I recently purchased a caterpillar 287B , sn#0287BVZSA00749 and have noticed issues with the HVAC system. It will blow cold air on high, though doesn’t seem to work on low setting. The heat/cold knob free spins, so I can’t actually tell if the heat works at this point. At some point it has been worked on, due to being taped up around the control area, where I suspect it should be trim/screwed down? Fairly mechanically inclined, but as my machine didn’t come with any manuals and seems no online searches have brought up my particular problem, I thought someone on here may have had experience with this issue? Gotten a lot of help just browsing this forum before becoming a member, so thanks in advance for anyone taking the time to respond.
Do both condenser fans work? As for heat knob, it's a crappy RedDot unit. On mine, the Oring on the valve flap fell off, leaving heat uncontrollably on.
When I actually noticed, the machine was running so I couldn’t tell? I’ll definitely check it out once I get back in from work tomorrow. I’ll also check the knob better, now that I’ve seen how it’s placed. I bought it a couple weeks ago and didn’t have any of the manuals with it, so been in the dark with the exception of what I’ve found here and off google.
You mentioned manuals. Your machine is a very early B model. The Cat Publication references for manuals for your Serial Number are as follows, the prices in brackets are what a new manual would cost. You are likely to find most if not all of them available on internet auction sites. Operation & Maintenance - SEBU7732 ($49). This is the manual you really need for day-to-day operation & maintenance of the machine. Parts - SEBP3930 ($228) Service - RENR4880 ($545 on CD, $780 in paper form) https://www.ebay.com/itm/304206481622 https://www.ebay.com/itm/313682151213
Thanks Nige for the response! Definitely gonna go ahead and get the Operation and Maintenance, even at $49 new that’s not terrible, plus I’m wanting to get the most life I can out of this machine, as I’m using it to begin a side business. Definitely gonna buy the other two soon, as I can see there isn’t a lot of info on the 287B online! The interior trim is missing from the inside door and lacking a wiper button, had looked for image to see which plug button connected to and almost never found an image to go off of. Had also been researching about 2 speed on it. Some things I’ve read said it in fact came with 2 speed, others said even if it had the indicator light, etc that my model wasn’t 2 speed, so still not sure on that?
The two links I posted above are genuine OEM manuals BTW. To get the O&M Manual go to - https://catpublications.com/ When the popup appears click on "Continue as Guest" Put SEBU7732 in the box and click Search. You should see the illustration below.
I really appreciate the links and the parts listing for the interior! Thank you all both for taking the time to help me!