Cat 345 B 1997 Leaking hydraulic fluid in engine oil? Have had a mechanic here for 2 weeks trying to fix problem with no luck. Changed the pump for hydraulic fan twice... (Brand new) This cat has a 70r Labounty shear on.it We are at a loss , Any ideas ?
Thats a strange one, the fan pump seemed like the correct repair. You sure it's hydraulic oil ? Is the bell housing dry? The pilot pump is inside the bell housing, and I guess it could gain oil from there through the rear crank seal.
yes we had that analyzed it is Hyd.fluid. Bell housing was dry But took it off and replaced the pump any way., And the rear main seal was also replaced
hyd fluid in engine oil?(tricky one, but you do hear of unknowing maintenance guys) or engine oil in hyd fluid?(from rear main into pump but the bellhousing is dry....stumped) any chance that hyd oil cooler/"radiator" might be playing with you? sorry, i don't know that piece just tossing ideas
These Guys are from The Caterpillar Shop. Not cheap mechanics. So I would have assumed they would have known how to fix this LOl There not supposed to be shade tree mechanics . The hyd. Fluid is getting in the engine oil. Not sure how its getting in there. Thinking these guys are stumped to. Trying to figure this out Before This bill is astronomical .. This has a Shear on the stick. Radiator?
Sorry for sticking my nose in but you never know. Could there be a stacked oil-to-water heat exchanger where the hydraulic/steering/fan/brake oil cooler is up against the engine oil cooler and leaking across without any getting into the water? Often a bypass valve is run in parallel with the cooler to limit the pressure in a number of circumstances and if faulty, could cause a crack or even an internal Oring failure. Hope this somehow helps.
Stondad, There is no heat exchanger. Thanks for the suggestions.
been thinking and durn... yea i was thinking there could be a remote engine oil cooler fiddling with the hyd oil cooler..... now i have had the crank/main seals inside spring pop off during installation but you replaced the pump as well so that seals new.... mmmmmm now how bad is it: is it raising your engine oil level? is it just tested to have hydraulic fluid in it, how much? a "drain and fill" oil change could leave residue I suppose could get picked up by testing equipment. I'd say try an engine flush oil change, monitor the level/color, and trust that as long as it doesn't turn clear with black specs you should be well lubricated, i just hate dirt and grit
granted thats a nice piece of equipment and this might be a little shade tree
yep changed the oil every time they change a part.. Tested it for fuel and hyd fluid. came back just hdy fluid in oil. Gains 1 to 2 gallons of hyd fluid in about 15 minutes of using the shear.. I have over 850 dollars in oil changes as of now. changed oil 4 times so far. This is getting real expensive just in new oil.
wow... that much gain sounds like the pump... i'm at a loss hopefully another gent has an idea
Man that's a lot of gain. Theres not by chance another aux pump mounted on the front cover of the engine is there? My only idea. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
No Aux pump on the front of motor. Keep the suggestions coming.. Maybe we can figure it out together. Tomorrow they will be here with a relief check valve for the hyd tank? we will see if this works
Hmmm. Maybe they think its building to much pressure in the tank. Theres an air line that goes from the engine to the hyd tank, basically it puts turbo boost into the tank to pressurize the hyd tank. Theres no place I know of that the hyd fluid could enter the crankcase through that hose but you might follow that line and make sure. I think it hooks into the intake manifold somewhere but haven't been around one of those machines for awhile. Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
checked that line its 12lbs that is what they said it should be . Good thinking ..
Oh man. You threw me big time with this in the scraper section, so I musta sounded pretty silly talking about brakes/steering etc. Your clue is that it happens when the shear is operated. Was the shear only just fitted? Or has the fault only just occured after previously operating ok? Has the shear been piped up to an aux spool in the control valve, or what used to be the bucket spool, or is there a seperate, electric control valve fitted? I would love to see the hydraulic circuit for the machine. Cheers. M.
Ok. I should have read all the posts more carefully. I just googled Labounty, so now have an idea of what you have. Does your rotate motor have a case-drain line?
Does the shear have a rotator on it. If so, it could be the rotator.................
Yes it rotates, And this shear has been on there for over 5 yrs. Model 70 r . Rotate
Does the motor for the rotator have a case drain line ?
It has a electric hydraulic solenoids. The fan motor has a case drain line. He is here now working on it.
I do hope the problem gets solved for you today. I would be tracing out the add-on hoses and valves for the shear to see that they tap into the excavator system in the right places. If, for example, a case drain line, or a vent line from an external relief valve had been incorrectly plumbed into an engine oil cooler return line, it could have gone unnoticed for years with little or no flow in that line. But maybe some recent event has caused it to now leak hydraulic oil back along that line into the engine oil. It's gotta be something like that I think. Good luck !
Ok Its not the valve changed that. So back to square one. Now after sending in a sample of the motor oil Twice and it coming back as hyd, oil . He wants to recheck cause it could be fuel? Are you kidding me
You should be able to smell that on the dipstick.