Hey guys, I just joined this forum because I was looking at buying a CAT 955K loader in a local auction. Well, I bought it. It was running last week, but the fuel in the tank was probably 20 years old. It cranked right up on it & ran for probably 5-10 minutes (after just sitting outside for all those years) before it apparently clogged the fuel system somewhere. I wish they had put new fuel in it! Anyway, if I can't get it running again there, I'll have to have it hauled home w/o it running. Is it OK for a hauler to winch it up on a trailer w/ the engine off? I assume I just shift to neutral, but I want to hear from experts that I won't be damaging the transmission or engine by doing so. Thanks for your help!
Congratulations on the new acquisition and good luck with the wife. Please don’t let that ****** full reach the pump or injectors. Yes you can move it in neutral but may need to be winched on. 955K’s are a nice machine, make sure and post some pictures up in the future please.
Thanks HarleyHappy. I'm hoping the fuel filter stopped the trash in the fuel. The mechanic that cranked & moved it put a new fuel filter on it (I think after it clogged & cut off) so I'm hoping the trash didn't get into the pump or injectors. I spent half the afternoon & all evening today trying to get it going. It never fired once. Only a little smoke came out the exhaust pipe. I drained the tank. I had to push a screwdriver up thru the drain hole to get the fuel to flow out. I saw later that someone had lined the tank w/ that Red Kote stuff so that might've been part of the problem. But the screwdriver did have some crap on it. I also disconnected the fuel line at the tank. Then I poured a little new diesel in it & made sure the fuel flowing out looked good & clean. I disconnected the line at the pump input & tried to blow the line out backwards. A little over 100 psi didn't budge it at first, but it eventually did bust thru & blew crap out the back end. I then shot a lot of carb cleaner in the line & blew that out backwards too. Then I put in 5 gal & it wouldn't run thru the line. So I blew backwards again & immediately heard it gurgling in the tank. Then it flowed towards the pump just great & looked great. I reconnected that line to the pump then. Next I removed some part on the top of the filter mount that looked like some kind of large carburetor jet & tried to pressurize the tank some w/ compressed air. I couldn't see the pump at the same time, but it looked like fuel blew out that hole so I replaced the "jet" piece. I screwed it all the way back in like it was, but I do not know what this piece is for. I cracked loose each injector line at the pump & then cranked on it. Came back & there was some fuel that had blown out of each one. So I retightened those & removed the lines at the injectors one at a time & cranked each time. Each had fuel coming out. I was surprised it never fired once during this. I cranked a lot more after doing all 4 & it never fired. I cracked the 4 lines at the injectors again & cranked more. When I'd come back to look again, I'd see air bubbles still blowing out around the connectors, so I'd crank more. As each one stopped blowing bubbles, I'd tighten it back down. Never fired. I read another thread last night before posting my question & some newby like me was told to use the manual pump lever on the injector pump. I am familiar w/ this on my Ford tractor injector pumps & an older MM, but I never could find one on this pump. This machine's serial # is 85J1107. Stock # is 955K. I guess stock # & model are the same thing.... Anyway, is there a manual pump lever on this engine's injector pump? I failed to take a photo of the pump. Also, I think I should open the throttle more during this exercise, but the lever that says "stop" at one end & "run" at the other won't go back far at all. I figured this must be the fuel shutoff & I can feel it change when I move it from "stop" back a little. But I figure this must be the throttle too. I couldn't find anything bound up in the linkage but it does not want to go back to the end marked "run". Shouldn't it? Wouldn't that end be full throttle? Any advice? I plan to work on it again tomorrow to try to get it running & see if I can shift it in reverse b/c the mechanic that moved it last week couldn't.
Not a bad looking machine. I'd make sure the throttle linkage is free. Full throttle after priming is a good idea. If you're getting a bunch of black smoke when cranking you could give it a small shot of starting fluid. Sometimes an engine just needs that little extra boost. Don't use much starting fluid though. Just a 1 second shot. If it fires and doesn't quite keep running give another 1 second shot. It actually mentions using a couple shots of ether to get a cold engine running smoothly in the manual for my Cat track loader. Make sure you have some smoke first though.
Thanks a lot, Welder Dave. I'll let y'all know how it goes tomorrow. I didn't think to take ether w/ me today, but added it to my list for tomorrow.
Most important thing is to not get frustrated if it won't start and trying more starting fluid. If it has a block heater you could plug it in to get it nice and warm too. Have heard of this helping to get an engine going after priming.
I would take the air filters out and use some WD40 before and during cranking.
Take a look under the LH side of the fuel tank for a drain tap. You may have to remove a panel or two. Drain any water and sediment from that point before you try to crank it.
On the bottom of the drive for the fuel pump there is a little sediment bowel with a bail holding it on remove it there is a screen in it it is most likely plugged you can just clean it and reuse it
Thanks, HarleyHappy. I have not heard of doing that & certainly didn't think of it. Is that to help the rings seal and move more easily in case cranking oil pressure isn't getting the job done?
Hello Nige. I drained ~7 gal of old diesel out of the tank before trying to unclog the line, which was before cranking. When I poure3d new diesel in, I got clean looking diesel out.
Thanks, Pitt Cat Man. I found that yesterday & hadn't ever seen a sediment bowl on a diesel before, but I took it off. It had the old diesel still in it, so I emptied it too & cleaned it out. Mine has a paper filter element inside that unscrews. I took it off & blew carb cleaner thru it both ways. I hope it's clean enough.
Hopefully that was the problem.
In case you have to get a replacement look for Cat P/N 5S-7645.
Hey guys I’m at the auction site and got the outer air filter off ok. The inner one won’t budge. Do I really have to remove the 8 nuts holding the housing on to remove the inner ring to get that filter out?!?
Also I disconnected the throttle linkage and got it moving freely. But the injector pump is not letting me go to full throttle. I think it might be stuck at idle setting.
yes remove the bolts and throttle will not go to full rack without oil pressure
Just fyi they made a conversion kit to upgrade to what they called radial seal filters. It made it so you could just push filters in and out without having to unbolt them
Thanks so much Pitt Cat Man.
It’s alive! Thanks for all your help guys. I think I even got all the air out of the lines. It wouldn’t go into reverse for the mechanic last week and it still won’t for me. I read a previous thread a couple days ago about this so I checked the linkage first. It is moving freely when I move the shifter from the forward side to the reverse side. But I can’t pull it backwards on the reverse side. The pivot on top of the transmission is free but the bushing looks worn out. Maybe it’s not actually moving the transmission lever enough? First gear forward also doesn’t engage. I checked the transmission fluid level and it’s near the bottom of the hatch area but not below it. Is that still too low? This loader has been sitting for 20 years so a lot of things could need fixing or replacing.
Question aluminum guide on top of shift tower look like it's worn a lot? When linkage is pretty well worn out it starts wearing the guide
The aluminum guide on top of the shift tower doesn't look worn at all to me. Next time I get to work on this machine, I can take some photos to show you that & the worn out pivot piece.
It might be an idea to post a Serial Number at some point.
This is a nice little thread for the readers. I’m enjoying it so far,and they looks a nice machine.Far too good to have not bought it. Glad you’re giving it another of its nine lives sir.
Sorry I found it on one of the photos - 85J1107. Should have looked there first. At some point you are going to be needing manuals for it if you plan on doing all the repairs yourself. Search for the following. There should be plenty kicking around on the usual internet marketplaces:- UEG0008S - Parts Manual. See HERE REG00634 - Service Manual.
We are going to need a LOT more photos.
Thanks Nige. I was thinking the same thing but wasn’t sure where to look. I’ll check these tonight.
If you come across a service manual from Finney Equipment I recommend you think twice about it.
Regarding the REG00634 Service Manual bear in mind while searching that you can get a brand-new copy in paper form for $280 or in pdf format on a CD for $200. Some eBay sellers are very proud of their used paper versions.
I know what you mean, nicky 68a. I read a few before I even bought the loader & learned a lot.
Hi Pittsburgh CAT man. I finally got time & good weather to start back on this loader about a month ago & figured out the reverse problem. First tho, here's a pic of the shift tower U pattern. Does it look worn much to you?
If you look at the photo in my previous post, you can see the shifter is in the F1 position. When engine was off, this is where it wants to be. But loader won't move when it's in this position. It acts like it's in neutral. Moving it to F2 put it in gear. Shifting to F3 would obviously shift to a higher gear. It was difficult to push up to the neutral position & cross over to the reverse side. And once on the reverse (left) side, it wouldn't move backwards any. Problem 1: (described in prior paragraph) the shifter handle was bent backwards a little, maybe due to someone pulling back really hard on the reverse side? I am posting before & after photos, after I bent the handle back forward some. Problem 2: the shifter wouldn't move backwards on the reverse side: This was due to a narrow piece of angle-iron behind the batteries in the battery box! This had been cut on before with a torch, probably to solve this problem before. I just moved it to inside the battery box where it's safely out of the way & the shifter moved backwards on the left side as well as the right. I am posting before & after photos of this also. Then I used the Heim joints down at the transmission to adjust the shifting points so all 6 gears are accessible. Since then I have changed the oil & filter, drained all the coolant, ordered the service & parts manuals, & am looking to change the trans filter & oil next.
Not sure it's a good idea to straighten the shifter like that. It could put a lot of force on the linkage or even the transmission internals. Heating the shifter with a torch would lessen any force on critical parts. I'm also not sure why anybody would bend the shifter in the first place. It doesn't make any sense. I can see it bending in use. Maybe it's supposed to have that bend?
shifter guide looks ok from here
Hi Welder Dave. Thanks for the advice, but the 1/2" thick piece of flat steel I placed on the shifter handle just above the bend should've taken 1/2 the force, with the pivot where the shifter handle mounts taking the other half. The subsequent linkage & transmission shouldn't have felt anything. I think the bend was from use, from fighting the obstruction on the reverse side. It was a very slight bend, but enough to throw off the range of the throw 1 foot higher up at the shifter guide.