Hello all. After some debate and thinking, I bought an old (96L) Cat 215. It's far from perfect, but in some ways was better than some more expensive machines I looked at. I got it for about scrap value, and it runs, and moves, albiet a little slowly. It's not without its issues, some of which are obvious from this picture. It was a working machine for many years, then was retired out to a farm to dig a pond. IT apparently died out there, and the owner replaced the fuel injection pump to get it loaded on a transporter when they sold the farm. It has a 3304 engine, non turbo. The machine currently has a trolling motor fuel tank supplying fuel directly to the f.i. pump. One of my first priorities is to restore the machine's fuel system, or at least enough of it that I can run fuel through the filter. When replacing the f.i. pump, the stock steel fuel line was bent way out of the way, and way out of shape. Which brings me to question number one.. are there any issues with replacing that steel line with a bradied hose? I know the pump is the only suction source in the system, but as long as the filter is clear and there are no other issues, I can't see collapsing the hose being an issue. The only other issue is that it passes fairly close to the muffler, but if I get proper hose I don't think that will really be an issue. As it runs now, the engine feels weak, especially when walking, so I have concerns that there may already be contamination in either the pump or the injectors. The day I got it running, after sitting for 3+ years, it smoked quite a bit on startup but seemed to clear up after it ran for a bit. I'm also wondering about the f.i. pump, I'm certain it wasn't a rebuilt unit, as they just wanted to get the machine running to move it. Given the price I got it for, and compared to what I would spend to rent, I have some room to spend money on it.
Ok. An update, if anyone cares. Got replacement fuel supply hose, also replacement priming pump and now engine is being fed fuel thru a shiny new filter. Still feeding from the trolling motor tank, but at least it's filtered fuel now. Engine seems to be running a little better, but still has a pop and miss occasionally. Will do the injector disconnect here, but have another issue I want ot try and sort out first. The engine seems to be running hot. The temp gauge isn't working, so this is subjective. It ran hot the first day I had it, I found the fan belts very loose and fixed that, now fan blows but checking in radiator after it's run for a bit I didn't see any flow. I removed thermostat and ran, now have rapids in radiator, so water pump appears to be moving water. New thermostat and gasket on order, BTW. I also note that there don't appear to be any cold spots in the radiator, and both the upper and lower hoses get hot. I need to get the temp gauge working, it might not be getting overhot, but not really sure. Plenty of coolant, BTW, and the stuff Idrained out to remove the thermostat looked fairly new. No trace of oil, no oil sheen, nothing. It looked so good I filtered it and put it back when I replaced the housing.
Get one of those infrared temperature guns, that way you can check the temps at the thermostat housing and get an actual reading of the temps. That will take the subjectivity out of things. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Digital-Infrared-Thermometer-Dual-Laser-IR5/207004900
looks like you are working through it just fine. we do care
It's very likely that the original fuel tank has rusted on the inside and that's why it isn't being used.........very common on older machines. Cleaning it out is only a temporary fix.......once the rust starts its impossible to prevent so the contamination will continue moving forward. You can put a separator between the fuel tank and your filter to catch a majority of it, you will just need to monitor it and clean it often. The temp gun, as mentioned above, is your best friend. It will help you and us narrow down the area of concern without manually eliminating one thing at a time until we luck into the problem. You can get a decent one at most auto parts stores.
Keep us posted on how it progresses...I am paying attention here but it's the other folks that have the knowledge you need. I have a CAT 320CL so your project has my attention for sure.
I look forward to seeing your progress on this project. I had a steel fuel tank off a forklift that was nasty rusty inside and I took it to a radiator shop and they cleaned it out for me, it came out shiny clean from whatever bath that they soaked it in.
From what I see looking into the tank, it's rust free, but it's also 3/4 full of fuel. Now, no guarante of course that there isn't an inch of water on the bottom. Draining the tank completly is the next big project. Aside from changing filters, etc etc, as they're rolling in here and there. I forgot to have the wife watch the undercarriage when I walked it over to the shop yesterday, I wanted to mark rollers that weren't rolling for further attention. I already have 2 that are flattened, so I suspect they're not moving at all. I did get in an replace the muffler with an aftermarket unit. I ran it with no muffler for a bit, but wound up melting the oil pressure line. I think it was pretty well done anyway, but that was the last straw. Yeah, I don't think there's any saving that. Not too spendy, and looks like a decent unit. Nowhere near as heavy as the old one, though. Slightly smaller diameter, I Might wind up making some shims to help hold it in place, as I really don't want all that weight on the exhaust manifold all the time. Temp oil pressure gauge setup. I have another line to run back to the driver's seat but it's a PITA and I need to do some pressure washing underneath first. I don't see anything too awful looking down there, do need to pull those wires back against the starter to keep thyem away from the muffler.
Quick video of it running, but not pulling any load... sorry I had to link it, but I'm not on any approved media sites.. idling This is prior to putting the pipe on, obviously. Blowing some bluish smoke, but running pretty well. And another, as long as I'm here... Running at higher rpm
I think you did well getting it for scrap value. That does not sound so rough. What are you planning to do with it?
That wiring and upside-down gauge is setting my OCD off BIGTIME!
You can do this without her. Mark the outside of each roller flange with a splash of paint at the 6 oclock position. Track a bit and see which haven't moved. She should be planning dinner LOL
Plan is to dig a pond. Something larger than the backhoe can handle. Then, hopefully pass it on to the next pond digger. Aha.. didn't think of the paint trick for the rollers. Thanks!
You should be able to lift it off it’s track to check the bottom rollers by hand
Some advice for you. Be sure to check your final drive oil levels.it is different than the hydraulic system. There is a fill plug on the side of each unit, fill it till oil comes out, you’re not supposed to use gear oil they say it bad for the duo cone seals. Some thing for the swivel drive gearbox, it’s not connected to the hydraulic system oil, there’s a fill plug next to the drive motor, just fill it all the way up, if it’s low and won’t stay to the top then you have a leak that needs repaired asap, continued use with low oil will ruin the gears and bearing inside. The grease fittings for the swivel final gear is inside the cab on the right side of the seat on the floor, this is separate from the gears inside the gearbox, just pump your grease gun on the two fittings as the machine is slowly turned. you don’t want to slack on any of this
Thanks for that! I checked final drive oils already, l/h is good, but r/h seemed to be overfull, and pressurized. Wasn't expecting to get a shower when I cracked the cap. It's full of gear oil, too, suppose I need to drain that and replace with 30wt like book says. I checked servicing on the combining gearbox and swivel drive as well, had to add some to combining gearbox but none to swivel. So a few steps foward and a couple backward today. Changed engine oil/filter and air filters, and the case drain for the middle pump. Then tried to run machine but it's colder and it wouldn't fire. Then it stopped blowing white smoke.. dammit! I forgot to fill the tank on top, and it sucked air. I ran the batteries down trying to bleed injectors so we're all closed up for tonight while the batteries slow charge. Ah well... always something.
A suggestion would be to get hold of an Operation & Maintenance Manual if you don't have one already.
You may have a leaking track brake on the right hand final drive. When it leaks internally it will go by the outer seal and into the final drive. A good way to tell is remove the vent on top of the brake and with the engine off the hydraulic fluid that operates the brake will drain out and not stop. There should be oil down in the vent hole but it’s just to keep the back side and the drive motor shaft lubed, you have to add oil there when rebuilt, it’s the same oil as the final drive. if it keeps pushing out then the internal seals are leaking and filling the final drive because it can’t push out the one way vent.
you can add new fuel suction and return lines to the tank and abandon the old ones if they are rusted with holes. The only way to tell is with a bore scope camera. The lines are on the other side of a center baffle in there and you can’t see them. Just use stainless lines with bulkhead fittings and move them over to the other side of the tank where you can reach your arm in there to tighten them. You’ll have to make new flexible lines to then Hooke back to the original bulkhead fitting under the muffler
You're refering to the thin maintenance book, that covers the daily stuff, etc etc. Got it with the machine... and very glad I did. I also got a parts book, which has also been very handy. Amazing how much of that stuff (seals, etc etc) is still out there. Batteries are still charging from running them down yesterday, hopefully I can lure a buddy of mine over here to crank it while I bleed the injector lines later. I did try and buy a PDF of the full maintenance manual from two different places online. One purported to be based in Georgia and an American company, and the price, while not quite when I would expect to pay for a paper manual, was close to $200.00. I got a manual from them, but it's a mishmash of cat service procedures, not well organized, and while the webpage stated it was for a 96L machine it was not. So beware, if you're looking for an online manual, that they probablly dont' actually exist. The other one was 1000 pages, and 800 of them were copied from a Cat site dealing with doing maintenance with the machine's computer. All I wanted to do was to read up on how to set the valves.
They don't exist, as you discovered. The Cat Publication reference for the "genuine article" is SENR7421. New it sells for $745 in paper form or $530 on a CD. I don't see one on any of the usual internet marketplaces but that could change tomorrow. Do you still need the valve setting procedure?
Once you get the fuel system lines hooked back up priming that machine with the hand primer pump is nearly impossible. You can remove a line from the filter housing and use a hand suction pump on the line to draw the fuel out of the tank and then hook the line back up and use the machine hand pump i see the 96L service manuals on eBay all the time. People buy them at auctions and think they are gold so the price is usually high You can jumper the starter and bleed the injectors yourself, the starter is right there
Got the injector lines bled out today and the old girl fired up. Takes quite a bit of cranking before it starts and runs. I hate to have to hit it with ether, but I also hate to grind the starter forever. Still sounds rough untill you put a load on it, then it smooths out a bit, but after idling for a while it starts running rough again. It also quits smoking, but as it idles I see it start to smoke again. Any thoughts as to what might be the issue? STill running on the trolling motor tank, but I don't think the rate of fuel supply is an issue. New air filters now, too, so I can't blame it on an intake restriction. I still see some seepage from #2, I think, cylinder injector connection, even after loosening and tightening it several times. I ran it for about 10 minutes, and it didn't seem to get quite as hot today. I still need to get a thermometer and measure temps. Should have thermostat tomorrow, so I'll get that in and an official non leaking gasket. I think the material I bought isn't suitable for water connections, as I made a gasket for the thermostat housing on my truck and it seems to be leaking now, as well. One other thing that puzzles me, there are wires over the cylinder head that I assume are for glow plugs. The crank switch moves outboard and works a solenoid, that I assume would be for glow. But I see no provision in the cylinder head for glow plugs... Might be hard to see in the included pic, but there's a conduit that carries the wires over the valve cover.
How many hours are on this machine?
Thanks, I actually found a manual on the internet, it's cat form REG01348-01, 3304 and 3306 Vehicle Engine service manual. I haven't verified that the S/N is exactly the same, but it covers turbo/non turbo and the pictures of the fuel pump, etc, look just like my engine. It has valve adjustment procedures in it. I just need to come up with a way to turn the engine over without the starter so I can set TDC accurately.
The hour meter showed 7400, but I'm not sure it was operating.
There may be a big nut on the front of the crank. You may have to reach in and root around in the the gunk to find it, then you can put a long ratchet on and bar it over. Usually those old machines have a lot of time. Without getting pretty deep into it and tearing things down you may have trouble cleaning up the smoke and rough idle and such. If all you are doing is digging a pond I wouldn't worry too much about some of that.
Some of the 215 with 3304s had glow plugs and some did not
Your pre-cups don't look like they are glow plug type as a glow plug will stick up as tall as a fuel line nut. Bad Bob
You can turn the engine over by putting a chain wrench on the crank pulley,you will have to remove the fan cage. There is also a barring socket you can by but you’ll have to remove the starter to use it.
Good call...a chain wrench on the crank is how the CAT tech turned my CAT 320 engine a few weeks ago when he adjusted the valves...he removed the fan shroud to get access.
And I just put that fan shroud back on. If it's any help, engine s/n is 48V47221. And it's definetly a 3304. I couldn't get to the injector pump in the time I had so no S/N for it. but I do have some pictures of the pump, if that helps...
Here's the valve setting information for that engine. SENR7424 is part of the main SENR7421 service manual.
Drained fuel tank today. I'm wearing very exclusive cologne tonight. I just opened the drain valve, the small one. There was a teeny bit of gunk in there, I actually managed to pull the valve all the way out of the valve body without any leaking. Took quite a bit of poking around with a scribe to get it to flow, but when it started... Anyway this is after I managed to get the bolt back into the valve housing. I did have to stick a piece of wire up in there every once in a while to keep the flow going. About 35 or so gallons, I think... might be closer to 40. I think the dipstick showed over 3/4 tank. Plan is to let the fuel settle for a couple days, then I'll take a transfer pump and rig the out put thru a diesel filter ass'y I just happen to have sitting around. I'll pump into another fuel container, and if it looks good I'll add it to my backhoe's tank. Actually, if it looks good I'll just put it right back into the excavator's tank. Well.... I've seen worse. I need to prop the machine up so that the large drain plug is in the lowest corner of the tank, then I'll just hose it out. There is a gap in the slosh baffle, so I can get to the other side fairly well. The pickup tube looks pretty good, I think I'll stick my borescope down it and see how it looks from the inside, but I think I got lucky there.
People spend a lot of money for worse smells .....
So the USPS managed to loose my paper manual, but I did find a site that had basic info for pulling the injectors. Looks very simple. So, question for the collective. Would I be better off to pull the injectors and pay to have them tested, or simply buy new valves and replace them? I'm not sure if I can clean them well enough here, I do see there is a small screen inside that could be holding crap. I haven't priced the parts from Cat, but I can get them on Amazon for about $25 each, might only need one or two but would probablly just do all 4. Second question... while I have the injectors out it would seem to be a good time to do a compression check. Obviously I need some sort of adapter. Part number? OR recommendation for a good one aftermarket? A gauge in the right range is easy enough to find, and not terribly expensive. I also note that one of the connections at the injector seems to be leaking, pretty badly. I loosened it and retightned while the engine was running, and let a good bit of fuel squirt through to hopefully move out any contaminants. I'll have a good look at it when the injector is out, hopefully the tube isn't boogered up, although they seem to be fairly easy to source and not terribly expensive.
Well, since I had a leaking injector line, and I had to disconnect it to clean the mating surfaces, I figured I might as well just pull all the injectors. I'll call Cat tomorrow and price replacements, I see that the nozzle ends are very carbon-ed up, and it's cheap insurance, really. I also see that the seals on the top of the nuts are very dry and hard, so replacing them is in order as well. I did actually finally find out that there are glow plugs in the precombustion chambers. I can't measure any resistance thru any of them so they may be burned out. I'll price those, as well. Pics..
Make sure to get the procedure to reinstall . Glow plugs have to be clocked to a certain position.
I won't be pulling the precombustion chambers, so glow plugs shouldn't move... Called Cat today and got prices for the injectors.. nose bleed high. And then I gotta buy the seals. If the aftermarket parts were't so cheap I'd go get them tested and only replace what was bad, and I might still do that. But just sticking 4 new ones in there has some appeal, so I think I'll shop the aftermarket... I might be getting what I pay for, but they're not that hard to get to, and I am on a little bit of a budget.
If you get to fixing everything that isn't quite right, you are going to wind up 50k into it. If that were mine I would get the fuel system patched up, dig the pond and get the machine shipped off to an auction before a $15,000 component takes a digger.
Agreed, and that's pretty much the plan. I'm trying to not touch anything that isn't required. On a different note, I did score a paper manual off Ebay, $130, looking thru the list of forms it seems I have everything... nice! And I managed to get all the hydraulic filters changed. The book spec's 10w hydraulic fluid, I'll have to reach out to the former owner to find out waht they're running, unless, of course, I want to drain it and replace. And I don't.
So, a question. The injectors have 2 seals. One is a large "O" ring that goes under the nut that holds the injector in. Easy. The other seal goes under the union nut for the fuel line, inside the nut. Problem is that the inside surface of the nut is sloped, and there isn't a groove to hold the seal. There is a groove on the body of the injector, but it's well down into the nut, and the seal is way to small diameter to fit over the injector body. The manual isn't any real help there, either. I have the seals just sitting in the top of the nut, with the union nut for the fuel line pushing down on them. that doesen't seem right, but given that the old seals were crusty and hard, i'm not sure it's wrong. I did put it all together and get it started, still running like **** and no power. Next step will be to get it runnng on the machine's fuel tank, and see if the little tank isn't the issue. It does have a fairly small supply line, so who knows. The injector lines are also leaking like crazy, I had new ones on order but the seller sent them to somebody in Minnesota instead of me. They're telling me they were delivered, so no problem, but hopefully at some point it will sink in that they sent them to the wrong place. I met a guy today who will knock a link out of the tracks. We'll also rebuild the adjuster cylinder while we're in there. Hopefully it won't cost a fortune, but we shall see.
Ok, obviously I'm installing the seals wrong, as they're getting cut when I tighten the lines down, so... New lines showed up, as did compression test gauge and adapter. Apex Tool, the adapter looks first rate and the gauge is pretty solid and serious feeling. So as soon as I could I rushed out and pulled out the injectors. I wasn't able to get a first crank number as it was just me, and I couldn't really tell when the cylinder in question had passed TDC, so I just rolled it over 5 or 6 times and went to check. I gotta say, I was a little on edge when I walked back to look but numbers: from #1 to #4, I got 420, 440, 440, 420. I'd call that pretty good for an old machine. So I think that rules out piston/ring condition and blown head gaskets and such. This was with the engine cold, I didn't see anything anywhere about doing it while the engine was hot or not. I'd do a gas engine cold, mainly because I don't like juggling red hot spark plugs and with an aluminum head you never ever ever remove/install spark plugs while the head is hot. So, that done, I turned my attention to the glow plugs. I'm not sure I'm getting voltage to the line, but I tried reading resistance thru a couple plugs in place and got infinite, so I guessed they were burned out. New ones were fairly cheap, so I splurged and got 4. I couldn't locate my 5/16" 1/4 drive deep socket anywhere, and my 8mm was just a little too loose. I managed to borrow one from a buddy and pulled the #4 glow plug, as it was right there. It came out very easily.. I was very surprised. It even seemed a little loose, to be honest. I forget what the specified torque is on them, but it's not really low. Anyhoo, I drug it into the shop and cleaned it up a bit and dug out the multimeter. After a little scratching, I got a reading thru it... 5.8 or so ohms. The new ones measured right at 6 ohms, so I'd say at least that one is good. I went to install the new one, and found an issue.. there is a shelf on the glow plugs that hits a collar inside the socket, the end result being that I can't engage the hex to tighten it. Not an issue with the original plugs. So, sadly, since I only had the one socket I put the old glow plug back in, albiet with some fresh anti-sieze and went on to the injectors. Sorry I didn't get a pic of old and new next to each other. The new ones aren't an exact replacement, but the glow-y part that sticks down into the precombustion chamber is exactly the same length to the first thread as the old one, and I'm guessing that's teh critical dimension there. After installing them I got out my shiny new lines. Again, a shoutout to global parts warehouse, they did screw up at first, but got replacement lines out in less than a day, and to me in just a couple. So good on them. They seem pretty good quality. I'm sure made with care and craftsmanship in the land of the Dragons. Well, some minor adjustment required...
And, eventually, everything lined up and tightned down easily. Well, I guess I don't have a picture of the lines installed... I still need to put on the spacers, and there will be more tweaking when that happens. So, I left the injector nuts loose and cranked 'er over with the throttle wide open... back around and I had fuel on the outside of all the nuts, so I tightned everything down and tried to get it to start. No joy. So, I guess back up for another round of bleeding. Although I do see it blowing a good bit of white smoke. I was hoping it would fire right up... I did finish filtering out the fuel I drained out of the tank, and I"m refilling as I go. I'll top it off with fresh diesel, and then hook up the tank for the first time in quite a few years. One step closer...
A little ether won't hurt just don't use the glow plugs. Some engines it just needs that little bit extra to start after changing filters or something. If you have any smoke you're getting fuel.
It IS right. The important sealing job is done by the taper on the end of the nozzle. The two seals are just there to stop rain water getting in and rusting things up. In your parts book, you see that there are several clamps on the injection lines? If you are planning on keeping it for any length of time, you should install these. If you don't, you will start to get broken lines.
I've got the clamps, they're on the old lines. They will get installed, just ran out of daylight yesterday.
Ether would be a excellent tool . . . For wrecking those brand new glow plugs.
Get the glow plugs working and it'll fire up. Keep them on for about 20-30 seconds.
I've been a little overwhelmed with other stuff, but I did manage to get some work in. I cleaned up the battery room, and found some issues with the wiring on the solenoids, which I corected. I found a 5/16 socket that was drilled out deep enough to clear the collar, so I also swapped out the glow plugs. I was very pleased to see the ammeter dip when I selected glow plugs for the first time, and with about 20 seconds warmup the engine fired right up. Still runs rough, but hey... it does it quicker. I also got a temp gauge and verified that it's not overheating, I ran it for about 30 minutes, from idling to full rpm, put some load on it (at least as much as I could without stalling) and water temp never got much over 190, oil temp was around 150. So all good there.
So finally got some time to pull the valve cover. I must just be lucky, as it seemed that #1 was at TDC and on the power stroke.. both valves were loose. I couldn't put a bolt in the hole in the flywheel, so not exact, but close... valve cleareances were good, if anything just a bit on the loose side. I checked the other valves that you check at that position, and they were good as well. I guess I'll need to pull the starter, or pull the accessory belts to use a strap wrench on the flywheel. That's probablly easier, as the starter is in an akward place and fairly heavy, I'm guessing. Had a little surprise when I pulled the valve cover.... Rusty. Damn. Rusty? And note the crap lying on top of the cylinder head... Not as rusty, but still... At the suggestion of my neighbor I ran a magnet along the rocker arms and over the head, it collected quite a bit of gunk. I'm a little worried about what got down into the pan while it was running. I need to source a couple small magnets and put them near the drain galleries in case more stuff comes off. Not sure but I think there should be a bolt there... Ah well. Easier to get it off, I guess. So, I need to figure otu how I'm going to rotate the engine and check the other valves, then check pump timing. I did verify that the timing pin is in the pump, and id'd the bolt I have to remove to put the pin into the cam. So, time to do some stuff. Tomorrow.
Bonus pic... old glow plugs. Of course I don't have a picture of one of the new ones... I'll clean them up and do a resistance check... might still be good.
Is the rust from condensation or not letting the engine get warm enough? Seems like quite a bit of rust to me.
The rust is probably from sitting in the field . . .
Wouldn't there have to be something to cause enough moisture to create that much rust?
Very wise words. One component failure and huge money the Op shall never recover. But, it’s not my money and I enjoy the posts. Thank you for your service.
Sitting for 5 years . . . maybe somebody left the oil fill loose or something. I doubt you can blame that on short runs, even a 30 second run cycle is going to coat everything with oil.
Got TDC set today. Turns out it's actually fairly easy from the crankshaft pulley, once one figures out to slacken the accessory belts and take them off so a. there's more room and b. the fan isn't pinching your fingers on the ratchet. Had a buddy down below and the bolt popped right in. I set the valves I could (all were a little loose, but not terrible) and then the moment of truth.. I pulled the cover off the pump, pulled out the pin and stuck it in. With indeterminate results. I can't see into the hole due to the angle, so I can't tell if there's a notch there or not. I could try and get a picture, but that's sketchy at best. I have a borescope... but what the hell. The pin went in, it felt like it was a little off-center. If it was a rigging pin on an airplane I wouldn't accept it. Here's a picture, or two... if one of you guys who has done this can comment, I'd greatly appreciate it. That's as far in as it goes. It won't rotate freely, feels like it's binding on something or other. Tomorrow if the rain holds off and I get otehr stuff done, I'll try and pull out the flywheel pin and rotate the engine gently while holding the pump pin, see if it slides in easier or not.
I just timed my 3208's I'm assuming yours should be similar. It's suggested to be like 1 degree advanced for better running. Try putting a smaller pin in the pump to see if it's close. One or two degrees either way won't make it run terrible. To change timing is a pain in the butt.
Ah, you're an airplane guy, that explains the obsession with tinkering with everything that isn't quite right instead of just getting your pond dug . . . My father was an aircraft mechanic . . .
I'm still a month or so away from digging season, when everything dries out. And really, I'm not trying to make every little thing right, I'm still working thru the troubleshooting list for apparently not making rated power...
So some effort tonight. I pulled the timing bolt out of the flywheel, and rotated the engine gently while holding pressure against the timing pin in the fuel pump. I couldn't get it to go in, even rotating the engine approx. 30 degrees each side of tdc. So, I got a drill bit, smaller diameter, and set it into the hole. I did the same thing and never felt it drop. So, I started rotating the engine in the direction of normal rotation. I got almost a full turn on the crankshaft pulley, and the pin dropped in, I know it's in because it locked the engine up. Ok.. the problem is that #4 cylinder is at TDC on it's firing stroke, as evidenced by both the valves being loose. This makes no sense. Apparently the pump is installed way out of time. Incidentally, I couldn't find the hole in the flywheel with the pump pinned, so the timing is off in any case. So, I guess i"m sourcing a small puller to loosen the gear and we'll set timing from zero. I'm a little surprised that the engine is even running with the pump that far off. I verified with the manual that #1 cylinder is opposite the flywheel end of the engine, and that #4 is on the flywheel side of the engine, and that the timing is set with #1 at TDC. So, I'm a puzzled, more than anything. Can an engine like this run with the injection timing that far off?
I would be questioning your diagnosis if you really thought it was that far off. It may be possible that one or more of the parts or pieces you are referencing is not correct, and therefore providing erroneous information.
I really doubt it, and I wouldn't go messing with the timing just yet.
I agree, which is why I checked twice to ensure I was actually in the notch, and where the engine was. #4 cylinder's valves were both loose, and I verified in the manual that #4 is on the flywheel end of the engine. Tomorrow when I have some help I'm going to pin the flywheel with #4 at TCD and set the valves, but I'm certain of what I'm seeing. It doesn't make any sense to me, either.
If someone set the front timing gears up exactly one revolution of the crankshaft "out of time" the injection pump timing would appear to be set to TDC on #4 cylinder rather than TDC on #1. The only way to confirm AFAIK would be to remove the front timing cover and check the marks on all the gears.
^ that's what I'm talking about.
That's goign to be an effort... I find it hard to believe that someone could have installed the camshaft gear with the marks 180 out, but stranger things have been done. What I'll do then is pull the #1 cylinder (the cylinder opposite the flywheel end of the engine) injector out and put a brass rod down on top of the piston. That way I can verify visually and with the valves that it's at TDC on the firing stroke. I'm not sure about the internals of the fuel pump, I assume from what I read that when the fuel pump is pinned that has the #1 injector pump at, or very near, the top of it's stroke right at the point that the pressure is high enough to open the valve on the injector and start fuel flow. Now, none of that will show if the marks are correct, but it will at least prove out that the camshaft is in reasonablly the correct position. Actually, I'm pretty confident saying it's right, based on the compression check. If a valve was late to open or early to open I wouldn't have gotten those numbers.. Don't recall if I mentioned earlier, but the engine is a 3304 non turbo, S/N 48VXXXX.
Don’t bother. I wouldn’t. If the timing pin drops in with #4 cylinder at TDC and the engine runs I’d call the fuel injection timing correct. Maybe a classic case of two wrongs somewhere ending up making a right. If the crankshaft/camshaft/FIP timing was out by 1 complete revolution of the crankshaft, the engine wouldn’t run at all - end of……
Ok, so perhaps I'm missing something here. Here's my understanding, please set me straight if I'm off. The fuel injection pump contains a camshaft, with 4 lobes, one for each of the cylinders. Each lobe drives an individual pump, which both meters the fuel going to the cylinder and provides the pressure to overcome the spring in the injector. My manual tells me that the pin should drop into the slot in that cam with the #1 cylinder at TDC on the firing stroke, at the same time the bolt goes into the hole in the flywheel, which should then coincide with the pump for #1 cylinder being at or very near the top of it's stroke in the injection pump. What I'm going to do is follow the procedure in the manual and set the timing as it directs. If the engine won't run, then obviously there's something else off, or something was installed improperly. It's really just my time and effort to do it; not like I'm going to bang valves into cylinders or something. I really have no idea where to find any numbers on the fuel pump, that way I could at least verify part number and make sure it's the correct pump for that engine.
My money is on what @Nige has posted. If you do this thing, the engine will not run. Then you decide if you are going to tear it down to fix that. Hopefully murphy does not harm you, all to find out a gear was put on 180 out. you would be better off to time it to #4 as it appears to be. It won't run 1 tooth off, so if it is 180 out that will work.
Well, I set the timing as per the factory manual. Couple seconds of glow, and it rolled over and started right up. Some minor blue smoke but nothing like it was doing. Runs better, has power. I walked it a little bit and it's 100% better than it was. I just can't imagine why the pump was on backwards... but I don't care. That's a big weight off my mind.
Set timing to factory specs as per the manual. Hop in the cab, hop out of the cab cuz I forgot to connect the batteries. Couple seconds glow, it rolled right over and started up just like it ought to. Runs better, no smoke, I walked it back and forth a bit and it's got power. 1000% better than it was. No idea why the pump was installed off, but that appears to be it. Downside now is that I can't shut if off by bottoming out the throttle.. .I have to stall it at idle. That should be a simple fix, though.
good for you!! that shutoff is probably a cable stop adjustment.
Never underestimate a farmer . . .
Couple of videosl... Startup... startup Would have stalled it before...
Well we all learn something new every day. Good job!!
Now the next big issue is fixing the track adjuster so I can keep some tension on the track. I see videos of guys walking tracks off all over the youtubes, I think if I could get the slack side reasonablly tighter I'd be ok for what I'm going to do with it. One option, of course, is to pull it tight with the backhoe and weld some angle iron to hold that, but I'd really rather the big spring is able to do its thing. Then there's the issue of grease fittings that won't take grease... one of the fittings in the cab is not taking grease, that's the one that might be a bit of work. And then re-install injector line clamps, fix oil pressure gauge and water temp gauge in cab, maybe some external lights, and a few other minor things that aren't occuring to me right this second.
So I have a question, the age old one. The manual for the machine calls for 30 weight oil in everything. Engine, gearboxes, everything. From what I see and smell, this machine has mostly gear oil in stuff, and I"m guessing it's 80-90, although I suppose it could be truck transmission oil. Anyway, if I start draining and refilling gearboxes, should I use the 30 weight the manual recommends or go back to gear oil? If it's been running this long wtih gear oil, maybe going to something thinner might cause issues? Thoughts?
Lubricants have improved just a tad since that manual was first published. TO-2 and the later TO-4 spec oils were not even figments of somebody's imagination back in those days. FWIW I'd run TO-4 (Cat TDTO) SAE50 in the pump drive, swing drive, and final drives. SAE10W hydraulic in the implement hydraulic system and your choice of a 15W/40 in the engine. You also need to be cognizant of the fact that gear oil and "crankcase oils" (which includes TO-4) are measured on different viscosity scales. An SAE90 gear oil has an almost identical viscosity to an SAE50 TO-4 oil. See the chart below.
The biggest fun comes in the smallest of packages...
Morning all. I know I've been quiet, but getting the stars to align and my n eighbor over with the mini and help has been difficult to date. I have, however, managed to install my new oil pressure line to the cab, so I now have a working oil pressure gauge up front. Re-installing the gauge made the master caution light work again, and apparently the temp gauge has decided to start working as well. So yay... now I need to figure out the hydraulic temp gauge. I do have another issue, of course, that makes no sense. I've made sure that the governor (throttle) lever in the cab moves the governor arm on the fuel pump through it's entire range. So, I can bottom out the fuel pump without a doubt. I still cannot shut off the fuel and kill the engine. I have to idle it down as far as I can, which drops oil pressure into the red, and then stall it by moving the boom. I don't like that, not at all, and need to figure out why it's not shutting off. I haven't dug into the manual yet to see if that's an easy adjustment to do, but it's on the short list of things to do when I'm not mowing, fixing mowers, or greasing mowing stuff. Busy season...
Ok. Stars aligned this weekend. I notice, sadly, that the engine is starting to get a little harder to start, cold... although it's different this time. I'll pull the line from the filter and backflush it with air, just in case I sucked something in. PRobablly put in a new filter... I opened the water drain and -think- I got a couple pieces of **** out, so probablly a new fuel filter, but I'll wait until after I blow out the lines. I'd like to get a few gallons out of my $50 investment, thanks. Anyway. So we yanked the track, pulled the adjuster, repacked, reassembled, and put in some grease. Well, tried, anyway, I had to borrow a gun with a clamp on grease fitting, and that wouldn't have worked if I wasn't missing a track grouser, so I could go straight onto the fitting. It was just pushing the grease otu of the gun around the fitting. I'll try and order a new fitting, just in case that one is so work that the seals in the grease gun aren't working right. Anyway, put on the clamp on fitting, and with a little fiddling I got it to take grease. For a bit. The track right in my line of sight got fairly tight, but then I noticed that I had skipped a tooth on the drive sprocket, so I'll have to drive it a bit and get that aligned right, then try again to adjust the tension. All in all, other that reinstalling the track being a little fiddly, it wasn't a hard job. Hell, the idler was tight and I didn't hear rumbling from the bearings. So, we're close to some actual digging here... gotta keep your eye on the brass ring! The crew ready to make the trek down the stairs and go to work. It's off! That really was the easy part. The dust seal had come out some time ago... and the inner seal was brittle. It came out in many small pieces. No surprise it leaked. The shaft is in pretty good shape. I thought the whole unit would come out with the spring, but no. For ease of handling we just left it in situ. There was some pitting/chrome peeling at the end, but I'm going to wind up running all the way out so it shouldn't be an issue. But hey.. can still buy that piece if necessary! After some minor work with scotchbrite. Could be a lot worse, that's for sure. All Ukrainey looking... And after considerable farting around and lots of sweating and swearing, it's back on. And reasonablly tight. It'll get better. I need to source those covers over the adjuster fittings, I could see them getting damaged. I have the old ones, but they're pretty wasted... although they might just be better than nothing, really. So, that's the last major job... more than a few little things to still address, but it's basically ready to start digging. No scrap heap for this old girl Not yet.
If she'll walk to the hole and hit the ground there is life left in it.
Not really appropriate to make sarcastic remarks about Ukraine considering what's going on there.
It wasn't intended to be sarcastic; the blue and yellow made me think, is all.
So, kind of back to square one.. engine is down on power again. But this time it's not holding a prime, so easier diagnosis. I got another couple cans of fuel and fulled the tank up again, but haven't had a chance to go out and see if that fixed it. That's best case scenario, at least the fix is obviousl otherwise it's just gonna be detective work along the fuel lines. There are 2 flex hoses, one for supply and one for return that appear to be original to the machine. Cheap enough to replace them, so that's on the books. Getting close to digging season...
Don’t lose sight of the fact that you may still be pulling rust etc from the tank that might be getting lodged in the passages in the water separator or in the fuel filter head.
Great point @Nige My 1998 machine is still cleaning up after years of neglect.
The water separator was just crusty, I bypassed it and am using a Baldwin filter with a water trap in it. Eventually I'll buy a new one, I think, and plumb it back in. Hot this weekend, so even hotter on top of the machine.. I rigged up a hose to my trolling motor tank and connected it to the inlet of the fuel filter, with no change. . Then I connected it directly to the inlet of the fuel pump... and while making the connection noted that the metal fitting is broken, so it won't actually tighten down. I have another fitting around here somewhere, I'm pretty sure... so hopefully one or the other makes a difference and I can narrow down the trouble. Since I'm grabbing at straws here I note that my chineseium priming pump is starting to feel very, well, coarse and metal on metal.. I'm sure it wasn't designed to be used daily. I have another one, ordered 2 b y mistake, so I might try swapping that out. I assume, looking at the filter head, that the fuel has to pass thru the priming pump on the way to the filter proper, so it could be collecting some crap as well.
Ok. Put some air pressure at the line leading back to the tank, I swear I felt something move. So I blew some more, and then reconnected. Started before it made a full revolution, runs great. I walked it back and did some digging. Observations are that it still bogs down, even while walking, but only so far... I didn't think there was a chance it was going to stall. Turning is tough. I didn't notice if it was blowing black smoke while loading up. Digging, lifting a full bucket of dry dirt bogged it as well, but again not so far that I felt it was going to stall. So, still low on power, I guess, but there might be some trimming that could be done on the F.I. pump. Not sure about hydraulic fluid temps, I'll go back in a bit and run it some more and check the tank temps. Engine coolant temp got barely into the green. I note that oil pressure, when it gets hot, drops into the red at very slow idle, but if you keep it at a more reasonable idle speed it stays in the green. So... I'd say 90 percent there.. still a few things to tweak. But the old girl is coming back!
Short video of it walking and doing some digging.. https://photos.smugmug.com/Property/i-ZcrgBkw/0/71881d0b/1280/20230702_152920-1280.mp4 Onsite... at least temporarialy. STill need to put the engine cover back on...
That’s awesome. Thanks for keeping us posted.
So did some exploratory digging last night. Oh... and started machine up first time in two days... rolled right over and lit off. Like it wants to do some stuff. Anyhoo, started digging around, looking for a cypress stump that might be in the way when we start excavating for real. Didn't find it, not for lack of looking, but because my neighbor pointed out that the track self-oiler had gone crazy. Well, no self oiler, so there must be an issue... and there was. When I rotated the house.. lots of hissing and gushing. Easy enough diagnosis.. and since it only leaked when I turned, and there was still plenty of fluid in the tank, I walked the machine back up to the shop. On the way, I heard some mighty thunks and clanks from the l/h track.... sure enough, that adjuster had blown out as well. So, good thing we now know how to walk tracks on and off... parts on order. That's a relatively easy diagnosis. And the hose was very accessible too.. gotta love those hinged top covers. Too late to get it to the shop today, but tomorrow... I have to run out anyway and get another bucket of hydraulic fluid. I know this dance. parts might not be here in time to do it this weekend...
speaking of dances, I would learn the bucket turn with tracks like that. It puts a lot less side stress on the tracks, and tends to keep them on there more better.
. . . And keep the idlers forward while walking . . .
Not to the point of turning around to go back the other direction. That's not productive at all and a great way to mess around and find out if the track wants to come off today.
When the tracks are as loose as in the picture, you are going to have to turn around. I worked for years with a JD 792 with the tracks about like the picture above. The only way you would make it more than about 50' in a straight line was idlers forward. The slightest bit of turning with the idlers back will roll the track right off.
It's normally quite a bit tighter... This is the day I walked it down there... note that it's reasonablly snug. It's like it is because the adjuster seals failed and all the grease is now out of the cylinder...
The RH track in that photo above is not “snug”, it’s way loose. Check your O&M Manual for the correct tension measurement.
Well, it's as snug as I can get it without removing a link. But you're correct, as per the manual, it's very loose.
In that case you’re going to be taking a link out sooner rather then later, unless you have a budget for replacement undercarriage.
Nice project wish i could find me another for the motor.
Best pay attention to that admonition...when I bought my CAT 320 the seller said he planned to remove a section in about 6 months. Just a few months after I bought it and got comfortable running it, I threw a track about 80 yards out into a drained pond. Pretty big miseries getting out of that situation. Then we did rebuild the undercarriage...expensive. Good luck.
Damn straight. The time to come to the conclusion that you need to remove a link is NOT when you’ve just lost a track in the middle of a swamp.
^ all that. I've drug a track out with me once to put it on in better conditions. I got away with that, but in the real crap the machine will fall down to the carbody as it imbeds in the muck on the no-track side.
Best thing to do is keep the machine out of the pond . . . Good track or not . .
I had a guy lined up to do just that, pull a link. I think he got scared, as it's been 3 months now with no quote from him... I picked up my new hose and fixed tube section from the shop today. Turns out those apparently cat specific fittings are eye wateringly expensive... just the hose alone cost me just a tick over $330. Hopefully the rest of them are in better shape... Just about 4k for just the chains, new... figure another couple hundred for new pad bolts and nuts, and I suppose the sprockets should be replaced, but they actually look pretty good, all things considered. That would still not push my total costs over what the next cheapest machine I looked at would cost.
With 70 years of sand and sludge built up and the pond getting shallower, I don't know how else to recover the depth. Using mud mats with good effect so far. If you know how to dig out an existing pond without going out into it, please educate me.
I won't have anything to do with taking my machine into a situation like that, but I guess you do what you have to do. The "correct" way is to use a long reach machine, but that is probably pretty much cost prohibitive for a farm pond.
Sounds good but I have not seen a long reach machine yet that will reach out into a 20 acre pond far enough to do the deed.
In my case it was never my idea to go out in the mud. It was always somebody else's bright idea who signed my paychecks.
It wasn't my idea to go out there either until I inherited the farm but then realized I had a 20 acre pond that was starting to turn into trembling earth and going away.
Time for a barge and some marine work! That's scary stuff right there... best left to the pros. And 20 acres in VA is a Lake... actually, technically, anything an acre or more is considered a lake. Neighbor took that into consideration when he dug his pond. It's just a hair over an acre.
Ha! I have worked with an excavator on a barge in Columbus, GA before...commercial diving. We helped them place rocks for the water elements of the whitewater venue they built on the Chattahoochee River...and we placed sandbags along the cofer dam base to hold the concrete they were pumping in to reinforce some pre-Civil War bents/piers/supports for old bridges. It blew my mind to see excavators on barges moving VW sized boulders around underwater. Our diver would chain the boulder to help move the boulder to just the right spot.
This is how they brought us sandbags to place along the cofer dam.
last
Nice water work pictures, Gary. Fun stuff sometimes.
Ok. Other track off this AM. Not so much luck with this side.. the idler has no bearings. So, without disassembling and inspecting, options... My two cents says there's not enough left inside the idler wheel to install new bearings, so I think a new idler is in order. I don't see a lot of them out there, but it's Saturday and I suspect that I'm going to need to make more than a few phone calls. HOpefully I don't have to go used, but even if I do bearings can be swapped.
After considering all the options, including lots of moldification and fabrication, and just re-installing, I decided to just bite the bullet and buy a replacement idler. Coming from AMS, I've used them in the past for some used parts on my backhoe. 1300 delivered to my doorstep, and it's basically the whole assembly, just bolt the yoke/cylinder on and slide it back into the frame. Easy peasy. Then it's off to the races....
Sounds like a great solution...rock on!
Issues, issues. Turns out the replacment idler assembly isn't an exact replacement. I've looked at the offereings from AMS and Pivot, and both of the drawings they supplied of the part don't match what I have. Specifically, idler width is larger, bolt holes don't match... not good. On a plus note, I did manage to disassemble the idler from the yoke today. Surprisingly, 5 out of 6 bolts just backed right on out no issues.. last one... seems the channel it passes thru is larger in diameter than the bolt, and it got packed with grit. I cleaned a bunch of it out and thyen had to back and forth with the impact to get it to come out. But none of them have corrosion on the threads, and all the bolts look to be in good condition. Another surprise was that the inside of the idler itself isn't wallered out. The axle broke in 2 places, apparently b/c the bearing siezed up, and the wallering occured on the side plates. I -should- be able, if I can remove the axle halfs stuck in the side plates, to replace the bearings in the idler and install a new shaft. Of course, if I can source those parts, anyway. Might be able to find a roller with new bearings. Who knows. More phone calls tomorrow. Pics. Chromed part of the piston looks pretty good. I need to hit it all with the pressure washer. Idler looks ok. No, the inner shaft does not turn. But, it also doesn't look like the shaft wore a bunch of material out of the inner bore. Haven't measured, but it should be just over 2" in diameter. The hardware looks ok. Not like it needs to be super tight, just has to hold the side plates to the yoke. The whole assembly, I would imagine, is under tension when the track is tight.. or as tight as one can get it... The pin, at least the part that's not stuck in the sideplates. It appears to be missing some length, as well.. probablly rubbed off over the years. Where all the wallerin was going on. There's another piece inside the sideplatge that retains the axle, that's currently soaking in some Liquid wrench. I need to pick up a larger punch to try and tap it out, then work on the axle. Hopefully it all separates. Worst case is I stick the idler in and let the frame retain the axle. It won't be perfect but it will be good enough for what I'm going to do. The whole mess on the back of the cart. Guess which side had the stuck bolt? On a plus note, I can clean up the adjuster cylinder, re-pack it and reinstall it without having the idler, so I can do something while I'm figuring out what I'm going to do...
Good sleuthing. I bet these pros will have some good ideas for you.
Ok. I'm very confused. I'm certain there's supposed to be a bearing in the front idlers, but where the hell is it? The "bearing", by part number, is actually the side plate, which appears to have some sort of bearing in it, but it can't rotate, as the axle shaft is located by locks in the"bearings", or side plates. The idler itself looks to have some sort of bearing assembly installed, but nothign shows on the parts breakdowns, and the disassembly instructions for the idler itself refer to "bearings", but the parts it indicates, on the parts breakdown, come back as "seals". Now, it appears to me that the idler is supposed to contain a quantity of lubricant, I don't see the plug to fill it but I haven't really looked ery hard yet, which would tell me that the bearings are in the idler. I'm trying to order parts, as I've had no luck with a complete idler assembly from anywhere. I can get the shaft, locks, seal parts, etc etc, but I must be missing something here...
Ok. Been a while, but I've been distracted elsewhere. So, front idlers are in work. Turns out there is a bushing in the idler, the idler is full of oil, that's what lubes the bushing on the axle shaft. There are seals that retain the oil, etc etc... lots of stuff going on there. I had to have the old bushings burnt out as I couldn't get on them with a press to remove. There is some damage to the idler wheel, but the damage involves structures that hold the seals. I think I can just stick the seals to the idlers with some sealant and that will be enough to hold the oil in. I got new outboard bearings, a new axle, new seals, washers, etc etc... I thought I had everything, until I went to put it together. The bushings that go into the idler, I got 2 of them, because that's what it needs. One was in a CAT part box, the other one was in a CTP parts bag. The CAT part fits. I haven't installed it yet, but it's the right part. The CTP part... not so much. CAT bushing on top, CTP on bottom. Note that the CTP bushing has a larger outside diameter. That's not gonna work. Contacted the vendor, he doesn't have another one to send me, and his supplier is out. Well ****. Now that I look closer, as well, I note that the CTP part isn't quite the same dimension lengthwise, and it lacks a brass facing washer that the CAT part has. I;ve verified that the CTP part is meant to be the correct replacement, but obviously someone dropped the ball here. The best part is that I can't seem to find anyone with the CTP part in stock anymore.... I've ordered from 3 places and they all cancelled the order as they can't get it. CAT says their part number is discontinued... but I might get lucky and find one somewhere. I need to call them today and work that angle. It's an 3A4790 bushing, if anyone has one sitting around that they're willing to sell... Otherwise, lots of new parts just waiting. I was kind of surprised that I got the oil fill plug to come out of the idler intact.. actually it was fairly easy. If I had known, I would have pulled the fill plug on the otehr idler while I had it out and topped it off.. but you can't fill it at the top with the idler in the machine. All kinds of shiny stuff... I've loosely assembled, and it looks liek there aren't going to be any more surprises.. fingers crossed.
I don't think so. Here's an excellent guide to installing them from @willie59 If you think you can stick them in with sealant please let us know how it works out. IMHO you'll need the idlers refurbished to rectify the ramp areas where the Toric Ring part of the seals are installed. Installing floating seals Floating, duo-cone, cone, metal face, toric ring, all names used to describe a very old seal design used primarily in undercarriage components, finals drives, and rollers. Recently a thread asked how to properly install floating seals. Installation tools are available, I'm pretty certain a Cat... HeavyEquipmentForums
Ah, schooling the ignorant.. wasn't aware those seals were that technical. The CAT manual install procedure is much simpler... pretty much one line. I figured there had to be some spring force to keep them together. There's really not much else I can do to seal up the center of the idler. And I'm not sure where I can get that idler refurbished... I guess worse case is I put a grease nipple in the fill hole and keep 'er topped up. Given that the bushings are hen's teeth, apparently, I'd rather not, but digging season is upon us and I'm running out of time for this year...
Back in business! Now just have to worry about the seals, etc etc... but one more hurdle gone. Found this one on Amazon, Blumaq is the company, but I think it came from Florida parts zone or some such. Either way, other than the brass looking a little pale, it's the same part. Well, same dimensions, anyway.
Bushings installed. No pics, as I was busy and my hands were dirty. The grooves for the duo-cone seals on the idler are trashed, and new idlers are few and far between. The bearing side is new, and the seal grooves are new so no issues there. So, I need to apply some pressure to the outer seals, but not too much, and I need the side bearings to be tight to the idler with minimal play. I wish I didn't have to half ass stuff like this, but without buying more new parts I can't find I have to. So... my simple answer was to do some eyeballing, and I wound up grinding some off the back of the seals that are against the idler. I spent some time ensuring that I could feel some spring tension on the seal but not too much. After much adjusting I glued the inner duo-cone half to the idler with silicone sealant. Not perfect, but the best I can do given the circumstances. With it all together I filled the idler with oil and stood it up to see if it would keeep the oil in... and it did. So now we come to installing the yoke assy. Apparently having the idler bang around loose didn't do it any favors, and with one side bearing bolted to it I got this on the other side: Yeah, that's a little bent. There's a couple things I can try here, but not having a torch or Hulk arms I obviously need to do some bending. I don't see any cracks so I assume this is a forging and not a casting, so I ought to be able to bend it back. I thought about toting it out to the yard and putting some pressure on it with another machine and then starting bolts, but don't like that. I'd rather it was aligned on it's own and not needing bolts to hold it inline. But I do have a 20 ton floor press... w onder if that's enough? Well, as it turns out, with a couple days of paitence and putting gradually more pressure on.... That's with the other side bolted and snug. I know it doesn't look all that much better but I managed to get the lower 2 bolts in without any effort, so I'm OK with mounting it up in the frame and using a big pry bar to get the top bolt in. It's off by just a sliver, so not bad at all, given that they were all off by more than 1/2 a hole at first. Next step will be to get it back in the frame and get the track mounted.. it'll be a complete machine again. And I can move it and mow under where it's been sitting.
Update... idler reinstalled, mostly, trying to get track mounted. Well, trying. Looks so easy on the youtubes... but all we've managed to do to date is get it entirely off the side frame. Busy getting ready for our annual fall thing, so no chance to really screw with it lately. But on a plus note, the engine starts right up...
So, an update. Rainy season set in and it was a doozy, so no work on machine untill it dries up. Don't really want to turn the side yard into a swamp. I have a neighbor who has a hydraulic press setup, so we may be able to simply locate the master link and press it out, then mounting the track should be fairly easy. But... finding that master link... is it dimpled on both sides, or just one?
If it’s genuine OEM it should have dimples on both ends. If the undercarriage is aftermarket then I have no idea
Well, it's dry enough, just trying to get a schedule with one of my neighbors, who swears that he can just pop that track back on with his skid steer. HOpefully we'll get a chance at it this weekend, but will find out... Oh, and as an aside, the idler is still holding oil... but we'll see when we get to walking and digging and flexing stuff up there...
So... how about an update you say.... Well, after a year or so of dealing with other stuff I was able to turn attention back to the 215. A neighbor had a guy who was trying to start his own heavy equipment repair business, so I called him and we finally got together. With the help of another neighbor, a Kubota mini, a deer tractor, several chain falls and multiple chains, we got the track back on. So, mobile again. But. Still feels very down on power. It starts very easily, once the starter decides to turn, anyway, but when walking, or moving the boom, the engine bogs very badly. I did some test digging, and while it would lift a full bucket of dirt it wasn't happy. No smoke while it's bogging. I have changed the fuel filter, and verified that the line is clear, so I'm sure we're getting quanties of fuel back to the pump. I need to check pressure in the fuel pump housing, it's on my to-do list but the yellow flies and the sun have other ideas. I have verified that I have fuel running back to the tank thru the bleed port, but not sure if it's too much. Another thing I need to verify is that I have the correct pump on the machine, I have some doubts because there is no shut-off detent, like the manual says, and I know the pump was replaced as an expedient to get the machine running so it could be moved. I have also changed all the hyd. filters (3 of them). I can't find any numbers or a plate on the fuel pump, I know there has to be one somewhere. I do see that the pump has a boss for a tach drive, which I don't see in the pictures in the shop manual.
I think the easy fix is off the table... I put a pressure gauge on the pump housing, it's showing 30 psi at full throttle, but I can't see the gauge when I'm under load, so it might be dropping...