Hello guys, I have posted about SOS on this machine before, latest report is attached here. Right side elevated iron and visible metal particles in the TO-4 SAE50 Chevron equivalent oil (report says Redline, which is in error.) I was gonna flush the right side when I heard the machine better up in the air, making the noise you will hear in this video: About 1 minute in you can hear best the scratching/clunking noise. Anybody ever heard one of these make this noise, pulled one apart or want to guess what is going on here? The machine is old, functions though clunky and was abused (not by me I swear boss...!) but nonetheless... RENR6668-01 doesn't seem to suggest getting into it is impossible, assuming parts are still available. FD P/N looks like 208-1145 TIA - gibbs
Visble metal particles in the oil plus that noise when operated (I assume before you drained the oil.?). This is not a flush situation. Get torn into it before it self-destructs. You may already be too late.
Yeah, thank you, I didn't think flushing was going to solve much, except the SOS people kept suggesting the raised iron was from contamination, kept telling me to flush, so though there was all of 10 hours on the oil, I thought I'd flush it again and change the oil, twice, basically. Now I'm told Cat has one FD left, and in Vietnam, for nearly $10,000. Many of the guts are discontinued. Parts can't tell me of course, but I wish the 305.5 FD would bolt up, seems like they'd have more of those still lying around, but my luck doesn't usually warrant that reality. Thanks for the documents, I'll report what I find in there, hopefully I can get in without too much trouble. The doc says somehow you get the cover circlip off with a feeler gauge...(!) I'm hoping someone who's dug in there would share some details on the experience.
Ouch. That sounds crunchy. I’d get it moved to a place where you can work on it and do exploratory surgery.
Surgery it is Surgery it is, I assumed also. At least the testing there was 20 feet from the shed the thing lives in, in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, it's not a big enough space to remove the track in. The coming rains might delay the digging in the guts of it. Just my luck. As the risk of prolonging the discussion, do you guys think that the left side is making a similar, erratic sharp noise, distinct from the normal consistent rhythm of the sprocket/track clunking? Best to listen to the last close up in that video, from underneath, around 2:10 minutes...
To get the wire lock the ends out they're are usually but not always near the drain plug. Once you find them push the plate inwards and the wire will come out easily. I'll bet you there are parts available, it looks like a Nabtesco, Hy-Drive or another Japanese brand and aren't proprietary to Cat but are very common and just about every Jap brand uses them but depending on what's happened inside it could be cactus. There are plenty of outfits in the States who sell and or repair them
Nabtesco GM06VN-A-14/25-5 is the manufacturer number. Cat number is 208-1145.
Thank you. Do you have a favorite distributor of these things? Looks like there's a few middleman to choose from..
Make sure the Nabetsco number is the exact same. If the "A" is a "D", the ports are different.
Right, duly noted, thanks.
Hi Nige, We may get a break from the weather here to pull this unit, see what's to see, though I took y'all advice and found some Nabtesco units to install later in the month. The supplier says they will also fill them with a break-in oil that I'm to run for 25 hours. Anyway in preparation for such swaps, I wondered if you'd care to share a little service instruction that outlines the track removal specs, the idler R&I and the torque figures, etc. I think the right side of this machine, in addition to the drive issues, has adjuster range limitation, that keep the track from tightening fully/properly. thanks for thinking about it for a second, in advance. -gibbs
Here's what there is, which is not much. Nothing on removing the final drive or the disassembly of the track adjuster.
OK, here's this week's update: I got a couple of supposedly Nabtesco replacement finals for this thing, one of which is installed, and appears to function. However, the supplier claims they could provide only a 12-bolt case (instead of the 9-bolt version.) It seemed at first like they were being nice-nice and sent some chinese sprockets with the finals, with 12-bolt pattern, but I don't like them, they aren't as heavy, the teeth aren't as wide and they don't have the offset of the original. So after spending an afternoon drilling holes in my Cat sprockets, they mount fine. The finals turn without the screeching and clunking, although once I had the track back on, and spun it up in the air, there still is some random clunking, I guess when the track rail waffles around entering and exiting the sprocket. I guess I'll keep an ear on that. I'm still interested in the guts of the failing drive, but getting the case cover off was time-consuming. The R&I instructions suggests you 'remove the cover' rather than 'good luck removing the cover,' naturally, but you can chuckle at my puller rig. For those interested, the drain and fill plugs are very close to 18tpi, NPT, without taper, so a 3/8" pipe die and a ≈5/8" steel rod will make you something to grab the cover by. Anyway, I'll post some photos of the damage I may find in there for 'fun' - but anybody care to suggest a method to get the reamer bolts out of there? As the manual says, "the threadlocker used on the reamer bolts may cause the bolts to seize - if so, tighten them and try again." In either direction, they are very tight and a nutty struggle. So far the source of steel sparkles I see could be just that the inner race of one of the bearing clusters has a chip out of it and there's more play in the bearing than I like to see. more later, -gibbs
Provided that you have reasonable access thread locker can usually be loosened up with the application of heat - lots of it…
Yeah, I would think so also, but as I see from the exploded diagram you have shared, the threaded section that needs it (as opposed to heating the bolt or or the top plate) is inaccessible. I may try to apply some and see if I make headway. PLs stand by...!
Heat the heads of the bolts enough (cherry red) and at least some of that heat will travel down the shank to the thread lock.
Hi Hey - The supplier sent a pair of GM06VB-B-15/27 They appear to function, but do you have any info on these that explains the discrepancy in ID ? I did notice that the machine goes slower in reverse than I recall, but maybe I didn't notice this before. Thanks for your insights. -gibbs
This walking motor assembly probably costs 10,000 Chinese yuan, but your Vietnamese supplier is charging seven times that amount! My goodness!
The ends of the circlip are usually where the drain plug is. Put some weight against the plate and the clip comes out easily enough. If it's not there then find where they are then drill a 3mm hole back about 1" from an end and from the outside of the hub, same as above with the weight and using a pin punch push the clip and it should expose the end. Hope this makes sense.
I think I understand you there, thanks. I got the cover circlip out with penetrating oil and a pick of sorts, that you can sneak under the clip end, discovered where you described, just buried in mud. The bigger challenge was getting the cover itself off, with the 'puller' micky-rig I described above. I haven't had a chance to heat the reamer bolts to the super hot described above, to melt the threadlocker; the bolts are seized up, as the S/M says they may.
It was actually Caterpillar in the States that says they want $9900 for the unit, and their system told the parts guy there was only one, in Saigon. This was before the good folks here gave me the inside scoop that the OEM unit was a NabTesCo, and I can find those for $2000. So the HEF is first "Invaluable" and second worth at least $14,000....!