Hi friends, My Caterpillar 330 hydraulic oil keeps overheating. Within a few minutes the temperature raises a few bar. Changed the Hydraulic oil sensor, still the same problem. Nothing seems wrong with piston pump, my cat does not have the demand fan cooling system. Does anyone has any experience with this problem? Many thanks! :drinkup
What model 330 L, B, C, D, ? Might help.
Hi Overworked, its a 330B
How long after start up does it take, what's outside temp there?
Have you pressure washed the hydraulic oil cooler?
Many thanks for all your replies. Yes I did change the hyd filter, washed the cooler, replace the hyd oil switch. I touched the oil its not at boiling temperature but my meter shoot to full within 15 minutes after start up. Its a 330BL and the outside temp is around 28degC
you are using the bucket or a hydraulic hammer? If you stop working and keep the engine running at low idle does the temperature decrease immediatly?
Slow return check/cooler bypass came apart and is blocking the cooler?
i left it idle for around 1 hour , it only drop 3 to 4 bar (reflected in the meter). The main problem is the hyd oil is not boiling hot when i touched it. Using a bucket as usual
Is the machine operation normal Even if the meter points overheat? try to check the oil temp via infrared temp gun to check the actual temp.
machine operation is normal, but do you guys think its the problem with the meter or the machine ecm?
its a big chance that you have a oil temp. meter problem. to confirm use a temp gun to check actual temp.
The sensor should have between 6130 to 7500ohm resistance at 20 degree celsius and around 900 to 4000ohms at operating temp.
I might be in left field here, but I think every time that I had a hydraulic over heat problem, it would cause the engine to overheat. I agree, get a temp gun and check all your temps Good Luck
I also have a 330BL Rega , that's overheating in about 10m at working at full(10) we've tried everything pressure washing,then we changed out the cooler altogether,can some help please.
Hi, my overheating problem was fixed. We got repair shop to modify the cooler with bigger bypass tubes and done. You might want to replace the sensor.
Thanks for the reply,its not the sensor as when the oil is hot the machine starts to move slower,eg swing,we changed to oil to a heavier one from 68 to 120-130, as it is hot in the Caribbean where it is working , NOTE:the machine runs great when cool such as in the morning and evening or when raining and at night.We are thinkin of changing the valve banks and see if it helps.
I'm in the Caribbean as well (maximum ambient temps right now are around 35DegC) and we run 10W (aka AW32) in our Cat excavator hydraulic systems and they work just fine. IMHO it's not your oil, in fact I would go as far as to say you're using an oil that's far too heavy for the job. The most I would consider is 46 or maybe 68 but certainly no higher than that. Fault finding by substitution is the amateurs way of doing it, but if it makes you happy - have at it. I hope you have a wallet full of money.
well actually the heavier oil has helped a little,although it is still bad,but you guys think is the problem?we are thinking about putting on another fan on the oil cooler, BTW the fan-belt is pretty worn and old ,but it keeps the engine cool so it cant be that right?
From your posts is appears to me that you have a theory in your mind as to the root cause of your problem, and anything that anyone posts here that doesn't fit that theory you discard it. But then again you keep coming back and asking what we think is wrong ...... you can't have it both ways. As I said I'm working in the Caribbean with ambient temps of around 35C at the moment on the job site and our 336D Cat excavators run 10W/AW32 hydraulic oil and do not suffer from hydraulic overheating ............. if it was my machine here's what I would be doing as an initial diagnostic procedure 1. Remove the radiator and cooler package. Separate the radiator and the oil cooler and externally pressure wash the pair of them. Check for damage and for anything that might reduce the air flow through the cooler and/or radiator. 2. Inspect all the ducting of the radiator and the fan shroud. Replace and/or repair parts as necessary so that the air the fan is blowing is actually going through the cooler & radiator. 3. Replace the fan belt for crying out loud. When you have the belt off check that all the pulleys on the water pump and tensioner are all spinning freely. Make sure the new belt is tensioned correctly after installation. 4. If you can get hold of an infra red temp gun them try shooting the temps of the hoses into and out of the cooler. Post the results here so we can see how well (or not) the cooler is working. Once you have got all that done you know that the cooling package and the air flow through it is as good as you can get it. From there if your problem continues then it is hydraulic system diagnosis time. However you can't (IMHO) jump straight into the hydraulic system without getting the basics right first ...............and you don't get more basic than what I've suggested above.
PCGAMR1, I know nohing about your machine or the conditions you are working under. That being said, do what Nige is telling you especially step 3. There are three things you should be doing: 1. Take care of the basics. 2. Take care of the basics. 3. Take care of the basics!
Srry if I came out to you guys kinda bitchy,jus that the machine has been like for this the past 4 yrs and its frustrating to operate,1. We pressure washed the oil cooler, then we were gonna clean it but seemed the cooler was clogged ,so we changed it out with another on,2.i checked the radiator and cooler ,its completely clear, we are working in a quarry and it is dusty but the coolers dont have anything major blocking it,3.the belts are kinda of worn(1belt) but if it was slipping or it was lose we would observe that and change it ,but nige wat water pump are you talkin about? I don't think there is one in the machine.ill try and see if we can't get someone with an infrared gun,but I'm Jud sayin when the oil gets hot the machine runs much slower, as in swing and lift and pull.thanks
Btw nige which part of the Caribbean are you from? I'm in Trinidad
I was talking to my dad yesterday and he said that when they first bought the machine and it was working like this (bad),they bought the guts (insides) of the pump and it worked good shortly,but they used the old casing .I want to know if and what in the pump can be casing the oil to get soo hott? Friction? . See we leased some land to someone but their operation fell apart ,and left a scrap 330BL ,so any parts we can are using from their such as the valve banks and cooler or spin motor.