Hows it going again.... I have a slight vibration when slewing the house. Perfect when cold but after a few hours working when you slew around really slowly you can feel a vibration or when the house is just starting or stopping. Nothing major but a bit annoying. You can see in the pics below i opened the slew motor replaced the o-rings around the piston and took out the brake disks. I had new disks to go in but old ones were perfect. After my bit of bother nothing changed. Gonna check the solenoid for oil ingress tomorrow but any other suggestions would be appreciated?
I'd probably check the swing pressures. Usually the reliefs start to loose their setting and have to be cranked back up to spec. Good Luck!
Cheers john... just wondering how a low relief pressure would cause the roughness in the swing?The two valves in the red are the spool relief valves, would i be right in assuming the valves in blue are the reliefs for when the operator leaves the joystick off with the house still in motion? I have a feeling its a hydraulic issue but just to check what pressure should i expect to get at the pilot line for the slew brake? Hard to explain but my problem is a roughness/vibration. I was clearing some fairly steep ground the other day with the machine working hard enough with alot of slewing, the roughness came into it a bit but after stopping for the dinner it was gone again for another hour after starting up. Was grading and handy work since trouble free but stripping/loading topsoil thursday it happened again. Seems it only starts in slew intensive work.
How many Hrs are on the machine ?? .... I read your explanation of rough, but are you thinking hyd rough or maybe a swing bearing rough like a grinding feeling .....or could it be you are picking up air in the lines and it is pulsing or surging ........... just trying to build a picture in my mind of what you are experiencing ..... :beatsme
Hows the form.... 6800hrs. the machine is perfectly smooth until this comes into it. It feels like a brake just slightly sticking on.. When the house is starting to move or slowing to a stop it feels like a slight shudder. It can also be felt if you creep the house around in either direction but when you wind up to speed its perfect again.
Hows it going lads im delighted to see the site is up and going again Well just to fill ye in on the story with the vibration... As always it got worse so took the guts out of the slew motor to find the problem and the pics below explain themselves. To be honest im shocked this failure could be possible at this hours, i dont know is it a manufacturing or design fault but im really starting to question caterpillar build quality.. The machine is parked up now again waiting till wednesday waiting for new pistons and a cam plate
You need to check the seals in your swivel. I've seen damage like that in a swing motor & it's usually caused by high case drain pressure. the high pressure circuits in the swivel will leak into the case drain circuit.
The piston was pulled from the slipper foot. That is usually a suction problem, like the connection to the tank got plugged or a safety suction valve is broken. I think there is a big hose of pipe hooked to the top of the motor that is connected directly to the tank. Make sure it's clean. It could also just be a problem on the piston ball or the slipper foot. Good Luck!
Cheers for the input lads... The rest of the pistons joints seem to be in perfect condition put this bad one hammered through the foot and damaged the cam ring which in turn damaged the underside of the rest of them... They are sold as a set anyway so its all the one i suppose.
Things took a nose dive today The cat dealer here is in financial trouble and caterpillar wont ship anymore parts to them until discussions are over. I got the cam plate today because it was in stock before the parts stopped. Still no pistons PN 2003335. In farness to the storeman his hands are tied so looking like il have to wait till friday to see can they get the pistons next week or are they gonna be closing the doors. I rang finnings in the uk out of curiousity just to see wat the story is with them sourcing the bits, which is no problem i was told, but they are a nice bit more expensive than here. Same parts, same source in the US....kinda make you wonder!!
I heard they were in trouble about a year ago, think they lost a fortune on proberty or new premises or something! Heard at that time that they were in talks with finnings about taking over! makes you wonder about parts prices etc!! How about trying this site or somthing for direct shipping from US ( there is a few Cat guys on here ) or there is a guy called Final drive on here who might be able to help!
I think it was the sale falling through of the old premises on the naas road that really buggered them. All the digger crowds are in the same boat from what i can see... for the last few years all they wanted was fancy showrooms and big coffee tables and you know as well as i that the man buying the digger cant carry all this excess anymore. There is another dealer not too far from me here and id be embarassed walking in with my dirty riggers! (Sorry bout the rant!) Anyway the digger is parked up for nearly three weeks of great weather now so its a bit of a disaster to be honest. Im gonna give mccomicks till 2mo for an answer, if they are snookered and there is anyone here that could source the part direct for me id jump at it?
Looks like the pistons are a fair bit away, melbourne and shanghai have them in stock, so if you need them fairly quick you better get on the phone with someone.
Right lads far as i know the dealer is finished up, not even a ringing dial on the phone today This might be a stab in the dark put does anyone know what model kawasaki mx motor is used by cat in the swing? I could source locally if knew the model. If anyone has a good contact that i could buy the genuine pistons off id appreciate it alot. Thanks
Dont know how true it is but i heard the Northern yard is still open! could give them a try!
Cheers cps... I got sorted out this morning, caterpillar have agreed with mcnaughtons to supply them with parts until there is something more substantcial sorted out. No more accounts just pay them away as you get the bits which is fair enough. Anyway im rolling away again just waiting for a fill of diesel in the morning and wind open the throttle
So how was it after you replaced those parts? Did you end up resealing the swivel? How much did they clip you for your delayed parts? Sorry for all the questions gust trying to fix with as little cost and labor as possible. Yesterday it seemed like it didn't have any swing issues until I moved the tracks then swung. I would get the bang when starting the swing after actuating the tracks. Like by moving the tracks caused the swing brake to stay on for a second. I could be wrong but it seemed that way. Thanks for all the info.
Machine worked perfectly afterwards. Made the repair to the motor and resealed the swivel. When you worked your tracks you increased the case drain pressure probably pushing a piston from its boot which is the noise you are hearing. The motor is very simple with the brake on top and the piston/camplate underneath. You have to buy the pistons as a set from cat which arent cheap. If you leave it too long (like i did) the piston hammers a hole in the slipper boot which scarres the camplate( again not cheap). Also the rapidly wearing brass boot pumps filings into the casedrain filter so might be worth cutting it open first. Have a look and let us know how you get on.
The machines coming home in 2 weeks and as soon as it does I'll be all over it. Thanks again