Our Fiat Hitachi EX135W won't stop blowing water out its overflow. Fitter has been through everything and can't seem to stop it. I know what you'll say, Head Gasket which is what we think. But the fitter is addament the head is ok. Any body else had these troubles or any sudjestions?
Hi Johhny, sorry to hear of your troubles with the Duck. I have always had problems with Hitachi Ducks in summer getting hot, usually a real good clear out of the rad helps but sometimes I've had to keep letting them idle to cool and then carry on whilst praying for colder weather. Despite all this ill treatment I've never known a head gasket go on one. Can you just get it pressure tested to confirm the head gasket has gone?
It blows its water out the overflow all year round, and the head passed a pressure test with flying colours, but the heater can be tempramental which is also first sign of headgasket. So we just keep putting a litre a day in and keep working.
hi johnny Just an idea, but how about by-passing the over flow back into the system some how! not sure of the fh system that well, but if its not over heating i cant see what harm it would do? but like i said just a thought!
Johnny, you put a litre a day into it. Will it take half a litre after half a day, will it take 2 litres after 2 days, does it use more if working hard. The reason I ask is the father in law ( god rest his sole ) put a half pint of engine oil into his car almost every 2 weeks for over 2 years to keep the level right. I only found out about it when the sister in law inherited the car and asked what was the cheapest oil she could use. I told her not to add anymore oil, she dipped the oil every day for another two weeks and the level never got any lower. Why that engine didnt want that extra I dont know but it ran happily with the oil 1/4" off the high mark for years. I wonder if your cooling system is the same. Just a thought, is the pressure cap the right one and working properly. Is the overflow from the rad or a header bottle, if from the rad put the pipe into a header bottle and see if it sucks it back when it cools or just keeps dumping it. :drinkup Is the water pump up to speed, check bearing and belt, she might be over pressurising if getting too hot.
Thanks for that atlas rob, the pressure caps we have had problems with as one was wrong and the other the neck was distorted slightly as it has two steel tanks on top of the rad. We got these two caps sorted supposidly and the fitter test run it and said it was cured, but after a week it started again. The driver is a pain for topping everything up every day so our next thought was to try to see how low it went before it stops, if it stops dropping but the driver panics and fills it too soon again, so I have him to square up on that one as well. We have had a new water pump on 18 months ago so it could do with checking incase it is the problem. Thanks for the advice its most appreciated.
Had a similar problem with a digger and after a lot of expense we found the proble
Dont tell us..................................................you sacked the driver :Banghead
No unfortunatly not, he's only been on our duck for 8 months and he's next door to useless, but my dad doesn't have time to drive it anymore. The driver had 20 years on 3CX with us before then and had to have a full 2 week foundation course with CITB to pass the test for 360, and then only just passed. He consults the manual for the correct machine position to chech hydraulic oil, engine oil 1/4 inch over maximum at all times, greased every 25 hours, stabalizers down to use bucket every time. He drives me crazy. But he's all i've got at the minute to drive that machine so I have to grin and bear it!
Apologies the booter crashed ayre yesterday and since it got the size 9/ 42 it hangs up or I get a timed out error,any back to business it turned out to bean incorrect rad cap and yes we changed it twice but both times it was a cap with too low a pressure and when we got the genuine one the problem dissapeared Stock
i would think that with todays work situation ,you would not have a problem finding a more suitable operator ,i think robs idea sounds good cheers graham
Wooooooooooo back up a bit I didnt suggest sacking him I was picking up on how Stock possibly cured his problem
He's as safe as houses and would never put anybody in danger, which takes a weight off your mind,you just have to stand the endless wittering day in day out and face fact he's never going to tear trees up and make it have it! like you say todays drivers need to be safe above all else!
Don't worry Rob, stocks suggestion of the different caps is our next line of enquiry along with the water pump, don't think we'd get away with sacking him in this climate anyway. We'd have to relocate his work position to an RB1! (shovel)
I'm with AtlasRob, we still haven't been told if the machine has a coolant recovery tank. If it doesn't, I'd be puttin' one one it. And you have to make sure you have a rad cap that's capable of coolant recovery.
I'm back at the machine on Monday so I'll have a look at the tank and rad arrangement and let you all know. I know it has a lower steel tank with just a normal cap without a spring and a higher steel tank with a sprung cap and the overflow above the seal under the spring so the spring lets the water into the overflow, so I think the spring is too week in the top cap or the system is over pressurising somehow and forcing the spring up in the cap opening up the overflow.
I'm not familiar with your machine, but what you describe sounds like a radiator with a header reservoir that's sealed with a cap, and a second reservoir above the rad that's probably connected to it by a hose. The second reservoir has a typical spring cap that vents to a typical overflow tube, and I assume your loosing coolant via the overflow tube. This second tank in a configuration like this "is" the coolant recovery reservoir. If this is something like the arrangement you have, I have a question; with the engine cold, how full do you have the second tank. It's not supposed to be full when cold.
Probably get some stick for this admission, but I am always in the habit of checking the actual water level in the Rad each morning. I completely ignore the coolant bottle, unless I am doing a service on the machine. My reasoning is that I drive so many machines of different types and coolant bottle are notoriously dirty stained horrors tucked away under locked panels. The only exception being Volvo Dumptrucks which always seem clear and reliable in my experience. I would check the Rad in the morning and let her run a full shift with an eye on the gauge. If the actual rad is just a little fraction down (anything up to around 1" of the top) next day stick with it and keep a good eye on the gauge. If it settles at that you are OK, any loss where you can see the cores or have to top up and it's Head scratching again!! Got to feel a bit for your Driver, I've worked with some Operators who are outstanding on most kit but it's the Duck that sorts em all out!! To be honest the fear comes from the slight nod that then gets exaggerated with fighting against it with the levers. The other problem most have is steering whilst reversed especially whilst in a confined space. Hope he sticks with it and grows in confidence, there's nothing like a Duck for a rewarding drive and putting a smile on your face when you know what they are about.
Your quite right about the possibilities with the duck, there are a fantastic machine, we've only had one for 2 years, but we'll never be without one now. The driver is scared of the machine, there's too much going on at once, as you mentioned, he can't drive backwards with out going from full lock to full lock on the wheel. Its a real shame, I have a 20 year old lad that did the test with him that drives a 428D with hardly no experience and he blows the main driver out the water, but the young lad is on a job where the foreman won't have anyone else on the 428D, but he is adsolutly fearless on it and very handy. But thats life!
yep a good duck driver is worth his weight in gold, and in my career thus far I have only met 4 operators who chould handle a duck to it full potential. Stock
The brand of engine has not be stated yet. Most of the Hitachi excavators in the States have Isuzu engines but I have seen a few with Hino engines. The Isuzu plants are bullet proof but the Hinos are nothing but crap. I've had more than a few headaches with these. Finding out if there really is a leak as has been suggested is the least expensive item and a very good place to start. I have one of those radiator testers in the truck all the time. It is a radiator cap with a fitting that is connected to a hand pump. Before start up I pump up pressure on the radiator and watch it for leak down. Many times it will leak off very slowly making me wonder if it is my pump. To check that I'll drain off the pressure and then reset the cap. I'll pump up about a pound of pressure and then start the machine. If I'm getting compression it will show up on the gauge right away. One other thing to do is take an oil sample and send it in for analysis. Anytime a head or liner leaks it shows up there. Good Luck!
Hi Guys thanks for all your input, the motor in it is a 3.3 litre cummins, so its as good as it comes! Hopefully, touch wood, crossed fingers etc we have it sorted now, and I shall explain all. The radiator has 1 steel header tank directly on top of it. The header tank sits on top and then overlaps down the side of the rad by 40mm. The header tank is pressurised by the rad and doubles up as the expansion chamber as well as the header tank. So the bottom 40mm of the header tank along side the rad acts as the top up and rad level, then the top 75mm of the tank above top of the rad is the room for expansion. The driver was unaware of this as the manual go virtually no information on this. So the driver was filling the expansion room with water and hence when it expanded blew it straight out again. To add to this the cap on the top of the header tank that pushes up under pressure to release the overflow wasn't long enough to pressurise the spring, so steam was able to escape quite easily along with water quite easily. So we've instructed the driver on the correct water level to have and put a 5mm deep rubber washer in the nech of the tank to hopefully cure all its problems. I'm pleased I've finished writing that. Thanks guys for all the input.
If the system does not have an overflow bottle and just has an open hose , the worst thing you can do is to top it up every time it gets down . This type of open system will keep it's own level about and inch or so below the filler neck . If it is filled to the top , it will purge the excess when the water expands when hot . If you keep on topping it up , it will dilute the coolant and cause problems . The quickest way to check for a blown head gasket is to idle the machine with the cap off and fill the radiator to the top and keep it full with a hose etc . Watch for bubbles , be carefull not to add any with the hose . After a while all the air caught in the system will be purged and the water will be clear . If bubbles persist , it is an indication compression is getting into the water . On edit , i'm sorry i skipped over your last post , it appears you have found the problem .