Heres the deal, went to pick my cat 257 up from our property to take to a friends. Got to the propery started right up but the oil light was lit up and beeping. It has been parked on a slope for a week so I figured the oil had settled towards the back of the engine. Pull it up on level ground, check the oil and its full. Load it on the trailer (light still beepeing) take it 5mi down the road. Once there I start it and unload it off the trailer the light is still light and beeping. I back it off the trailer, and cut it off. Check the oil and hydro fluid both full. Turn off the anti theft key then back on thinking it will break the connection between the battery and ground and it would reset the light and beeping. Wrong, now it wont start. It acted like the battery was dead so I took it across the street to Advance and had them test it only to tell me its 100% good. Went back put the battery in and same thing. This time I pull the starter out and go have it tested. It tested ok, engages, spins etc. So at this point Im at a loss of what else it could be I dont know if the starter is actually bad or something has the engine in a bind. It kind of acts like its in a bind but I cant be certain. Any ideas of thoughts? Its the 4cyl non turbo and it has 802 hrs on it. No knocking smoking etc.
I sure hope you're not suffering the same problem Steve Frazier is...
Me to. Mine was fine and no knocking. It ran maybe 3-5 min before I shut it off
If you have the starter off, you should be able to freely turn the engine over using a prybar on the teeth of the flywheel ring gear. I hope everything is good for ya.
Not sure I can get a pry bar in there but Ill try.
Possible the starter is bad? Y0u can tap it with a half in drive and it seems to try to spin a little faster. Im not sure what else to do or check. On a side not is it safe to move the machine by pulling it?
In a pinch, you can drag the machine. But keep in mind, it will be dragging the tracks as the brakes will be applied. It will take a good size machine to drag it any distance. Yes, it is possible for the starter to be bad. The only thing they can do on a test bench is check that starter operates. The have no way to put a load on it like is produced by cranking the engine. When the brushes get worn, a starter will still spin, but it's gutless under load. The oil light is the big issue. Is it the engine oil pressure warning? Or maybe a hyd charge pump pressure warning? I have no idea. But if it's engine oil pressure warning, you should avoid cranking/running engine as much as possible until you get it sorted out. Ideally, you need to temporarily put a manual oil pressure gauge on the engine so you can actually see if it has oil pressure. Even if it's going to be a bit of a project to do that, it's necessary. An engine locked up by low oil pressure is many thousand bucks to repair.
Only reason I ask is because if any extensive work is going to need to be done Im going to need to move it in the shop 50-60ft away. Im kind of leaning on the starter. Its been sitting since yesterday afternoon and I went to check it a sec ago and I tried starting it and it turned over 1-2 rotations then started clicking like the battery is dead. I dont believe the machine is locked up as it was running fine until I shut it off but I cant be certain. As for the light and beeping. It was parked on a slope with the rear facing down the hill for over a week before started. It was the engine oil level light that was beeping. (left hand side panel, top right light)
Usually the oil light being on is NOT a good indication. I would pull the oil filter and cut it apart. might be some trash in there to tell you what is going on. Although if there was NO oil moving then the trash would not have gotten to the filter yet. If you think the starter is good, then pull the oil pressure switch out and put a manual gauge in and turn the engine over. If you have any oil pressure you will see it on a 0-100 psi gauge. If no pressure I would pull the pan and look. JJ
Thats the thing it doesn't really turn over very well so I'm not sure id get a reading from a gauge
Double post
You can pull the black cover off and take a 1/2 rachet and yurn engine over yo see if it is stuck. Ihave 242 with 3024ct that spun a rod bearing that made it turn over hard.
I did try to spin it over but was scared the bolt was gona break. It wouldn't budge
One a side note it has the Perkins 3034 147-1233 not the 3024 if that matters. Where there any problems known with the 3034?
Pulled the injectors out, engine still barely makes one full rotation before stopping. Guess it could only be the hydro pump or bearing seized up. Trying to figure out how to get it in my shop to further examine. Is there an axel in each side I could remove so the the tracks will roll? Loading it isnt my issue, it would be getting if off the roll back in the shop is the problem
Had a Mechanic from Cowin take a look at it yesterday. He seems to think something is stuck in the hrdro pump. Guess next step is to undo the pump from the engine and see if it turns over then.
Went to cat today to get a 2nd opinion. Talked with a cat mechanic for a good 30min and hes convienced it a bearing. Said he's fixed many thats had the same problem. Also talked with the sales rep since the waranty was 12 months or 1500 hrs. Since the machine only has 802hrs hes trying to get me an extended warranty so hopefully that comes through.
Engine is out. Still locked up solid. I havent had much time to work on it but I did pull the oil pan and check the two main bearings you can actaully get to without pulling the front and rear covers. Both looked new. Im going to try to investigate a little further friday.
Sounds like you could use a heap of good news, hope you find it!
thanks for the kind words! Im sure I can find the issue this week.
#4 rod bearing is seized up. Droped the engine off friday afternoon at a local diesel place. Hopefully it will be ready in a couple days and wont cost an arm and a leg
After a lot of $$ spent, the engine is repaired and ready to go back in this weeked. Rod, crank, all new bearings, rings, washers, gaskets, head re-worked etc. Not looking forward to the install but ready to have my CAT back running.