My Cat 308B, s/n 3YS00218, has a serious hydraulic leak, hopefully a failed hose in the Swing Drive assembly. Looking down from the top, the floor of the compartment is wet with hydraulic oil, and also wet up the assembly, very roughly about 6 inches. I am an old, retired guy, working on my own property, with very limited heavy equipment experience. The 308B was made for the Japanese market so, the manuals are of limited use. Presently, my Cat is on a remote hill, with no services nearby. Anyone have information on how I can get access to this complex assembly, other than diving down from the top? Thanks.
Before getting into your problem, a question. Do you have a Parts Manual.? For a grey market machine such as yours this is invaluable because there is no information in the online Cat parts & service system. If you don't have one it is available to download from the Cat Pubs web site. Simply put XJBP7647 in the box and click Search. The illustration below should appear. Note that this is a manual in both Japanese and English so you won't have any difficulty making sense of it. Armed with parts information from said manual you can search/order anything by Part Number which should make thing a lot easier.
Regarding your hydraulic oil leak, can you post some photos. Also the other thing I would suggest after the photos is to try to swab up the oil and check to see if it is running from somewhere obvious.
Thanks Nige. Yes, I do have the manual. I also have manuals for the 308C, hoping they can help with the B. Later this week, I hope a friend can operate the controls, allowing me to spot the leak. Since it went through most of the 11 gallons in about one hour, it should not be too subtle. Right now, my biggest question is How to get access to work on the Swing Drive assembly. Presently, I have removed the large panel, allowing me to see down into the Swing Drive chamber. My "guess" is that there is one or more access panels from the bottom of the Cat. My hope is that there may be some other access path, practical for an old guy. I hope to get some photos later this week. Thanks for your help. Erich