I checked the water level yesterday and found black oil gunk in the radiator. I'm guessing that one of the oil coolers is leaking since they have more pressure than the cooling system. How do I check it out? The serial number is 7XM3289.
I would get a wearcheck done on engine, hydraulic, and trans.oil if it has a cooler. Check for anti freeze. When machine is shut down, there is more pressure in the cooling system then either of those areas.
A/F in oils Wouldn't the oils be milky looking? I don't see anything unusual in them.
It doesn't take much anti freeze in the oil to screw something up. May or not be enough to notice visually. If it is a cooler, an oil test will tell you which one it is. Hydraulic tank holds a lot of oil. Another way that is messier is to break the lines to each cooler and apply air pressure and watch for bubbles in the rad. That won't tell you if you have a leak in the engine.
It has to be motor or trans. , hyd. cooler is air to oil . More than likely it is the engine oil if oil is black , but should get sample and can be sure . If it is engine oil , cooler is usually the culprit and also the esiest to fix . It has been my expierience that the new ELC doesn't have the same telltale signs visually as the older anti-freeze .
Repairable? Are those coolers repairable like a radiator? I see the engine oil cooler from Cat reman is about $865. What's the best way to get the gunk out of my radiator now? Will I have to take it off to do it?
mix strait water and auto dish-washer soap. Run it get it hot and drian it and then mix a new batch and do it again. Twice should get it but you can keep doing it untill your sure its all out, water and soap are cheap.
+1 on the dish soap, we used to get a non sudsing kind but I can't remember what brand. You might check with your dealer they should have a system cleaner. The cooler probably has a new core just reused the housing
Heater Now I know why my heater quit working.... I went ahead and ordered the new cooler, it's to be here tomorrow. It's raining today so I'll test it tomorrow, supposed to be sunny. I was hoping there was a detergent that could flush the system, that's good to know. Thanks for the help.
Forgot to say " welcome to the forum d9g"
Thanks, I just found it a couple of weeks ago. I really like it.
yup, thats why you use the powder kind for the automatic wife,,,,,,I meen dishwasher. It don't foam.:falldownlaugh
Lestoil works really well
You can run it @ operating temp. then let it cool down over night then the next morning crack the oil plug and collect a sample and if water is in the crank case you will see it
No air bubbles I took the oil line loose from the oil filter base that goes to the cooler and pressurized it and didn't see any bubbles in the radiator. The only way I could do it was to hold a rag over the tube and use a blower nozzle. Is that enough pressure. My dealer said it would be two weeks on an oil sample, I don't have that long. Any suggestions?
Easy check for oil coolers is to remove the oil inlet and outlets and cap them off. Have an air line connected to one capping plate and using a pressure regulator and a shut-off valve, pressurise the cooler from the oil side and check for air bubbles in the cooling system and loss of pressure when the valve is shut off. This works for the coolers fitted to 3500 series Cat engines on the larger haul trucks where hoses are connected to the coolers with flanges. Not sure on the layout on the D8R as I have only been around D11 & D10 machines. Just had a look in the Cat SIS (Cat online Information System) and this test would be possible if the engine oil bypass valve and connecting tubes were removed. If changing the cooler, check the bypass valve to make sure it is not seized shut as this could cause the cooler to become overpressurised on startup with cold heavy oil. I agree with the comments above - dish washer detergent is ideal and I have used this many times. John
Cooler Test Aussie John, Finally got to test the cooler the way you said to. It worked, the cooler was bad. Changing it out today. Thanks
Pleased to hear you had success in finding the fault. How many hours on the cooler / engine? Found that often coolers will not do the full life of the engine. Regards, John
Around 11,000 hrs now. It was due a breakdown I guess. Engine not burning but about 1 quart a day though. One thing I did notice when I filled it back up with water and detergent was that my coolant flow light stayed on and didn't go off till I took one of the heater hoses off while it was running and water started flowing through the system then. Could the system have been airlocked? I don't see why I didn't have any flow. I've got a couple thousand yards of caliche to push with it this weekend that should break it in. I don't get to run stuff hardly at all anymore, just paperwork by the ton and figure out how to pay the bills. It'll be a chance to relax...
If you are not having any more problems with coolant flow, it most likely was an air lock. Some Cat machines are worse than others. Regards, John
Air Lock It's definitely air locking, we're on our third flush and have to take heater hose loose to get good flow at first. This fourth time should get it completely clean.