% sure about the noise you are hearing, but I would not panic as long as it smooths out as RPM's increase. As for brakes, they are more or less simple air brakes. only odd thing is each front wheel has two Maxi-brake cans on each cam! Those cans are easy to rebuild if you use some basic common sense regarding the spring inside. A section of all thread and large washer like disk and some nuts to fit the all thread will do the trick. Any good truck shop should beable to match up the brake valves and air governor. Compressor might be a little more involved but could probably be made to work with a good donor Tu-flow 500.
Tried finding directions on steering adjustments for a 980 on SIS, not there, but 966C is very close and will give the basic idea. One note if one of these type machines are moved with engine not running and they a pivoted one way or another the arm for the follow up linkage can get bent. If it must be done someone in cab can turn steering wheel to keep up with things to prevent it but not recommended, better to install frame lock. One other thought. If you look at the front of steering column a bit above the steering box there is a pipe plug on the front. Sometimes a machine with jerky steering can be helped by pouring oil in there to help lube the internal parts. There is a splined connection between the steering shaft and the steering box that needs to move free. Worst case the column can be unbolted from the box and slipped off to clean and lube the splines. Other causes of jerky steering would be the rod end to the steering valve, worn pins and bushings for steering cylinder mounts and worn center pins of the loader frames.
Yeah the rattles quieten down once the rpm's increase just a touch off idle. The brakes will be the easy part, I spent 5 years working on trucks before I came home to the farm. As for the steering it will go full lock left but I'd say it's flat out going 50% to the right. Looks like there is going to be a little more to the steering than I thought looking at the diagram lol. When I get a chance I'll have a better look at the setup and see if I can sort it out. Ps thanks for ya time putting up the info, it should be quite helpful.
I'll start with the steering. Yes you should be able to adjust it out. That is unless someone bent something in the linkage. I was told never steer the machine when it's not running. Like pushing it straight to move it if it's broken down. You'll need the book to do it. That Cat steering can be a pain. Also in my book the final adjustment is WRONG. You loosen or tighten a nut so it doesn't hit the stops on both sides. The book is backwards! I've been following the book for years and just thought my linkages were shot. I have 3 980B's and the first two always hit the stops hard because I followed the book. When I bought the third one it steered like yours. So I adjusted it to center and then it hit the stops both sides. For the hell of it I said I'm going to go backwards and presto works like a charm. Now the brakes could be a few things. The way they did the front brakes is just strange and causes problems. The spring brakes are fairly easy to rebuild as Kshansen says but they're prone to leaking. Be careful with that spring! Use a big threaded rod like 5/8". A chrome tube extends from the can to apply the maxi brake. This tube and the inside piece are sealed by orings. Stupid!! The chome rust/pits. Inside the can it rusts/pits then it leaks. When they leak enough the brakes don't come off. The piping between these cans is a joy to work with. Rear brakes are also sealed internally with orings and leak. So you may me be lucky and this is going on and they just unadjusted the brakes so they could use it. Keep us in formed. Randy
I do believe Mr. Hansen covered pretty much everything I was going to say , the fuel leak,is it running down the inside of the tank close to where it mounts? The couple I ran and a B also had a crack in the tank up high so I didn't fill the tank past 3/4 full. We eventually fixed it but it was bit of a job to grind it out and weld it up. Have fun on your new toy err umm desperately needed tool for the farm!
Kshansen You beat me too it while I was typing. LOL The checking frame stop clearance is what I'm talking about. Those two nuts are tightened or loosen to adjust. Your instructions are more vague but that's good because mine are backwards LOL
Sounds like I need to track down a workshop manual lol. Didn't realy have a good look at the brakes, I think some of the boosters on the front are missing completely. It's still got them on the back. Fuel leak is somewhere in the valley or the filter area, leaking down the front of the block. The fans doing a great job of spreading it around lol
The centering adjustment is easier than it looks. Now that I have a picture. Loosen nut #7. Back it way out as it covers nut #18. Nut #18 has one or 2 set screws in it. loosen them. Then leave it all loose and move #18 until the steering is centered. Don't adjust it while running as it may move the linkage while your in there!. Leave it loose and then adjust for frame stop clearance by moving those two nuts. You may have to recenter it. Now this all works well if the linkage is ok. Usually they're not quite right but you'll get it to where they work ok.
I was always going to see if a standard can would work. Let me know what you do.
The rears are only ordinary 30/24 truck ones I think, got dark before I had a chance to see. Ill have a better look tomorra
The rears are more normal looking but the originals were not standard cans . Since these give trouble from time to time I rebuilt all of them on my latest machine. The next year one leaked again!!
The original ones had a piston in place for the diaphragm like a "normal"30/30 truck chamber has for the parking brake side. The originals did have a chrome shaft that came out when the brakes are locked on that would often get worn and cut the seals. I don't see a reason a "normal" 30/30 can would not work just fine as long as there is room to mount it(them). Might think about using a "Long Stroke" version.
If a workshop manual is not to be found let me know and I might know someone who could have one I could scan some pages out of and email them to you.
Hi all, haven't realy had a chance to work on the loader until last night. Pulled the centre exhaust section off to fix the holes in it, it's certainly seen better days but hopefully a bit of weld will keep it going for a while. I'd imagine a new one would have a pretty scary price tag, turbo exh housing is just as bad. I've never seen cast rust like this stuff on any other engine cat must of used some cheap rubbish for these parts. Managed to buy a service manual off eBay so that will come in handy to. Anyone made an exhaust manifold before? I bought a Bridgeport clone at the sale where I got the loader so I'm tempted to try and fab one when I get some tooling.
Try pricing at CTP or ACT Prices for the 980B stuff is cheap. Not sure how much aftermarket there is for the V-8's
My company has one (980A/D336) sitting in a pit with no tires on it if you ever need any weird parts I'd be happy to make a deal with you.
Not sure on shipping but any of this look like something you need? http://www.ebay.com/itm/D336-1676-Cat-Exhaust-Manifold-and-Intake-Y-Pipe/161982733034?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D34862%26meid%3D327b05e12ddf4f3cb5aa3f3a750eaa13%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26sd%3D161915165486
Yeah mate that is exactly what I need, shipping is pricey though. Gonna be $400 landed here. Need a turbo too might see if he has one aswell.
These guys are closer to you and have one torn down for parts: http://www.tillys.com.au/product/ZM006681/1969-cat-980-42h1348-loader
From the pictures looks like the engine is still more or lest complete!
Funnily enough I rang them the other day and the guy I spoke to said they didn't have anything, I rang again today and mentioned that loader and the bloke went and had a look for me ( different guy ) anyway $200 manifold and $400 turbo perfect! Thanks for that kshansen.
So do I get the 10% commission on the sale? Well would have to split it with d9gdon! He's the guy who actually found the parts machine. Glad we could be of even a little help.
Thanks d9gdon! Lol, can't wait to get it fitted up so I can give her a good run. Hopefully it will go a lot better with some turbo boost.
Glad to see you got the parts that you needed. I'll bet it works a lot better when you get it on there. I'll never understand parts yards. They'll have a paid advertisement for something in the yard but I guess they're too lazy to go look for a part, or for a part that got sold two years ago. Why waste my time and yours? And there are so many like that too.
Hi all, apparently my "new" turbo has lost it's compressor nut ant eaten it damn! Housings are good though so I'm gonna make one out of two. Bearings are a different size though, why must everything be different!
Found my steering problem!
Neily, it has been twelve years since you acquired this 980A. How did it work out for you? Post an update. There is a 980A sitting in my area that has been in the same spot for over 10 years.