Greetings, I am considering the purchase of a Cat 931C with SN 2BJ00191. It has the clamshell bucket on it, which I have been wanting for a long time. I am going to look at it tomorrow and can share more details, but wondering if anyone can tell me what year it was built, or any other useful info? Thanks in advance!
serial numbers from 1989 are 00170 to 00295. 2bj made from 1988 to 1992, 2bj 00038 to 00381. Not many loaders for that amount of years built. FWD
Interesting it says lgp trash loader
Can you post some pics. of it? Undercarriage is the first thing to check out. Not much difference between a 931B and a 931C. Dash and gauges are different but mechanical I think is the same as late model 931B's. Is it a 3F/1R transmission?
Hey guys, thanks for the info! Interesting about it coming back as a lgp trash loader. It doesn't currently have lgp tracks. It has a 3F/3R transmission. I only managed to get one good picture today but I will get more when I get it transported to my property. Undercarrage seems decent. I would estimate somewhere around 50%. Plenty of life on the sprocket segments, they aren't pointy. Bushings are relatively straight and unworn. Chain has plenty of meat in it. She brakes\clutches good to the left and right. Plenty of pushing power in the low gears. The only downside is that she does have some blowby, mainly coming out of the valve cover vent tube. The main stack doesn't smoke much. I know it could be some simpler things like clogged air filter but I am assuming she at least needs some rings, if not a full top end job. I got it for a really good price and considering it has the clamshell bucket I'm pretty happy overall with it. I will get her all serviced up and then try to start figuring out which clyinders I have blowby from. I'm open to any and all suggestions. Thanks in advance!
Theres not a 3204 that doesnt have some blow by. If that one started life as a lgp someone swaped alot of parts to make it not one!
It doesn't look like an LGP and I doubt someone would have changed the track frames. LGP use 25" wide pads. No way they would fit. The bucket isn't wide and shallow either. It looks pretty good otherwise though. Not sure why the track isn't tight to the sprocket at the 5 o'clock position.The carrier roller looks almost worn down to the bolts. Would be best to remove the bottom rock guards if you aren't working in a lot of rocks. They trap material in the tracks. Needs a new pre-cleaner cup and cover on the air filter inlet. The side shields are missing too. They're good to have if you're clearing bush but for general dirt work not that necessary.
That's what I have always heard. I am really lucky and have a D3B and D4C with little to no blow by.
Yes sir, I always remove rock guards from my machines. They all live an easy farm life. The track wasn't tight to the sprocket because the track adjuster seals on both sides are blown. After taking the picture, we did get her to hold some grease on both sides. I have already ordered the seals and will replace them soon. The air inlet bowl was broken and fell apart today. I have already ordered a new one. I do have the track covers, but unfortunately the engine side covers are missing. I might try to find some used ones eventually. I will get this machine nack to my property within the next few days hopefully, then once I start going thtough it I will post more pictures and I am sure I will have more questions.
I was looking at the parts a 2bj and a 6rf list the same parts book sebp1774 if you look at final it lists one for each of the serial numbers can’t ever remember running into that
2BJ00191 was manufactured on 17th January 1989. According to the BOM it was originally fitted with 14" wide triple grouser track shoes mounted on SALT chains.
Great information, thanks! It appears that the track shoes are original, but someone replaced the chains at some point with an iTm brand part number iTm-103-A-2
Hello everyone, I have spent some time looking over the old gal. The first thing I would like to fix is the leaky track adjuster seals on each side, and replace the worn out cariage rollers. Unlike my D3B and D4C, this 931C has chains that have a master pin. My other machines have the newer alligator-style master link. So, I'm going to need to hire someone to press off the master pin on each side for me. I'm wondering if I can have them replace one of the links with the updated Cat link with the alligator-style connection? Assuming the pins are the same size, does anyone see why this wouldn't work? Pictures below show the Cat parts I would like to use, and the part number off of one of the links on the machine. This doesn't look like a Cat part number. It looks to be iTm-103-A-2
Correct. That is an ITM link group. Whether the measurements of their individual parts are compatible with Cat I have no idea. Depeneding on how much wear there is in the pin/bush joints you may be able to slide the idler back far enough and then finagle the chains off to the side without the need to split the tracks. You would probably need the tractor up on blocks just far enough for the links to clear the track roller flanges and let the chains slide out to the side.
OK, thanks for confirming that. I was thinking of giving that a try.
from a old guy that was before split links I've drove many master pins out with a b&o and a sledge you actually only have a couple inches that are tight I don't think it would be cost effective to change the links for as many times you have to break the track
Thank you sir. I might give that a try first. Pardon my ignorance, but what is a b&o?
When I was 6 or 7 I remember holdimg the punch for dad beating a track pin out of a 440 deere my eye balls still rattle
It’s a pin driver basically what they used on rail road to drive spikes
Thank you! I will look for one of those and give it a try.
You might want to see how far back you can get the track adjuster. If the tracks are pretty slack it might be easier to take them off and put back on than pounding the master pin in and out.
We are going to try that first this weekend and then switch to the master pin if that doesn't work.
OK, I've spent some time going over this machine, and it seems pretty decent. I'm going to replace the top roller on both sides when I break the track to work on the track adjuster seals. Other than that, the undercarriage is pretty solid. The transmission and brakes\clutches seem to be fine. It has wet brakes, thankfully. The biggest issue it has is blow by (pic below shows some smoke coming from tube). There is a fair amount of smoke coming from the vent tube and out of the oil fill tube, when the cap is removed. It's not the worst I have ever seen, but it's annoying enough that I wouldn't want to run it too long and inhale those fumes, and I don't really want to bother with rerouting the tube as I have seen others do. So, I would like to do some minimal level of in-frame in the coming months. I need input from smart people who have experience with this scenario. Ideally, I would like to replace pistons and rings with a 3-ring option, but I don't want to bore for oversize. I would love to get away with just sticking with OEM bore size and honing cylinder walls in-frame. This machine is on a farm and will have very little use, so I am not looking to spend a lot of money. Assuming the cylinder walls are not badly gouged or out of spec, does my plan pass muster? If so, are there good options, such as IPD, for 3-ring pistons and rings that are OEM spec? Or, should I just go with actual OEM parts for this scenario? Thanks in advance for any feedback or advice!
I think I would clean the breather and give it a good run and see how it is
Yes sir, that's one of the first things I did. Also, new air filters and new precleaner (old bowl disintegrated). It made little to no difference.
does it have a working hour meter just wondering how many hours on it
Funny you should ask. It has a digital one that wasn't working. I got it working today and the hours were zero'd out. I guess because it didn't have power for a long time. I am guessing it's on the second pair or chains, because the pads look original to me and are in decent condition. The set of chains on it now have plenty of life, I would guess 75%. I would guestimate somewhere north of 6000 hours. What do you think?
I would think you are in the ball park
If it's around 6000 hours, do you think I can get away with doing an in frame and going with new oem spec pistons, rings, and honing, assuming there is no damage to cylinder walls or out of spec?
The 3204 came with 2 ring pistons and are known for blow-by. Some have said it's not even worth doing a blow-by test. It might be wasted money to replace the pistons until you know how much oil it's using and the overall condition of the engine. There's nothing wrong with boring the cylinders if it's done right. Even if the cylinders are good, I think an in-frame rebuild would be next to impossible. You can't remove the oil pan for one thing. If you're doing the pistons you might as well check everything else while it's apart. If it 's not using much oil/smoking and has power I'd just run it. Excessive idling is bad for a 3204! Run it hard and see how it performs.
Thanks for the feedback. I was under the impression that the oil pan could be dropped while in frame. If not, this project might just have to wait a little longer.
The track cross member is in the way. Engine and trans. have to come out together too. Weigh about 1700lbs.
Unless you need to do work to the trans theres no reason to pull it for engine work. On a loader its a bit tighter but still on a 5 or so hour job to pull it out
That machine is looking nice!
Others have mentioned unbolting the crossbar (pic attached) that runs right under the oil pan, and then jacking up the machine to have enough clearance to remove the oil pan and do an in-frame overhaul. Can anyone confirm if they have successfully done this? I took a look today, and it seems feasible.
I think you would be much farther ahead pulling the engine block it up oil pan down pull the head then stand it up on flywheel housing to remove pan and do your pistons and cylinders it will be a lot less aggravation a lot easier on you body and probably quicker and you can probably do a better job of cleaning
The loader frame makes it real a PIA. Not that much more work to pull engine and trans. together. Following the Cat procedure helps immensely!
Ive done it eithet way one loaders and dozers dont really make a difference to me
FYI, the master pin didn't seem to want to budge, so we were able to push the idler all the way in, and with enough slack in the track, we were able to pull it off to the side far enough that we could then move the idler forward far enough to replace the track adjuster seals.
See my Post #14 on Page 1.
yes sir, that worked perfectly, just as you described, thanks!