i have a cat 215 that has been giving me some trouble. I am not sure if I have an engine power issue or a hydraulic issue. The problem I am having is the hydraulics are pretty weak. I had a couple of fuel problems that have been straightened out, rebuilt fuel transfer pump and new fuel lines and pick up tube in tank. Engine starts and runs well, no more missing and primer pump works as it should. Fuel pressure at injection pump is around 30-40 psi. When trying to dig with bucket or swinging with a load it just won't go like it should. I installed a pressure gauge in the top of the injection pump as advised and after about 20 minute I notice fuel leaking and found that the gauge had filled with fuel and blew the vent cap off, this happened twice. Gauge was a 60 psi gauge. So now I am wondering if I might have a fuel injection pump issue where it is pressurizing the feed line somehow.i am going to try a 160 psi gauge. One thing that I noticed is a slight hissing sound coming from somewhere in side the left door where all the valves are. I can't tell which one it is coming from and I am not sure if it is normal or not. Also when I move the levers and machine won't go I can hear hissing in the hydraulics like it bypassing or something. Machine serial number is 95z00480
Get a video of exhaust I can hear pumps loading but I want to hear if engine rpms are falling how far and how quickly does it rev back up. I like to test pilot pressure and relief pressures when I get a performance issue first. Does machine seem to operate when slowly digging in loose material or walking on level ground?
I think yes it operates fine in loose soil and tracking straight. I’ll get video soon
I think yes
First video shows exhaust when trying to swing with very small load on system Second video is the hissing sound in the valve compartment. The sound might be normal, I don’t know.
It seems like pumps aren't destroking but I was expecting to see some black smoke when rpms dropped off. Does it die right out when you relief each function. When walking machine up incline does travel speed slow some or does engine die out.
Even flapper on the exhaust points out to engine performance. Engine doesn’t sounds like it’s struggling, just flat falls on its face! I think it is fuel problem!
As long as the ground is flat and I am not in thick mud it travels fine. If by relief you mean holding lever in one position while not moving , yes it will drop rpms and would probably die if I didn’t let up, it does not drop fast , it drops slowly. I have checked engine high rpm with a digital tach and got about 2120 rpm and 720 rpm low idle. There is no smoke from engine at any time.
If the hydraulic system was requiring more power than the engine was capable of producing then when the RPM lugs down the engine ought to be black-smoking like a sonofabitch. It's not - ergo, look at the fuel system and definitively eliminate it as a possibility before proceeding further. Another box to tick would be the turbo, but that comes after.
my 314 was doing kinda the same thing. All worked fine until under a full load then no power. loose dirt and tracking it was fine, but it would blow black smoke when losing power. Bad turbo
One construction guy, was your turbo loose or anything? Mine spins free any has no end play in it.
mine did not spin easy
if I was you I’d be initially focusing more on the fuel system than the turbo. See my post above, the lack of black smoke when the engine is asked to produce power by the hydraulic system is the biggest clue.
Any problem with turbo will produce smoke ! Either air starvation or leaking bushing will produce black or grey smoke As far as I see yours is purely mechanical engine - so there’s no ECM to cut down on fuel on account of air starvation! Nige exactly right: first stop - fuel system!!!
That's what I as one totally unfamiliar with the excavator would think. Bad turbo or loss of boost do to leaking would starve for air and cause lots of black smoke. Low power and no smoke would have me thinking not enough fuel getting to the engine.
Your exactly right IMHO! The computerized controls is different though, ECM can “see” the amount of air and adjust fuel delivery accordingly.
I am going to try and check out the governor. Does anyone know if I can remove just the governor part from the injection pump without removing the entire injection pump from the engine?
I wouldn’t! You talking about injection pump governor, like the counterweight and all enchilada? Or throttle governor?! Before messing with injection pump first you need to be 200% sure that your fuel and air delivery is sufficient, and compression timing and other stuff also! Well timing is partly within the injection pump but with absence of smoke I don’t think it is your problem!
Second that. Don't go messing with an FIP governor unless you REALLY know what you're doing. Do you actually KNOW what High Idle RPM your engine is making.? Do you know what the spec is.? If the answer to both is no, you need info before you even think of opening a toolbox. These are the questions that IMHO you should be asking yourself before you go interfering with an FIP.
I am talking about just the governor part of the injection pump, it is basically the back section of it. I have checked high rpm with a reliable laser rpm meter and get consistent 2120 high rpm and 720 low rpm at crank pulley, manual calls for 2080 no load and 2005 during operation of boom and stick. I called a fuel shop and they will only do a complete overhaul for the entire pump for around $2000 even if I have just a broken spring or something, so obviously I am not taking it there. I feel like the engine is not adjusting rpm when a load is put on the hydraulic system, if it is supposed to, it will just die slowly. I have been going through the procedures for checking and adjusting the hydraulic system first, what else would I check on the fuel system if all the lines are new, new filters, transfer pump is rebuilt and delivers plenty of pressure to the injection pump? Turbo seems fine but I don’t really know how to check it. There is no play or slop in it.
TBH I think you are shooting from the hip regarding probable root cause. There appears nothing particularly to suggest that the engine is the issue yet you persist with chasing remote possibilities of engine problems, when in all truth the most likely thing is the hydraulic pump control side. See the paragraph below from the System Operation document for the implement hydraulic system. The excavator system is designed to operate with the governor control setting on maximum engine speed (rpm). If both axial piston pumps are working at full output and maximum pressure at the same time, the horsepower needed would be approximately 2.3 times as much as is available from the engine. To prevent an engine stall, a control system has been installed that can tell when there is a change in pressure in one of the implement circuits. When this condition happens, a signal from the control system is sent to the axial piston pumps that causes them to decrease their output. In this way, the control system makes sure that the power needed to operate the hydraulics is always available from the engine. I would strongly suggest that you try to understand how the pump control system works before going any further.
wow, pure summing... my brain just took a trip down memory lane.
Are you suggesting that I have a summing valve adjustment or failure issue? I am going through the control system testing procedure now. Do I need to use a volt meter on the brass terminal on the governor because I cannot find it. There is a picture in the procedure but it is not very good, basically just shows the fip.
Also I need to know where the pump selector valve is. I think this might be where it goes but it looks like this machine does not have one. If this is the case is it possible that governor does not have the necessary brass terminal either for preforming this procedure. The procedure I have is from sis and is for my serial.
Ok I have found the brass terminal on the rear of the governor, however when I connect a meter to it and frame ground and move the governor lever the numbers to not change. Manual says it should go to 12 volt when throttle is fully open, mine only had about 6v and didn't change with throttle position but the voltage did slowly drop when engine was shutdown and the engine temp dropped. It says that if this happens I need to remove the cover and push pin down manually. My question is, what cover? I assume it is the cover that the governor arm goes through but I really don't want to take it off and have a bunch if stuff fall out. I am trying to go through the pump controls testing procedure and this is needed for that.
I know this is old but I have a E120B Cat that does the same but with black smoke, If anyone can tell me something I would appreciate it.
What have you done so far as regards troubleshooting the problem,? A S/No would help at some point.
Hey I have the same machine just got it last fall , bought it cheap had this same problem. Was wondering if you ever narrowed it down ?
sounds and acts exactly like yours does in the videos! Any help would be much appreciated! Thanks
This was 5-1/2 years ago and the person who posted has not been here since 2023. It's unlikely you will get and asnwer from him. I think the first thing you might need to supply is a Serial Number then maybe some service infromation might be forthcoming. I hope you didn't buy the same machine the OP spent almost a year trying to diagnose.?