I’ve had luck posting in here before and am hopeful the knowledgeable people in this group can help. The problems I’m encountering began on a job I had almost completed. I own a Cat 287b serial# 0287BVZSA00749, which I primarily operate with a standard brush hog. Was within 10 minutes of finishing when machine started to lock up, parking brake flashed and the one next to it faintly flashed intermittently. After getting service to google, seemed that it was the solenoid, but wasn’t for sure. I’ve always done the majority of my own mechanic work, minus the electrical portion and was hesitant to start attempting and get myself into a bigger mess. Long story short it sat for several months before I finally “jumped it” to get it moved from the location to my house, where I could actually see work on it. Before starting and loading it up, checked all my fluids, greased, etc and noticed coolant reserve tank was empty. Once I got home and tore into it I found a leak where the lines go directly into the heater core. I’ll attach pics to better show the leak, but my questions are; can I solder said leak? Lines look to be copper, heater core seems aluminum and the plate connecting the two, where the leak is at looks to be steel, though honestly not sure? If not, is it possible to by pass the heater core for now, without damaging machine, so I could get back to finishing work I’ve got lined up? View attachment IMG_4360.jpeg I’m also including pics of the solenoid I’m assuming was bad, although a local mechanic who I had stop to look said it could also be one of the computers, since their location makes them prone to go bad. I always try to fix everything “right”, not “rig” or “by pass” as I know it’s frowned upon, life has gave me a beating the last few years with cancer diagnosis taking majority of the funds I’d had saved to go out on my own. I work full time for our county road department and am the sole source of income for my family, so just trying to get back to where I was when I first started. Thank you in advance to anyone taking the time to offer any advice. View attachment IMG_3214.jpeg
I have a new Holland that had a leak where you do, I soldier it same way I would do house plumbing that was about 8 winters ago, haven't had a problem ( note I am not sure that is what you are supposed to do but I was poor and figured what is the worst that can happen, I already didn't have heat and it made the most sense so I rolled with it)
Was hoping I could go that route, but wanted to be sure before I attempted, thanks for the reply!
Try reading this thread. I’ll bet the answers you are seeking are in it somewhere. The electrical schematic for your machine is the same as the one in the thread. CAT 226B Parking Brake Indicator and Armrest Indicator Are Flashing Hello, I'm trouble shooting Parking Brake Indicator and Armrest Indicator Are Flashing on my CAT 226B serial number MJH08353. In the attached picture, in purple I highlight what I believe is the detent coil. I have two questions, first, is this the detent coil? It's located under my right hand... HeavyEquipmentForums
Thank you so much, once I’m off work gonna read through it all, hoping I can get majority fixed tonight. Thank you once again
I’ll warn you in advance there are no short cuts in the electrical testing.
Make sure before soldering, clean really well and focus some flux, directly where you want it. The solenoid, could be anything to a coil going bad, to a break in the wiring, which is more common. I have bypassed leaking heater core’s by routing in a bypass and either capping lines or some vice grips. Just blocking of the lines can cause overheating on some systems that are designed to circulate coolant.
Thanks for the reply I genuinely appreciate any and all advice I can get!
On this one, the heater hoses can be blocked off or bypassed, with no ill effects. On a machine as old as a "B", I'd just put a core in it when you need heat.
So if all else fails I can just cut some off the inlet, use some hose and cut little above bad spot and connect into that? I seldom used the heat anyway, it worked, but switch that controlled the temp free spun just got use to never using it. Glad to know it won’t hurt anything, I couldn’t really find info on by passing it, though local guy had told me he didn’t think it would hurt anything. Wanted to check here first
Nige thank you for all your help so far. After reading the link you’d sent I feel like it’s the ECM, as opposed to the work tool solenoid? Apologies lost WiFi, had to refresh and lost rest of message I had written. I’m including pics of where I jumped machine so I could move/operate. Was really hoping it would be parking brake or work tool solenoid, but even with machine jumped the lights still flash. After reading the link you’d sent it leads me to believe it’s more than likely the ECM? View attachment IMG_4379.jpeg View attachment IMG_4380.jpeg I’ve also got the pic showing where both joysticks are jumped and ran into the parking brake solenoid, but would only let me upload 4.
View attachment IMG_4387.jpeg Was hoping someone on here might be able to tell me if the two lines bolted to the radiator are the same that feeds the heater core. Having trouble getting solder to stick, has residual anti freeze leaking from around line to base. Figure I could reroute it for now, finish jobs and then try to solder once it’s completely dry.
Ironically, my Cat dealer is cheaper than most of the online sources. But, this looks promising. You probably gonna need one of these, too.
Oh, and...
Thank you sir, I truly appreciate everything you’ve shared, saved me an absolute headache!
In my quest to restore my heat / ac, I assume I'll need to replace a core like this. Appreciate the dialogue here and wish @Kentucky the best. I hope by now hes fixed it.
Sad to say, but yes you’ll have to replace the core to have Heat/A/C. I used a coupler to “bypass” mine until I can install the new one. Thanks for the well wishes, I’m now tackling replacing the final drive hydraulic hose, literally just busted on me 30 min ago. Hopefully you’ll have better luck than me and have no problems on your install!