My cat D3K2xl warning light came on. Code says restricted hydraulic filter. I drained some fluid from the filter and it’s pink, about like pepto bismol . I’m worried that someone may have put DEF or diesel fuel in the wrong intake. Any advice would be appreciated.
Not knowing what is spec'd for that machine or if it has the original oil in it the first thing I think of when I read "pink like pepto" is it might be red ATF that has been contaminated with some water. What color was it before? I would want to know who has been fueling this machine, last I knew off-highway diesel was red. A sniff test might determine that, most diesel has a noticeable odor the last I knew, then again it's been a few years since I had the pleasure of smelling that stuff!
Welcome to the Forums OPT! Glad to have you. What year model? Cat puts a reddish pink colored dye in the hydro from the factory on the machines I've bought new. However it doesn't look like Pepto rather a red wine vinegar color.
If that is the case I'm again thinking water mixed with the oil if it's a cloudy pink like Pepto.
Yeah that ain’t good. Pull an oil sample my guess is water or def. If DEF good luck.
The machine has around 4000 hours. It is only used on my farm but I have 3 employees I don’t use off road diesel on the farm so I’m sure that’s not the problem. I don’t smell diesel in the fluid, I’m attaching a picture.
At this point I’m thinking DEF fluid is the likely answer. If anyone has advice on how to drain, clean and replace the hydraulic fluid please let me know. I’m not a mechanic.
I’ve done it before (out of a D5K) and it’s a real pain. You’re gonna need a lot of hydraulic fluid, drain every line, every cylinder, get ahold of or build a filter cart with water extraction filters, flush it out and repeat. It’s a horrible job.
Last I checked, DEF was clear. Unless you need the machine right NOW, collect an oil sample and send it in. My Cat SOS has 2 day turnaround most times, and sends the results via email. Anything else is just a guess. As an aside, I've been know to add red or blue dye on some of my compartment oils. Combine red dye and water in hydraulic oil and it would probably look like that.
X2 on an oil sample. Not a mechanic but the fluid in the bottle does look like dyed 10WT with water emulsified in it.
Almost looks like it could be aerated. Very easy to confuse aeration for water contamination at first glance. Leave some in a bottle and see if it settles out.
Wow! I’m so glad I found this forum. Thank you all for your help. I’m going tomorrow to buy filters, a breather and about 45 gallons of hydraulic fluid. I have a mechanic coming who will show me how to drain all of the fluid the first time and then he says I’ll need to do it two more times. I will no longer allow anyone else to add any fluids to my machine. If I screw up at least I won’t be mad at anyone.
Thanks 92u, I have done that for 24 hours and no change. Do you think that’s long enough?
Heymccall I will do that. But I figured either way I may as well go ahead and drain.
More than enough to rule that out. Definitely send a sample in for analysis to help find the root cause. If its water you can start searching for the ingress point. If its DEF or coolant then it'll require a much more thorough cleaning than if it was just fuel.
Would highly suggest going to Yancey and getting some oil sample bottles. Cheapest way to determine exactly what it is.
I’m not familiar with Yancy.
That's the Georgia Cat Dealer.
Found it. Yancy brothers Calhoun ga
Like everyone else has suggested I would recommend that you get an oil sample analysed to find out what’s in it before you start draining anything. If you have some sort of mechanical issue with the machine then filling with new oil is not the complete solution. Better to know what you are up against before going in there with tools flying. Your local Cat dealer will sell a “bottle kit” for sampling oil which includes the cost of the analysis in the price.
I wonder if you though it was water could you heat some up in a container and see if the water boils off?
Have to admit but I have no experience with DEF. I retired before that stuff came into use. Does it have any noticeable odor?
Yes - it's urea so it smells like ammonia. Not sure if you could smell DEF over the normal hydraulic oil smell.
If it is DEF, it will be quickly corroding pumps and all bare steel in the hydraulic system the longer it sits there. I would rush an SOS sample to Cat, take a couple more in case there is any problem with the sample, and get to draining and flushing everything possible as soon as humanly possible.
Oneputtmark. Have you owned the machine from new? Have you changed the hydraulic fluid in the past? What do your workers have to say on fueling up the machine? A little more information of your situation there may help solve the problem, if there is one.
Oneputtmark, you mentioned the code for hydraulic filter being restricted showed up. Have you removed and inspected the filter(s)? Have you checked to see if DEF supply is down? No idea how you get that but if it comes in jugs are there more in the trash bin than normal? If it turns out DEF contamination is the cause might be a good idea to make sure fill points are clearly marked and maybe put a lock on where ever the DEF is stored.