I'm trying to change the hydraulic oil in my 248. According to my owner's manual, there's a drain located under cab. I've got the cab raised, but I don't see a drain! There's two large hoses on the tank, one supply and one return, and what looks like a vent hose at the top of the tank. Nothing that looks like a drain! Does anyone know where the drain is on this thing, or know of a tech site that might describe it? It should be the same as the 246 model and perhaps the 236. Thanks!
Steve, the drain valve is there trust me. On most machines there is a piece of 5/8" hose attached to it which you poke the free end through a hole in the belly plate so you can catch the oil. I have found the only way to open the valve is to use the ring on the end of a ring spanner over the "T" handle however, all in all, its about as useful as cancer of the testicles. On the 246B the drain valve is situated right down on the belly plate in the right rear of the area under the seat. It is normally off the side of the control valve that the large diameter hose which go to/from the tank connect to. I put a big tray under the machine, remove the belly plate and then disconnect the one of the 1 1/2" rubber hoses from the tank and dump it that way. Hope this helps.
Thanks Squizzy! I'll look around with a flashlight today. That's the area my manual describes, but there's such a mess of hoses down there I don't see it. Both of the large hoses off the tank disappear into the bottom of the machine.
Steve, you have to keep in mind that Squizzy is on the bottom of the globe--his fluids all drain out the top of the tanks. Since nobody else has bothered to say it, Squizzy, welcome to the Forums! :waving
Thanks Guys, I have to confess that the oil will drain in a counterclockwise direction down here :bouncegri I'd only had the machine for about 2 weeks when my partner went to re-fuel the machine while it was on the truck...got distracted and filled up the hydraulic tank with diesel :cussing I spent the rest of the day with legs sticking out of the cab, swearing at the caterpillar manual and generally not having much fun. Well at least now I know how to change the hydraulic oil :crying Steve, where those big hoses disappear is where its at...however the bend in the drain line is too tight and it takes hours for the hour to run out. I just undo the hose clamp on the big line (making sure its the one coming from the bottom of the tank) and let it go. I'm sure I'm making the CAT purists and those more knowledgeable shudder at this but when you have to get the machine workin...
I wanted to, but I wasn't sure if I should, because I had already welcomed him on another site. Can't make our international friends think we stalk everyone, eh? But indeed, welcome to the forums. Your expertise will be appreciated here.
What? Another site?? I didn't know there was any such thing...
Thanks again Squizzy! I apologize for not welcoming you as I should, I was excited to see your reply! Anyway, WELCOME!!:drinkup I hosed down the machine and will tackle it after lunch. It's going to be a messy job, my belly pan is not removable, it's all welded. There isn't much romm for working and it's in an awkward position to boot! I'm a little disappointed at Caterpillar for making this such a difficult job. Fortunately the filter is easily accessable though.
Well I ended up pumping the oil out of the hydraulic reservoir with a transfer pump. No matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find the drain hose. I didn't have a shaallow enough or large enough pan to put under the tank after the supply hose was removed, so that left pumping out the tank as the only resort. I tried to siphon at first, but the oil is too thick to run that way. I had an old piece of garden hose I snaked to the bottom of the tank and then attached a small 12 volt transfer pump. Pumped it out into 3 gallon buckets, I'll get rid of that tomorrow. The first picture you see is a shot down into the area where the drain is supposed to be located, nothing but steel and rubber lines with very limited visibilty. The lines are so tight together, I can't even get my hand down through there to feel around for the drain! The second picture is of the whole area I had to work in. I had to stand in the bucket and lean over the front of the machine to work, VERY tough on the back and very cramped! Anyway, I got the job done and am back in business. By the way, I decided to run Schaeffers synthetic hydro oil in my machine. I've had very good results with synthetic motor oil in a car, so I want to try the hydro fluid for the added heat protection and wear inhibitors. I'll keep you posted on this.
Steve, you need to move on up to a B series....there's at least another 1/2 a cubic foot of room under the seat on my 246B The B also has the removable belly plate so you can wash the whole area out. To mind, nobody gave this item a lot of thought....something we don't normally get from CAT. I'm changing the hydraulic system back to 20W50 engine oil (from CAT) for our summer...ambient operating temperatures are often..(.ahh...conversion .umm...for those non-metric soles in the northern hemisphere)..over 100 deg F.... Any thoughts on the 20-50???
hi squizzy...and Welcome... What's the biggest crocodile you've scooped up? :bouncegri
I once tried to get one with a 996 Loader but he chewed the tyres right off...(actually it was a 938 Loader but we don't want to let the truth get in the way of a good story )...and anyway, all the crocodile stories about Australia are not true, the great white sharks ate all the crocs years ago :bouncegri
What a mess of lines under that cab.Mine machine does not look that congestide.
The removable belly pan is definately needed! I've got all kind of accumulated junk in there with no place to go! I tried hosing it out while it was open, but you can't see the small drain holes and they will only let up to 3/4" debris pass through. I'm surprised as well at how poorly this job was considered. I can't even figure out how they assembled tis machine, there's so little space to work. Line or hose replacement will be a nightmare! If one of those blows, maybe that's when I'll upgrade to the B!:wink2
Crocs and great white sharks indeed... Ya know, Squizzy, you guys down under think that everything we yanks know about Australia, we learned from "The Crocodile Hunter" and "Crocodile Dundee". That just isn't true. It's true, everything we know about Australian *zoology* we learned from those sources, but we all know about the Australian society and culture too... We've seen all the "Mad Max" movies two or three times each!
ROFL
248 Hydraulic Oil? I don't have a owner's manual, but what hydraulic oil or engine oil is recommended for the Cat 248? It seems the loader is running slower than normal and one of the guys told me to change the hydro oil.
We run 15W-40 engine oil (Cat DEO). Have run this in the 246B, 248B and the 226BII. In the Down Under, because of the heat, 10W hydraulic oil just fades out. Cat DEO is an approved hydraulic fluid for the 248 before all the nay sayers turn up...oils aint oils anymore: Scroll; down in that thread,
So is 10w wrong to run??? Just changed mine a few weeks ago and thats what i put in it, (i was assuming, so tell me if i am an ass!!!) Thanks and thanks for this post i would have never found the plug without it!
248 Manual Does anyone have a downloadable version of the owner's manual for a 248? Or possibly a link? Thanks for the oil answer!
CAT 248 try this web site, there are some free down loads on here, depending what you need. http://safety.cat.com go to "product safety" pick Skid Steer (or what ever) from left, then put in your model.
10W hydraulic is fine as long as you are not exceeding the temperature range.
Squizzy is 100% right. A lot of operators I know actually use 15W40 engine oil for our area as it meets ambient temp ranges for oil. This keeps it simple, one oil for machine.