Looking for a service manual, troubleshooting manual, and electrical schematics for a 1998 Fabtek 344b. I inherited a job where the machine died in the woods, and wouldn't start. It has several electrical issue, and is flashing code 41, and code 106. I was told that code 41 is no neutral, I did change the park brake sensor, and repaired wiring to the door switch. The machine will now start, but I have no power to the shifter or joy sticks. All Cat could get me was a partial service manual, and I have tried online, but came up short. Any help would be appreciated.
Does your machine have a Serial Number on anything.? Machine, engine, transmission, etc.?
344B 19 28760 98 is the only stamp tag on the ole girl.
Nothing on the engine or transmission maybe.? If Fabtek used a Cat drive train it’s just a matter of figuring out which one it is. Even a Cat Part Number on something like an axle or differential could assist.
It has a Deere 4045 and I believe it has a Funk power shift transmission. My big concern is it has a lot of corrosion on the circuit board, and I have only 3 volts going to the left joystick fuse with the fuse removed, and that goes away when the fuse is put back in. I'm mostly in need of a wiring diagram. The machine is almost 2 hours away, and is a mile hike back in the woods. Plus I'm not allowed on the property with out the logging crew on site, and they split at 2:30 every day they decide to show up.
I thought you were working with a Cat power train. In that case I'm sorrying I have nothing.
Might be a case of contacting the forestry equipment mechanics in the States where the Fabtek forwarders have been more numerous, so the mechanics have worked on them over a long time to know the faults and remedies. Plus they are more likely to have the manuals if they have worked on the machines frequently. About Road Runner Repair | Forestry Equipment in Cadott, WI Discover the story of Road Runner Repair, a trusted name in forestry and construction equipment repair and parts in Cadott, WI. Meet the team behind the success! www.roadrunnerrepairllc.com There are 3D printers that can print obsolete circuit boards, if a used circuit board (in an acceptable condition) is not available from a machine wrecker etc. The places where old machines are numerous can be more likely to know if someone has reverse-engineered new circuit boards for particular machines. Most of the John Deere stuff can be looked up online, e.g trans DF150/ DF250 and multiple different wiring harnesses etc.
Fabtek was kind of a hodgepodge of parts. Deere powered but cat owned them for a while. I don’t have much to offer except to call around to several cat dealers in the northern states and see if anyone in the service department can help you. The corrosion in the circuit board would concern me. Can you clean it up with electrical cleaner? the next thing I would want to do is try and get it out to the wood yard.
I was able to talk to an individual in Canada who is familiar with these. He was able to give me some direction to go. I'll share what I find when I get back out to the machine Monday.
I've been searching the web, and thought it was just a generic Deere back then, but I was definitely wrong. I'm thinking that with the new information I have, I will be able to power up the shifter, and boom controls, bi-passing the circuit board. We'll see.
I talked to an individual from Canada last night who is familiar with the machines. He said there really isn't much information on the older machines. I will post what I am able to accomplish Monday.
Best of luck with it.
Hello, looking for a operators manual for this unit also. Have a parts and service manual for first gen unit. Doesn't have electrical or hydraulic schematics though...
Andrew, I used this electrical schematic when I was working on that pile a few years ago. It was the same as the 344B
Thanks Dave. Is this for a second generation unit? We don't have the MDDM display is this one. Having some issues all around but also with the Funk DT150 transmission.
There is very limited information out there for these things. Cat now owns them and your local cat dealer may be able to email you a pdf for what you're looking for. I found the circuit board was corroded and the harness was junk. I had gone on vacation while the guy who owned it was trying to figure out what to do with it, and sold it before I got back, so I was never able to resolve the issues. I would look at the wiring by the terminals and see if they are bare and shorting out. Using this schematic, I was able to jump things around to get the knucle cradled and get the machine out of the woods to the landing. These things were a real hodge podge special.
It was the relay board that was corroded on mine. I will try to find the pictures I took. It's been two laptops ago so pictures are hard to find.
Thanks again Dave. The one I'm working on just went back into the field to work for a few months. The Funk DF150 trans is four in forward and four in reverse. We only have F2 and F4, and R1 and R2... No other gears are functioning. So possibly a issue with solenoid 1 (according to diagram attached) and maybe B in reverse. I'll be getting it back in May for more repairs.
This is what I was dealing with in '23. It was one of those "I got a good deal on it" specials. I may have a funk service manual here somewhere as well.
I am not the strongest on the Funks. We did lots to this one just to get it up and somewhat running. Lots of rework in the front end. Looks like the corrosion got to the PCM good. Was yours under the dash? That's where ours is. Mice got into the dash above the controller but not into the wiring for the PCM. Spent a couple days just band aiding the dash into working again. Hydraulic oil was mostly water. Just trying to make it as reliable as possibly for the transport guys.
Cat has a forestry tech support line that you can call and they are generally pretty helpful even on older stuff.
I don't have it in pdf. You can find the CTM147 or CTM148 at either epcatalogs.com or at therpairmanual.com Both are good sites I've used. I don't remember where the PCM was excatly. I'm thinking it was under the dash by the fuse panel. The relay board was under the rear window and was exposed to the elements.
Thats good to know. I don't work on much Cat equipment. There's plenty of those experts running around here. I have a tendency to stick to the Deere side of life.