I have a 2004-05 Komatsu 270 ive had about 3 months and put around 50 hours on. I have changed the oil, oil filters, fuel filters, air filters, and next I plan on changing the hydraulic filter. I’ve ran it for 5-6hrs before with no problems but ran it yesterday for about 3hrs straight and it overheated. Went into limp mode & wouldn’t even move. sat there for about 5 min and the temp came down on the gauge and it let me start moving around again. I shut the machine down and looked at the radiator, overflow was full and the green coolant looks clean in it at least. the wire mesh was full of hairs from weeds, I took it out and cleaned it off. noticed that the bottom of the radiator looked pretty dirty. I’m hoping my problem is just dirty radiator fins. What do you guys think? also I’m sure I’m going to have a hell of a time trying to get my pressure washer want between the radiator and the fan and the motor to wash out from the front. Do y’all think I’ll be ok just pressure washing low psi from the front of the radiator ?
Good day Cleaning the cooling matrixs are a sensible first step to resolving overheat issue. Kind regards Uffex
Thank you, I’m gonna try that. I’m actually noticing now it’s the hydraulic fluid heating up and then I think in turn getting the motor hot. Any tips to track down why my hydraulic fluid is heating up?
Good day Our experience is that the primary cause is a blocked matrix or the surround to the coolers is damaged preventing the fan from pulling air, working in a confined space can also contribute to fluid heating. Hydraulics will get hotter if the overflow (Main relief) is opening - normally only happens when on full load - hard work. Unless you have a connected hydraulic issue I suggest you pursue the cooler, if you can get a helper to shine a torch from one side should give you a good idea if there is some blockage. One other course of action is to use a temperature sensing device that way you look for the hottest point. Hope you find that helpful Kind regards Uffex
Not familiar with that machine model but is the hydraulic oil cooler in the same cooling package as the radiator.? If it is then generally the best option is to open up the cooling pack separately (if it's hinged) or remove it completely (if bolted), separate the hydraulic oil cooler from the radiator and then pressure wash each of them separately before reassembling.
I’m working out in the open pulling stumps. Some are quite large too, hardwood and pine stumps. but I worked it for about 3 hours yesterday and samething, hydraulic oil temp got up to almost redline and then the engine coolant went to almost red 20min later. cylinders are so dang hot you can’t touch them. I plan to pressure washed the cooling package and go from there. I’m nervous about pressure washing from the front of them though. They are together and believe bolted. I will try to remove and do separately. Sadly I looked up how much the fashion weighs and it’s 261, I have no was as of right now to pull it & washer separately.
I understand your dilemma regarding weight and lifting capacity. Is there any way you could get one piece out and leave the other one installed rather than removing the whole package.? At least that way you would be able to clean them separately. In my experience trying to pressure wash through two units at the same time never gives the desired results. So long as you keep the pressure washer nozzle a respectable distance from the radiator/cooler core you ought not to do it any damage.
Sounds like it's a leafy area in the fall hope this helps. Kind regards Uffex
i will try to get the other ones out of the way and do just that. and see what the results are. im a firefighter so i wont be able to get to it until sunday or monday. I really really hope it fixes it. uffex- do you have manuals??
Good day Michael We have some parts on file that folk have posted during a fix, there is a guy on the H.E.F. who seems to have a complete library of manuals if you need one try appealing to ToolKing he has helped out often with manuals. If its specific part we may be able to find it on file. Kind regards Uffex
This is a 240 I guess its much the same I hope it will give you some insight to the Kommy coolers. Kind regrads Uffex
These newer excavators have radiators that are marginal just a little blockage will make it heat. Like Nige said you will have to remove the cooler or the oil cooler to clean it properly. keep it blowed out once you get it clean
Some have debris screens between the radiator and the condenser
the right way to do it is to take them off and clean from each side. You might get away with using compressed air to blow off the bad stuff, then rinsing with a garden hose, then soaking with dish soap, then rinsing some more, then blowing again with air, etc. If there's oil in the crud, then use purple power from walmart to soak it. That might get it to run long enough to finish the job and get back to where it will be easier to work on. When you take it apart, you'll see how much you missed. Nothing wrong with running in the middle of the range if you can keep it there, not in the red. A $10 non contact thermometer will tell you just how hot the engine is, and what the temps going to the radiator and coming back are.
Look under the house in the area just under the radiator package and see if there is a plate to removed. If so take is off and you should be able to look up into the area between the hydraulic oil cooler and the radiator. If it is full of debris, you will have to use something to pull the stuff down and out. After that you can use air pressure to blow the stuff out of the fins on the hydraulic oil cooler. It takes about twenty CFM of air. I never use a pressure washer if the radiators are in the machine as all that does is make a muddy mess in between the radiators. I made a wand with a butterfly valve. I took a pipe plug and drilled a hole through it and screwed it into the wand. It takes about a hour of working both ways on those coolers to get the dust and debris as clean as possible. After I blow it out, then I start the machine and let the fan pull the dust out some more. Then I shut down the engine and use the wand some more.
So what ive noticed now is that actually its the hydraulic oil overheating and then in turn making the motor heat up. Ive read some where that i need to check the damper plug behind the hydraulic motor. I think i found the plug it looks like a 1/2 ratchet to open it up and if it comes out with oil then its over filled and that could be causing the hydraulic fluid to overheat. I say this too because when i check fluids before i run the machine all are good, after i run it and the hydraulics heat up i can check my swing motor fluid and it is all the way to the top of the tube, not just the bottom of the dipstick likes it suppose to be. I want to say I read on here that the damper being over filled my have something to do with the swing motor getting overfilled some how? So im gonna check that damper plug and then go from there, also did blow out radiator and cooler and seems to have helped some, especially on the engine side. but the hydraulics are still overheating. I bout a temp gun like was recommend by delmer and shot the hoses and pump, all were 180 degrees or less. So im just stumped right now. i did have two hoses bust over the last 40-50 hours of using it and put about 10-15 gallons of the premium hydraulic oil from tractor supply in there. I got a manual and it calls for iso46 oil, could this be the reason its overheating?? i was told the premium stuff from Tractor supply should meet all recommendations. Im also gonna get a hydraulic filter and change it. Any and all recommendations on what i may could do or trouble shoot would be great! thank you everyone!
Here is a video that shows you how to do basic maintenance on a Komatsu excavator. The machines in the video are a different model and series, but the maintenance checks are all done in the same manner and the check points are all in about the same place.
Thank you John. Any ideas on the hydraulic overheating ? Anything to troubleshoot or look for ?
That makes no sense. If your hydraulics are overheating as indicated by the temp gauge or indicator in the machine then the temperature at the sensor (no idea where that is, maybe John can comment) should be somewhere in the region of 240+, not 180.
Exactly, that doesn’t make much sense does it ?? That’s what I said it cause it didn’t make sense why it wasn’t above 240.
It more depends on where the temperature sender is mounted. When checking hydraulic oil temps, I like to use the infrared at the inlet and outlet of the hydraulic cooler and on the metal parts. Rubber doesn't seem to read properly in the infrared spectrum. When checking engine coolant temps, I like to check the outlet of the thermostat housing and the inlet of the water pump. The readings will always be a little lower than the actual temperature of the fluids. 180 degrees F on the metal and be likely to be close to 195 actual temp of the fluid. The damper case being overfull will usually heat up the damper case and not a lot else. It will get so hot that the paint will change color from yellow to brown or black. There is a speed sensor threaded into the side of the damper case that will burn out and you will end up with a fault code on the monitor panel. That would put the machine is a lower performance mode and likely not overheat the hydraulics. There is another possibility that the hydraulic pump might have been adjusted for higher performance which can cause heating in the hydraulic oil. To check this you can do a cycle time on the boom raise function. Just run the stick all the way out, open the bucket all the way up and set it all on the ground. Put the engine at high idle and then raise the boom as fast as it will go all the way to the top of the cylinder stroke. Measure the time when doing this with a stop watch. Normal times are around four seconds. Any amount fast usually indicates someone has been twisting screws on the pump. Anything over five seconds and there is a problem in machine performance. Good Luck!
Ok I’ll check that with the boom. And I’ll shoot the inlet and outlet of the hydraulic cooler to see what those are running. And the pump again. Just try and find where the hottest parts are. Any other recommendations on where to start at??
You should still check the damper case level.
Ok I plan on that tomorrow. Cracking that plug open and seeing if oil comes out
John I checked the damper today and pulled the plug. No oil came out so I’m assuming it’s not over filled. I pulled the hydraulic filter and hydraulic strainer. I can not tell much about the filter but the strainer is full of gunk.
what kind of crud? we want pictures of crud. youtube how to examine an oil filter for debris, easier to watch how to do it than for me to try to repeat it.
Got photos of the "gunk"..? Here you go............. this is an engine oil filter but the same techniques apply.
That plug that you pulled is the fill plug for the damper. The level plug on the damper case and is underneath the pump. Is there any brass showing in the strainer in the tank?
I’ll post a pic of the strainer shortly, in town right now. and I’ll watch that video about cutting open the filter and lookin in it. Thank you guys. Also I’ll try to locate the check plug, I thought the plug was a square 1/2in so that’s why I pulled that one.
I didn’t see any brass, it was just funk. Like maybe leaves, dirt, debris on it.
That's a lot of junk. Kinda hard to tell what all is in there. I'd rinse that off into a pan or clean white bucket, and swirl it around in some gas or solvent, then drain the solvent off and spread the stuff out a little to see what exactly is there. looks like a lot of outside debris, but what is all the brown plastic stuff? I'd say that screen paid for itself many times over. Can't wait to see the filter.
I can see what I think is paint, cotton waste, small pieces of gravel - and that's just for starters. I'm pretty sure there is also some small metallic (aluminium?) shavings in there also.
That's wear bands and cylinder packing. Some of the stringy looking stuff is the color of brass. The amount of stuff in there will cause suction problems in the pump. The hang up on all this is how long that has been in there. How long have you had the machine? Do any of your cylinders drift down if stopped in the air? How much and what kind of noise did you hear from the pump when you had it running? You can clean that out but I would recommend getting a new one. Put the new one in and see if anything changes.
TEC said pressure wash it out and put it back. Said they don’t have new one’s, I may call a different one because I find it hard to believe you can’t get a new strainer. I’ve only had the machine 5-6months. put about 50hrs on it. None of the cylinders drift down when in the air, machine runs good except this overheating issue. No really terrible noise just a humming sound. When I called TEC they said the last time it was at the dealer was 9,300hrs in 2017. So I can bet that’s probably last time anything was done with it. I just ordered hydraulic fluid for it and the filter. I’m going to drain it and start new with everything. Hopefully that fixes my problem, maybe I can locate a strainer some where.
There are some metal shavings in there I can see and full of junk. I hope I can locate a new strainer. My work has a hot pressure washer I’m gonna try to hit it with today at work.
Try to blow it from inside to out with compressed air first if you have it available. Don't use too much pressure or get the wand too close whatever you use to try to clean it. It would be easy to blow holes in that fine mesh on the outside. What you find when you cut the filter open will be enlightening as to the general condition of the hydraulic system.
Just out of curiosity can you switch between modes? On my 220-7 there is a "E" for economy mode that can be selected via the instrument panel. Have you tried running it in "E" and seeing if your issue persisted?
The strainer is pretty tough and can be cleaned but it is probably the same as strainers used in most all the mid size excavators from PC120 up to PC300. You can probably ask for a strainer that fits one of those or an older model and then check them against yours for size.
I’ll try blowing it out first but idk, that stuff is so gunned up either the oil too. idk if it’ll come out just by air. I’ll see how cleaner I can get it before I can try to track down a new strainer some where. Once I get the new filter, the strainer cleaned or new, and the hydraulic oil changed. I’m going to run it and see if that fixed it. If not then I’ll try the E mode. I have been running it in the A mode.
It will help if you can soak it for awhile is some kind of solvent. Diesel works OK and I have used gasoline in the dark past when things like that were normal. Stuff will come out easier once the oil is cut some. I've also used a hook tool the fits between the pleats being real careful not to hook into the screen. Good Luck!
I soaked it in some gas for about an hour, then blew it out and junk every where. there was a ton of metal shavings underneath all that black gunk in the strainer. what does that mean? I could not get it all out so I sprayed it with some purple power, then rinsed with hot water in a facet. Blew it completely out again, now I’m going through with a small flat head screwdriver through every cleat and scrapping more stuff out. It has a magnet end in the screw driver so it’s pickin up more metal shavings ? I really hope this isn’t detrimental or somethin bad about the machine. I literally just got the machine and spent a good amount on it cause it ran like a top the first hour I test worked it. I also cut the filter open and Did not find anything in the filter honestly. I’ll post some pics but it seemed relatively clean.
I'd say that filter is a huge relief. No telling where all the crap in the strainer came from, you can pretend it all came when some yahoo put a bucket of used oil in there? Still need to press the oil out of the filter paper to be able to see better, or rinse the rest of the filter with gas and see what settles out.
I’ll press it out tomorrow and take another look. It is a relief tho. Hopefully the new hydraulic oil will be in tomorrow and I can drain all the oil out and look at it too. what about the oil left in the cylinders and hose that may have that junk from the strainer in them?
As Delmer mentioned you won't really see anything in the filter material until you squeeze all the oil out of it using a vice. It does look promising though. Fingers crossed for you.
Got my hydraulic fluid in today. Filter says it won’t be in until 27-29th. So just a waiting game until it comes in. I guess I could go ahead and drain the 65gals out of the machine now. what do you guys recommend doing with all that dang oil afterwards ??
Alright everyone. So I got the cleaned out strainer back in, hydraulic filter, and all new hydraulic fluid yesterday. Ran it for about 4hrs. it did get a little above normal or the middle point on the gauge but never overheated. So hope for now that it’s fixed some what. And I can at least get some work out of the thing since I just bought it. thank you all for your help and keeping up with it, and your responses. Also does anyone have a pic of the damper check level, I remember that I pulled the full plug and I can’t seem to find the level check plug
It's underneath the hydraulic pump on the damper case. The bolt head should be 17 MM or 11/16".
Thank you John. I will check that in the morining after I get off work.
Is it a close loop hydrostatic transmission? Could be the charge pump going out
I honestly don’t know. What do I need to check to see if it is a close loop hydrostatic transmission ?
It is an open loop system. Oil is discharged from the pump to a control valve and back to tank or to an implement and back to the tank. A closed loop system would have the oil going from the tank, directly to an implement and back to the pump. The last closed loop systems on excavators that I worked on in the past were machines that ran closed loops for the swing circuits, like old Koehrings and Link-Belts.
John thank you for your input as always. Good to know that it is open system.