so this machine is sending out all sorts of sos crap as of late. anyways..... so the low oil pressure light came on. its pretty dim and not fully lit. here is hoping it is a simple fix. so i took a look at engine oil and its showing 3/4 full atm. so i looked up online which oil.... well i cant find crap. so if anyone knows what engine oil will be fine that would be awesome to know too. but from what i have seen online there is alot of posts about the oil pump going bad on this model and i sure hope i dont have to replace it.. thoughts anyone???
anyways serial number is 5sz26011 and there is the pic of the warning light.....
First thing I'd do is put a mechanical test gauge on the engine and see if the pressure is within spec. Result of that test will indicate what to troubleshoot. Low oil pressure or electrical fault.
test gauge?? do you have a link for one i can buy by chance?
Look up OTC oil pressure test kit
thanks for that. ill be looking at getting one tomorrow after memorial day. side question what engine oil will do for this make/model? i see on some places it says 10w40 others say 15w40 and some others say 10w30? any thoughts on the oil type or where i can find this out?
Get a manual for it..? $50 give or take to download from Cat. Engine oil viscosity recommendations will to a certain extent depend on the ambient temperature. That might explain the different numbers you are finding on the net.
Here's the engine oil recommendations table. As I suspected very much based on ambient temperature range. Oil type options (as opposed to viscosity) start with Cat DEO Multigrade and go down to a multigrade oil meeting Cat ECF-1 or API CG-4 specification. Of course Cat are going to put their own brand of oils at the top of the list. That doesn't mean that what's at the bottom of the list is any worse than Cat-branded oil provided it meets the spec.
yeah when i went to the online store for cat they didnt have the manual when i looked. it just comes up with No Results Found. but if you manage to find one that would be awesome and i have no problem purchasing one. and from what it looks like on the table you sent ,the 15w-40 would be best. im in west texas and usually it reaches at max 120 f and lowest in winter is 15f-30f during the summer it is usually 100 f on average.
Go to https://catpublications.com/ and search for SEBU7468. That is the one you want. You should see the illustration below. FYI. 5SZ1-Up means machines with S/N 5SZ00001-Up, so it is good for your machine.
ok awesome sauce i have it and im downloading it atm. thanks again for all of your help man! you have been helping me a lot and i appreciate it!
Be very careful running this machine with the light lit and beeper sounding. The engine in this machine has a history of blowing the oil pump housing cover off the pump resulting in no oil pressure. It starts out as a crack until it lets go completely.
Take a look at this thread: HeavyEquipmentForums
hey so i looked at your forums post and i cant locate the cover that you are talking about. is it at the front of the engine up against the door when it is shut? or is it located at the back? also im guessing that it is located in the back right section of the motor as i referenced the photos on your forum post. and looked in that section. i do not see any visible cracks. also the oil level in the engine is 1/4 below full ie it is 3/4ths to the full line. so i believe it may be just that it needs some more oil. so i will be doing an oil and filter change.
I suggest don't just do an oil & filter change and trust to luck. Get a mechanical gauge and check the oil pressure. Cold, hot, at idle and at max RPM. Be prepared to abort this test if you see any reading you are not happy with. If everything appears OK, then change the oil & filter. Repeat the measurements above with the new oil & filter. Post your results here.
so where would be a good location on the motor to test the oil pressure? i contacted cat to ask them the same question and they said i could use the oil sample valve just unscrew the bottom hookup. what are your thoughts?
It’s a live sample point so it would work as well as anywhere. Best part you can just screw the sample valve back in afterwards.
ok awesome ill give it a try. ill pick up a kit from napa today and see what the pressure looks like if i can get it all hooked up and running and of course ill post the results as requested! thanks again nige!
hey @Nige is there any way you can give me the oil pressure chart for this machine. idk it may just be me but ive been looking for the last two hours trying to find what the normal oil psi should look like so i could get an idea of what it should look like when running/idle or even running max throttle ect.
fired it up and it goes to around 40-50 on running idle then around 65-70 on full throttle then back down to around40- 50 on idle and the last pic of it near 0 oh and best way to get to that tester end is taking the air filter enclosure off of the frame and moving it to above the engine so you have enough room to listen it by hand. well with a wrench. but yeah no jumping at all ran it for a minute each interval. and like i said before i think it just needs oil. doing the filter and oil change tomorrow. i’ll do another test with new oil and a new filter. the needle on the gauge never faltered at all it stayed steady. it didn’t drop or anything of the sort or wiggle the whole time.
There is only one specification I can find. At normal engine operating temperature (fully warmed up in other words) and maximum engine RPM the oil pressure should be a minimum of 41psi. You are seeing around 65-70psi with oil probably not fully warmed up, but still not bad. Try the test again after changing the oil & filter.
Hopefully low oil is all it was. Your pressure check looks pretty good. The oil pump is located behind the front cover housing, it's a cast aluminum piece. The part that fails is internal, you wouldn't see it unless you took the engine apart. It's quite a job to get that cover plate off, lots of integrated parts. I wouldn't wish it on anyone!
Hey Shawn my oil pressure light has been on and beeping for months. I was slack and ignored it for way too long. I recently changed oil and filter using W 15/40 oil nulon brand. It stopped for a bit then returned. After my hydraulic radiator fan **** itself l think the hyd oil created a bad connection between oil pressure sensor and wire connector as l degeeased the engine from hyd oil spilage it seems to have stopped. I know l should test oil pressure, check oil pump pick up etc . But it seems ok atm. Could end up expensive l guess but a dirty connection seems to have rectified it so far. Good luck. Still waiting on my electric thermo fan to come. Keen to get some work done on our property in garden beds and maintain tracks on our 18acre block.
I mean a clean connection from wire to oil pressure switch seems to have sorted it so far
Yeah I just got done draining the damn engine it took about 5 hours to drain thanks to the massive ballast/counter weight installed on the back. But i at least know that the sensor is bad on this machine. The engine oil pressure sensor part number is 7w1238 . But yeah about to take off the old filter and then put the new one and fill up the engine with new oil. I already ordered the sensor and it will be here Tomorrow/Friday. but yeah after the new engine oil is in there tonight ill do a test of everything. oil pressure at hot and cold and post the results. oh and since Australia is like Texas weather your going to want to go with 15w-40 and no lower due to the temperature outside if you have your machine sit outside during summer. oh and make sure you clean out that radiator real good. dawn dish soap and a water hose with a decent amount of pressure got everything out. it also de-greased the entire engine compartment in the back too. oh and 15w-40 hydraulic oil is also the go to. and if you ever have to drain out the oil or hook up a pressure tester to the oil sample valve then taking the air filter and detaching it from the inside wall helps. Just position it above the engine or just disconnect it. also helps for getting the engine oil filter out. Opens up that side of the engine! Oh and since you told me about your farm/block I work on a 12000 acre ranch out in Texas and we have 20 miles of fence to put up by end of year! So I have to get this working good to get it done.
Oh I called cat over here and they said the same thing. These damned Perkins engines are an enigma lol. They said that is the only thing they see on them too. That the oil pressure should be a minimum of 41 psi.
so oil filter replaced and oil replaced. starting pressure was normal upon initial startup at cold @45psi and at full throttle reaching @55 psi. that was running cold. so i ran it for 30 minutes and that was 2x5 minute intervals of full throttle then back to idle. the end result was 38-39 psi on idle and 53-55 psi on full throttle. oh and i also found out that the old oil filter was put in @3621 hrs the machine has 36741 hrs on it atm. i think it was a little overdue for an oil change. now i know the minimum psi operating range for oil is @41 psi but it’s new oil, also it could be the placement of the gauge. but idk what’s y’all’s theory on this. the owner says they don’t care if it blows up after all it has 37000 plus hours on it with a perkins engine. the fact it’s made it this far is a testament to sheer ignorance to fail lol. anyways i still have to tear open that old oil filter. what’s the best way of doing that?
here is the other photos one of the oil filter hours and the machine hours.
The last digit on the RH side of your photo is 1/10ths of an hour, as explained by the white line around it and the "1/10" written right below it. It is 3654.7 hours on the meter, not 36547........... A decimal point can make all the difference.
lol i didnt notice that ha ha i feel pretty stupid now. Id also like to blame the owner as they have said the same to me repeatedly too lol. anyways what do you think about the pressure on the engine? is that well within safe operating range? do you think that it is just because the oil hasn't settled in everywhere yet ?
53-55psi at full RPM with a warm engine sounds plenty above 41psi to me. Unfortunately unless someone else chimes in with measurements from another machine then the 41psi minimum is the only yardstick you have. Now you've done the tests the numbers you measured can always serve as a baseline for future measurements.
My 248B did the same thing for over a year. The other guy here changed the hydraulic filter and hydraulic restriction switch several times, to no avail. He thought it was a hydraulic warning. Turns out that the engine oil pressure switch wiring was compromised somewhere between the engine and cab. I did a standalone wire and it's been good for 4 years now. I have zero clue where it was compromised in the engine harness, though.
Regardless of hydraulic fan motor and oil pressure switch dramas. I love this 246 cat. Its a beast. Cuts awesome roads on my hilly block and is a great allrounder on acreage. Thanks to Nige, Shawn, Steve Frazier for all your help comments and posts. This is a great forum. Happy to be a member. Tganks again guys. Werty246