OK, just to get the ball rolling; Q. What is SIS. A. Caterpillar's online Service Information System. Q. Can I see it? A. Yes, if you have an account with a Cat dealer. Q. What information can I see? A. It depends on your access level. A basic parts store customer can look up parts only. A subscription customer can see most documentation relating to operation and maintenance, disassembly and assembly, and the Numerical Parts Record (NPR). Dealer employees also get access to service letters, product recalls and information on the mining products line amongst other things. Q. What does it cost? A. As far as I know, parts store access is free in all countries. A customer subscription will be, depending on country, around $1000 per year I think.
We just got SIS. Parts store is worth what you pay for it..... Our subscription is $1,250 a year. I've played some, I'll have more fun with it off the clock that I will on
As a dealer tech, I'd say the biggest tip is to master the art of the advanced search and have patience because while what you seek is likely in SIS it is NOT exactly an intuitive layout to find it- Cat likes to call parts their own names (or on the opposite end of the spectrum, a hopelessly generic name) and the info you seek might be scattered across three different sections. It also takes a bit to translate from engineerese into plain English sometimes Does customer level get access to Systems Operations?
My customer version has Systems Operations. I am glad to hear that I am not doing something wrong when I am looking in several different spots for info that should be in the same area. Today I assembled the overhead on a C 15 and finding torque specs and clearances for valves, jakes, and intake valve actuators was the hardest part of the job. I have had it for 4 years and use it about once a week on average so I have some experience. I love it but it could use improvement for sure. Great idea for a thread, I don't have any good tricks to offer but will keep an eye on this one.
Yes. Advanced search is a great tool. I've been using SIS since microfiche was phased out so it actually seems quite logical to me lol.
One thing that has bit me in the ass with SIS is using only the prefix when looking up parts. If I enter the last 8 of the S/N it usually only lists items specific to that particular machine.
Yep, in the early days a prefix got you as far as you could go. In the last several years however the information has become much more comprehensive. Just think about it! Enter a complete serial number and Boom! You instantly access Cat's database and find out EXACTLY how and when that machine left the factory. Completely awesome IMO.
Items like switches and sensors sometimes have to be found in the schematics sections and that is a real pain. The schematics are huge and have to be followed in sections. The system is as good as any other that I've had to deal with in the past though.
I have a love/hate relationship with the schematics Love being able to download and search the schematic with the finder tool. HATE only seeing a tiny infintisimal portion at a time. $5 at Staples gets you a blown up copy if you take the thumb drive to them with the downloaded PDF but it will be in B&W and you will need a magnifying glass. There is also the collage option but it is a hassle
I only have the free parts store end I find it extremely helpful to have even though it does take a little searching around it also helps you understand why the parts guys need a few minutes sometimes (;
One thing that I have found about some schematics for wiring is if you click on the arrow near the top right of the page it will let you download it as a PDF file and save it to your computer. Then if you view the PDF file with Adobe Acrobat program you can use the "Find" option and then say enter the number off a wire and click on through the diagram to see all the various places that wire goes. It can give you ideas of which connectors it passes through so you can do some continuity checks.
That's the first thing I do with a schematic. Download it and save it to a seperate folder on the hard drive. You can then view it full screen with your PDF reader and you build up a library of schematics for the machines that you repair.
I only have Partstore and also find it extremely helpful, I especially like the price and availability function. We have next to zero internet away from the house so Iam thinking the DVD SIS option might be the way to go. Any pros/cons?
"CTRL" + "F" Best friend in SIS
That is handy! Not sure if I knew that before but will try to remember it!
My understanding all new SIS is web based. You can buy the cd's used though, I see them on EBAY from time to time.
Pros - You can rip the DVDs to your hard drive which makes SIS super fast. You can get it licensed by an (ahem) "overseas" supplier which means you can get a perpetual license and you can also get dealer level access. Cons - It is never updated unless you buy a new set of DVDs. It's not a problem though unless you are working on the very latest equipment. You can only access it on the one computer.
I’ve always been a bit leery of the eBay scene for this sort of thing, so will check it out with HD, (local Cat dealer), in the new year. BTW, Season’s greetings to all fellow HEFers, look forward to catching up in 2018.
I'm hoping that that subscription is for the whole company! I am a little bit surprised that after being retired for close to three years I am still able to access SIS the same as when I was working. Could be I'm on it often enough "they " think I'm still active with the company? We had a similar, well much less intensive, factory access from the Sterling truck dealer for that company. Problem is as we only had one truck at our location so I had little need to access that program very often and when I did need to use it I could not log in as they would deactivate your log on if not used in less than 3 months time. Guess they knew how often those trucks "should" fail!
It's a multiple user subscription. I suppose there's a magic number you can't exceed but at this moment there are only two with access and unless something changes I don't see anybody else even wanting access. Current rate of use is me 99% and foreman 1% haha
im hoping my new guy starting on tuesday has seen sis before , im not going to create anbother acct for him to use as it is pretty much permantly logged in on my laptop , if he is lost with it i will just give him parts guy phone number till he learns it
Tell him there's a secret page on there with boobs. He will learn how to navigate that sucker in no time!!
My first experience with SIS was not pleasant. I was competing in the Skills Canada Competition and for the hydraulic portion of the competition we needed to diagnose a bugged Cat mini-ex. Talk about trial by fire lol.
There IS? How come no one told me that before?
As much time as I've spent nosing around on there I'm convinced my wife thinks there is! It's yellow iron porn
When I am using the internet my wife always thinks I am looking at equipment porn. she is usually right.
Sometimes if I want to broaden a search a little because the part I want isn't showing up under my exact serial number(rarely but it does happen), I'll use only the first 3 of the last 8. Like inputting 72V will bring up a whole lot of 140G graders. But on the other hand, I really like the "as shipped" feature when there are too many options available.
I don't use it as much any more, but I used to spend my days bouncing between SIS, PSL and QSOL. Like previously mentioned, CAT has no problem identifying an O-ring as a seal or a gasket and a thermostat as a regulator. Beyond that they like to spread their information all across the site. Say you want to install a set of rockers, one page will show you how they assemble, then you go into another page that gives the torque spec. Then you want to set the valve lash, so you search in yet another location. With Cummins or Detroit, all of that would be one page. I've also found instances in CAT's troubleshooting where throwing parts at it is an accepted step in trouble shooting. "If A tests in spec, and B tests in spec, replace C and see if the fault is resolved." Sure, in actuality everyone does this, I just though it was funny seeing it as a troubleshooting step. This is just opinion on SIS, like anything with practice you get better at it.
I think it's on the skid loaders the wheel studs and nuts are in 2 different areas
One nice thing is the key word search function. Of course that only works if you can figure out what Cat might call something! If you want to have some fun try using a paper version of the parts book to find the part number of the brake light switch on a 988 87A02029 loader. It's is really fun when you have no idea where it is located on the machine. And even using SIS with key word search it is somewhat of a guessing game. Do a key word search for "Switch" and then scroll down till you see some mention of "brakes" and there you might see a switch listed under "brake lines" just don't fall for the two switches shown in the page for "parking brake, valve and lines"! If you look close there is a switch that they did not think it was important to mention what it might be for in the "brake lines" page P/N 7B4448. That's the one! A lot of work for a little $11.10 switch. But compared to the time it took me to find that number the first time with nothing but the paper book it is easy. I even recall, back in the pre-SIS days, getting a phone call one time from one of the other branches of our local dealer. Seems they were not having any luck finding the number for a customer and our dealer's parts guy told them to call me for help! The way I had manged to find that part number was simply being stubborn enough to skim through one line at a time on every page that had anything to do with the brake system till I stumbled on a switch part number that I could not tell what it was for and even trying to locate it on the machine was a bear as the drawing did not really give much of a hint!
It does take a while to get a grip on the search function. As an example, a search for light on our 950H will only yield a dome lamp and brake light, but if you search for lighting, you get every light on the machine.
If you're struggling to find an electrical component, find it on the schematic first as each component has its part number printed there. Once you've found the number, try searching for it in SIS. Bear in mind though that once a schematic is published it doesn't get updated if part numbers change, so if the search comes up with nothing, put the number into NPR to find the latest one and try searching for that. If still nothing, search for one of the other earlier numbers listed in NPR. Is that as clear as mud?
I did exactly that to find the diodes I needed on our big IMT drill. Well that and figure out *** was making it act the way it did. Turns out if was not the diode...it was a dirty rat. You dirty rat, you killed my brotha.... haha
Its fun once you go off into "Cat-branded Telehander" land too. Some switches and optional equipment aren't shown in pictures, but are listed in the parts list (A/C switch is a good example. They call it a Metro Switch )
Riddle me this SIS experts...... I have a part number for a couple different filter heads. I searched for them last night in the non-specific area and can't find them anywhere. How do I go about finding stuff by part number and not specific to a particular application? The dealer I'm setup with doesn't have what I'd call extensive parts inventory/background so a lot of the quirky stuff I come up with for one off things I'm building get to be challenging.....
If I Wanf To Put In A Random Part Number I Do It In the Online Store Side Of It Not Sis , I Aint No Sis Expert Its Just What I Do
I tried that, I don't think Fabick has the parts background some other houses do. Seems like some oddball and even some more common parts come back not available or whatever when I check on there. I'm sure I can call them and sort it out. Just found myself goofing around last night.
Do you have the free parts store version of SIS or a subscription? Click on advanced search, put the part number into the box, highlight "Parts identification" and click search. If nothing comes up, you'll need to look for an alternative number in NPR which isn't available in the free version. If you don't have a subscription, let us know the part numbers.
I have the full subscription now. I'll try that and see what I come up with. Thanks!
Throw a part number or two this way and just for fun I see if I can do anything with it. I know I should be working on that old 1978 Yamaha, but it has been sitting for probably 20 years now so a couple more days won't matter and the new "Chinese" carb for the spare snow blower is about a week away so I guess I have some free time!
The two I was looking for were 229-7259 and 229-7261. They're filter heads/manifolds. The 7261 is a four head setup. Just curious how proud of them Cat is. Toying around with building a filter cart.
First one I looked at was the 229-7261. In NPR It says this: Then I entered that part number in to an order form and it says it is a filter head for $305.24 but also says "Contact dealer for availability" not always a good sign! That "SEPD0727" under the part number seems to be a document number but comes up as not found in my version of SIS. This is a problem I see often when trying to access documents, I think it is something you need a higher level of SIS to see. I know there are tons of "Service Magazine" articles out there but I have never been able to view them. I did get them all the time at work, in paper form, up to about five years before I retired had them going back to the 1970's lots of good information. I'll see what the 229-7259 does.
Well a little better luck on the 229-7259 number. It also comes up with about the same information as in the yellow box above for the 229-7261, how ever when I try to do an order it does show this: I trimmed out the blank stuff in the center of form to fit this page better. Also when I increased quantity to 6 it showed there to be one in York and five in Morton. For a Cat part that price does not seem too bad, $255.00 would get you a four head set up.
It's a service mag with details of filters and heads available for building custom filter carts etc. Everything is Donaldson though so it may be cheaper to try there. SEPD0727.pdf
Thanks, Guess my access is restricted to no show the service mag's. Like I said used to get the paper versionand found lots of info in them but I think someone in the company decided I did not need that access! Here's one for junkyuard, think this would handle you needs? https://www.donaldson.com/content/d...-ENG/Inline-12-Filter-Manifold-Data-Sheet.pdf
I'm not sure if 700 GPM will be enough or not I'm planning for future issues and deep down I know within the next 5-7 years the owners are gonna hang it up. Odds are I'll do my own thing at that point. Might as well get all my ducks in a row..... I think too much! Haha
That's good info to have, I've got a couple ideas up my sleeve those might come in handy for!
Yea but at least you could go a few years before the restriction got very high. Just looking at that arrangement made me wonder how you go about changing those filters with out making a major mess!
That's a job for a talented octopus!
not sure if your company has national accts with people but i get a 68% discount on donaldson with our current national acct if it wasnt such a pain to intercept paperwork i could help you out
We're setup really good with a few places. Not worth a flip with some others lol. I've got enough parts machines on hand I can scrounge most everything I'll need. Sometimes it's easier to start fresh.
I've been trying to access SEBU5898 (special publication for cold weather preparation) for about two days, and I've drawn a blank trying to do it through SIS. Anyone got any ideas how to find it? I've tried parts search, and every other way in that I can think of, but no joy.
Click on 'media search' and put it in there. If you can't access it, let me know and I'll send you a copy.
Thanks, Cmark. Straight to it.
Glad Cmark was able to point you in the right direction, I've been fighting snow most of the day with a walk behind blower, was up to 11:00 pm last night getting a guys bucket truck unstuck from our front yard! He went off the road while on his way from Central New York! Had to pick the worst couple days of snow we've had all winter! Truck is headed to the Islands that got hit by hurricanes this fall!
We're catching the tail end of your weather, but mostly it's been unseasonal heavy rain and freezing temps.
Caterpillar SIS 2018 CAT SIS 2018 There are 2 options for you to choose before order please: 1. Software is in a 320G hdd before shipment, the customers need to install it and active it in the laptop by themselves after receive the hdd. 2. Software would be installed well in a second hand dell d630 laptop before shipment, you could use it directly after you receive the dell D630 Laptop. 3. Languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Mexican, German, French 4. OS: VISTA, Win7 x32, Win7 x64, Windows 8 x32, WinNT, WinXP 5. Date of update: 1/2018
Like most computer applications, just as I get familiar with the darned things they bring out an “improved”version...SIS 2.0
Oh no. Sis could definitely be improved but I have pretty much figured it out. When will we see the new version?
Within the next few days over here. I’ve only ever had parts level access on the old version so I’ve sent off a request for service and maintenance access on the new version. See what happens. https://www.hastingsdeering.com.au/parts/sis
The dealer here has had it for a while, but I just got access to it this week. Reminds me of something optimized for a tablet or phone. Doesn't seem to keep a history of serial numbers you have put in, or a list of your machines. I have heard of a few issues with the search not working as expected - if you "navigate" a given machine, then punch in a new serial, and then use the search function, it apparently searches the last serial navigated.
If it actually works good on a phone that would be kind of nice, I have had to look stuff up on the current version and everything is really small. Hopefully you guys get all the bugs worked out of it before Peterson goes to it!
I currently have option to use new version when i open sis , so far I have not used it , I will learn it when forced to . Lol
SIS2GO, the latest SIS tool…certainly easier to search for parts on a phone. Don’t seem to be able to check price and availability on the app though. https://www.cat.com/en_US/support/maintenance/sis2go-app.html
Ahh SIS, have gotten thrown into this system now and I cannot wrap my head around what logic was used to set it up. Took me an hour to find a hydraulic hose and I'd swear I didn't change the search term or look anywhere else it just popped up as the first search result after I refreshed the page.
SIS sucks for keyword search a lot of time you are better off many times by breaking down the system (on the left side of the page) until you find what you want Cat likes to name things either hopelessly generic names or a term nobody else uses. I.e. it’s not a thermostat it’s a water temperature regulator. It’s not a dipstick it’s a gauge. And so on. They also like to hide parts on seemingly unrelated pages. And a lot of the way their service info architecture is set up is because of the old days. Back in the day your engine, machine, implements and so forth had separate manuals which worked well back in the “well this is a D6 tractor with a D318 engine and a cable control unit and a Caterpillar blade” all possibly having separate manuals and parts books but todays machines are quite a bit more complex complex
One thing that really sucks IMO is that you can't even search for a specific word, even if you knew which word you were looking for in the first place. Searching for something will give all sorts of results that use the root of the word you put in the search box, not just the word you were looking for. What's up with that.? Also you can't search for a specific phrase using quotation marks, for example "condition monitoring" should only give search results of exactly that combination of words, no more, no less. However the results will include condition, conditioning, conditioned, monitor, monitors, monitored, & monitoring amongst others. Again *** is up with that.? That's what I do. Sometimes you will find what you want the first time, sometimes you will find it in the most unusual place. Often if I can't find something by using the full Serial Number I'll simply use the prefix, or even the model number.
I have a theory that it’s customized to one weird engineer’s preferences and the rest of us just have to suffer for it. Just like trying to use other Cat resources is usually a pain in the ass where you can usually find what you are looking for if the damn search would just work right.
Where's the good old Advanced Full Text Search that legacy SIS had...? I could find pretty much anything with that. Here's a thing. Feedback doesn't work either. I wonder if people are being actively discouraged from complaining.?
It's Cat, of course complaints are actively discouraged. Machine failures are from operator abuse. End user mechanics of a inferior quality and knowledge. End user companies are only trying to put costs on the dealers and manufacturers. So why would mother Cat bother with any outside opinion or suggestion?
I can usually flip though the paper book and find something a couple hours faster than the new and improved sis
How many paper books can you get in your truck?
I think the problem is you fellas are not wearing the white lab coat when using SIS. Everything to do with Caterpillar service work goes better with the white lab coat.
no **** about three years ago while I was at a Caterpillar facility for factory training I saw the guy that does the service manuals for the family of products that branch of the company produced. He wears a suit and tie under coveralls but turns no wrenches just takes notes while a mechanic takes the machine apart and puts it back together. Right then and there we, a class of 20 mechanics, knew why service literature was the way it was