Hi, I am looking for some advice on getting a cat 318 BL running again. It currently has a hole in the side of the block where a piston exited, but will run well enough to move around/ load unload from a trailer. Initially I had been told that the 3046 engine in it was all over the place, but I have been unable to locate a single engine, reman, good take out, rebuildable core, or short block in about 4/5 months of looking. So I had been considering taking a used cummins 5.9 out of a pickup since they are accessible, relatively inexpensive, and have good parts support. The excavator will be used for a small placer operation so periods of hard work scraping up bedrock and bailing wet materials from ponds, and other periods of light work feeding a washplant average 65/70 buckets per hour. I have access to the tools to replace the engine and am relatively good at operator level repairs. The remote location of machine means this would need to be planned out and the replacement engine ready to go in without multiple trips for extra bits and pieces. Physically the engines are the same length (32 inches crank pulley to rear of block) though the cummins is slightly wider.mounting the cummins shouldn’t be a challenge. The cummins makes more power, but it is only turning a hydraulic pump so I don’t think that is too big a concern maybe fuel waste. Plumbing fuel cooling exhaust etc will take some planning. The 6bt is available in 24volt configuration so that should be easy to convert. The biggest question for me as I have no experience with this is mounting the hydraulic pump is the output shaft standardized or propeietary to each manufacturer and will the pump bolt to an sae style bellhousing? My questions are: A any major reasons not to do this? B is this sort of swap common and if not why (wrecked or BO trans dodges are very inexpensive and available compared to the cat, isuzu, Deere, engines used in medium size equipment.) C any source of information about a swap like this someone has already done? Thanks in advance for any input.
Go pull the engine. Get a new block from cat can be bought last one i bought was 5000 or so. And build a engine for it and go install. To repower it and easily will not go in the same sentence. Maxiforce engine parts has cranks rods and a kit for these at reasonable cost. Put loctite on the rod nuts and use new rod bolts. All of the 3046s i have had apart failed do to the rod nuts coming loose. They are normally laying in the oil pan. To do this will be cheaper and way quicker then a repower
Went up since the last I bought one. Double check the part number if you go this route
Awesome thanks for your thoughts 2 questions, first you mentioned that a repower would not be easy but recomended building an engine which is a bit intimidating to me(but it is a skill I would like to have) What are the sticking points of a repower? Physical fitment, connection to the necessary systems on the machine, tuning to make everything work correctly? Maybe just all of it together becomes too much? Second its a quarter century old machine with over a 12k hours on it. Overall the rest of the machine seems to be in reasonable good shape. In your opinion what cost to repair is too much money to put into a machine like this?
Pump drive would probably end up being custom made as would all the mounting points for the engine the radiator would probably need moved ahead a 5.9 is probably alot longer im guessing around 8 inches then youd need to play with the fuel pump on the 5.9 to get the right hi idle and turn it down so its the same horse as the old engine then you have to make all plumbing work. Who knows what i misses Once you gather the parts for the engine about 8 hours to put it together and bolt it in the machine and get to work
You end up with an installation that is all custom built, a Frankenmotor if you will. In the case of a failure there would never be an off the shelf parts solution.
I have done a couple of repowers and they always took more tinkering and fabricating, than what was originally planned for. The pump to bellhousing is usually pretty easy, if you have good welding and machining skills. This all takes time. Granted, when doing them, realized they were high hour machines and only worth so much, so running was better than not, no matter what was driving it. After a few of them, unless the original motor is unobtainable, or way too much money, I will always try and keep original. So much easier to keep running and fix than something repowered and no idea where to start. Can’t believe a 3046 can’t be found, for reasonable money. Could even find a scrapped machine and do a half ass rebuild, for reasonable money.
Wrong thread.
A re-power needs to be a business decision based on all the costs against the potential future income. Most of the re-powers that I have been part of or consulted on always forget the potential life of profitable operation. A couple I know of worked because the machines were large and were used in niche operations. A Mitsubishi/Cat 365 excavator with a Mitsubishi engine was converted to a 3406 Cat running similar horse power. The block on the Mitsu was all cracked up and not rebuildable. There were no exchange or reliable parts sources and on and on. The machine replacement costs was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. A rental machine at that time was around $6,000 a month. The Cat was already owned by the company. The mechanic who proposed doing the work was highly skilled. In the end the conversion worked to a point. The performance was limited as the Cat didn't have the same torque curve. It worked at best at about half speed to the Mitsu. The last issue was that the condition of the rest of the machine should have disqualified the conversion. They lost a final drive about a year and a half later and there were no parts available to repair it. The machine was parked and abandoned to the berry briars. Did they make enough money with the machine to pay for the conversion?
Thank you all for your input! I was expecting at least one dissenting opinion and everyone seams in agreement here so I guess I have my answer. Looks like I need to keep looking for a good core or buy a new block from Cat.
some years ago I did an engine swap on a big Toyota Forklift. I will open a new thread about it then you can decide if it's worth the effort
I built a lot of engines that were just in pails with nothing marked from what it came out of. Still easier than a retrofit that needs 5 times as much time as original parts, and like Nige said is a Frankenmotor in the end. Don't go there unless you like to waste time. Simon C
I’ve seen Alaskan miners accomplish some amazing feats of bush engineering, but a re-power like that would just create another abandoned mine relic that we will discover 30 years from now, on a ATV trip, and everyone will be left scratching their heads about the tomfoolery. Here is the plan; assemble a team. Find an unemployed Norton Sound beach miner, a Willowbilly and a large breasted, homegrown Alaskan goth gurl that can weld. I might be available after the season is over if you need a broken, old, gray-haired alcoholic mechanic to lead the team. Next, find someone to record the Hijinks and start a YouTube channel. You’ll make more money with clicks than your glory hole ever will. Welcome to the HEF!
I'd be happy to shoot and edit the video and put it on my YouTube channel but only after the glory hole produces like Fort Knox.
I think the plan is coming together.