We have been looking to get a larger excavator & today made a deal on this Cat 320DL, advertised as a model year 2009 with 7,700 Hrs on it. It looks good, no leaks, quite tight & looks overall well taken care of, so hopefully it has some good life left in her. Ser is #CAT0320DTPHX02138, made in Japan. I wanted to ask if someone could verify the year from the posted ser # for me? Also, anyone know the weight of the 320DL with the 9'-5" stick & hyd quick attach. I am thinking around 23 Tons maybe? Hope to send our float to pick it up in the morning & put it to work on a clearing job we have...……...
Metalman Iron Record only shows a PHX prefix. This may help - http://www.ironrecord.com 23 tons is going to be close with the QC and bucket. Nige or someone with more depth in the Cat SIS system can get to more information.
320D L EXCAVATOR Machine Serial Number - PHX00213 (Build Date - 06/06/2007) C6.4 ENGINE - MACHINE Engine Serial Number - GDC00525 (Build Date - unknown, Test Date - unknown, Ship Date - unknown)
This is the actual tag on the machine.
You might wish to check the monitor panel for any past issue before you put it to work. Click on the video to learn the secret handshake.
Thanks for the replies...………..sorry I did not have time to check the monitor before putting it to work but intend to have our mechanic do it & will share this video with him. I did talk to the previous owner who said that is was still an excellent machine, but they are a busy contracting place & they replace their equipment regularly. All fluids were up & the engine oil was clean. Dry weather means we have to get the clearing job finished before rain.
Based on your photo of the Serial Number plate PHX02138 was built on 14th October 2008. The engine (GDC00276) had been kicking around for a while. it was built in October 2006. However the fact that it is the High Ambient temperature variant of the C6.4 equipped with a reversible fan and larger cooling package (amongst other things) could explain that. Be careful ordering cooling system parts for it would be my advice. From my experience I'm not even certain that Cat works in "model years", Usually when a machine changes significantly it gets a different S/N prefix. A PHX-prefix machine would be the same from first-built (June 2006) to last built (Dec 2009) from what I can see. There is no Serial Number break anywhere that would indicate significant changes to the machine spec during the production run.
Was this machine built in China?
I'm sorry I don't know. There is nothing on any of the documents I looked at to indicate where either the engine or the machine was built. that said, it won't be the first case I've come across where I found no clue as to the provenance of either power plant or machine. That kind of indicates China as the manufacturing source but I wouldn't say yes or not without more definite information.
Apparently Cat no longer puts out that information? I ask because it is not in my reference sources anymore either. Metalman55, you initial post says it was made in Japan. Do you know where that information came from?
It was made in Japan. How can you tell? Post #4, bottom right
I seem to come across less information these days on the HEX product line than there used to be a few years ago, although the machine S/N plate always shows the country of manufacture, as CMark pointed out. Also for things like SSL/CTL/MTL machines info is very sketchy. The gear I work on in my day job there is never any doubt as to where it was built, all the info is available online for both machines and also for major power train components. But then again the bigger the machine the less likelihood there is of the same model being built at half a dozen different plants in various parts of the World.
The tag was made in Japan, how about the rest of the machine?
This tag is located on the machine beside the ser #. Would this verify that it was mfg in Japan?
Serial number tags are VERY tightly controlled. If it says made in Japan on the tag then the machine was made in Japan.
How about a picture of the dozer you're sitting on?
I would say that's concrete evidence of where it was manufactured .......
That is a D6C dozer.
Here is a pic of the dozer.
On another note on the new to us 320DL excavator, we noticed the tag near the lube point on the swing bearing giving instructions to grease 3 pumps in each of the 90 deg positions every 250 hrs. On our other excavator we always grease the swing bearing 2-3 times a week & were surprised to see the 250 hr intervals for this machine. What is the verdict on how often others grease the swing bearings on your excavators? Are we over greasing the other excavator by doing it every 25-30 hrs.? Can it damage seals by blowing them out by over greasing?
It definitely can blow the seal out with to much grease. What is the other machine you have. Should be something in the manual that addresses that issue.
The recommendations for greasing the swing bearing on your 320 are pretty weel in line with every other Cat excavator I've ever seen. Not sure it would blow out a seal but having it overfull of grease could easily result in the rollers for the swing bearing sliding instead of rolling and creating flat spots.
We are ordering a service manual from Cat & will check into the recommended swing bearing grease intervals. In the mean time we will just put a more minimal amount of grease on the swing bearing once a week in each of the 4- 90º positions. Thanks for the replies. Re Theweldor's question...……….the other excavator is a 318 BL.
Yes you have been over greasing Yes you will damage the seals
Here's the 250 maintenance recommendations for your 318BL. Same as the new-to-you 320. The detail text may differ a little between the two but basically they are both saying the same thing.
Ok...…….thanks for the update on that Nige.
Reading the text you’re supposed to grease until it appears on the outside. That would appear to indicate that the seal is “one way” in that it will allow grease out to relieve internal pressure but won’t allow dirt in.
Yes, I see that too & agree it must be a one way seal...……...thanks