I have a compressor, about 8k hours. Running fine for past 3 years and now have a weird issue and hoping for some insight. I can fire it up first thing in the morning and it will run about 30 minutes or so, then it just dies suddenly like its a fuel issue (in fact it REALLY seems like a fuel issue because I cant restart it right away), I need to let it sit for about 30 seconds and then it will restart, but when I flip the switch to run it dies IMMEDIATELY. I am assuming "overheat" on compressor, I am not a mechanic, I am a gold miner lol. I have changed the compressor oil (it was in fact pretty dark color so indicative of over heat) and filters. Any other insight? What to look for, what can I do? Thanks tons! Dave
Dave, I used the same model of compressor for tank testing in Yakutat for a few seasons and spent way too much time keeping it running. I got fairly familiar with it. I would first determine if you are dealing with a fuel problem or an electrical problem with the shutdown system. Bypass the electrical circuit to the fuel injection pump run solenoid with a fused jumper wire to the battery and see if it works OK. Then report back. But, I know gold miners. You will run it that way until freeze up. Happy diggin’ !
Thanks a ton, yes we been working on it today and I strongly think fuel issue, we do get 4 flashes for "Low speed" as the error on the shut down module. There was a "Black Gunk" (almost like tar) in the bottom of the tank and the first fuel filter. We have replaced both fuel filters and cleaning out the lines and injectors. We crack the injectors, bleed the air, it fires up and runs for about 1 minute then stops (Like its run out of fuel) but it could be the electrical. Will try your trick if cleaning lines doesn't fix it! And apparently you were a gold miner once too ;-) (takes one to know one lol) Dave
Dave, Gold Fields Operating Company! Golconda NV. Good luck with your troubleshooting.
Colorado Quartz Gold Mine in California Rare specimens Anyways, it was electrical, jumped the fuel solenoid and its fixed! So what's the "REAL" fix? Speed Sensor? Thanks for the input at least we can run for a day or 7 until I fix it for real! dave
That’s good news! At least you have it narrowed down. There are a few safety switches that shut off the engine in case it overheats or low oil pressure and a couple other devices that are related to the compressor. You need to take the wiring diagram and test each switch and do a good visual inspection of all the connections of the shutdown circuit. I might have a diagram. I’ll look for it. Check the oil pressure switch, first. It’s located near the oil filter on the side of the block. Spray it clean with BRAKLEEN and make sure the switch isn’t leaking oil.
Excellent! Thank you, we will "run" today and fix after hours, lol....yea Gold Miner
heres another epic piece i found
So I did switch out the sensors and it does seem like there is an issue. The sensor is now working properly in that when we fire up the lights for the SSAM are not flashing (they were before), we can run about 3 hours and then is shuts down with the "Compressor Temp" flash warning and YES its VERY warm. In fact the oil tank feels hot, and I do hear a gurgling sound (almost like an overheated car radiator) but its the oil tank. My thoughts are that it must be the "in tank" oil filter? We did just change the oil recently but not the in tank filter. I am open to other things to look at as well? Thanks
Might not have enough air flow through the unit, plugged radiator, plugged vents, fan belt slipping, running with the doors open.
Uhhhhh, figured it out. My "guy" recently did a service on it (at my request). All new filters, oli, compressor oil. The compressor was tilted to the right (uneven ground) and when he refilled compressor oil because of the angle of the machine put in 3.5 gallons too many....when I realized he probably over filled it we leveled the machine, drained the excess and we are back to "golden" Thanks for the input! Dave
Good to hear! Thanks for the update. Time to get diggin’.
Indeed! In fact tomorrow (Mothers day) I have the main USA minelab rep bringing me the newest and latest and greatest detector! Mlgdave
Well.......... So I thought we had it fixed, and about to put 25# in it and shoot it. We drained the compressor oil to proper volume. We have replaced all sensors except the oil temp sensor on the compressor. We cleaned the "Oil return" line filter (it was about 90% plugged. Topped off coolant. It starts, and runs and produces air. Sometimes it will run for 10 minutes, other times for 2 hours. The SSAm on this machine has 2 sets of errors (1 flash or 4 flashes) It WAS giving us 1 flash which was "Compressor temp" and that was fixed with the oil issue Now its 4 flashes which is "underspeed" - what would YOU look at or repair if you saw that? Battery voltage is 12.89, both fuel filters are new.....I am at a loss Thanks! Dave
Check your engine rpm with a photo tachometer? What is the engine serial number?
I realize this is a few years late but I just saw your post. I've been having identical issues with my 2007 sullair 185. I was wondering if you ever resolved this issue. I'm getting ready to change out the SSAM module because it seems like thats the only possibility. bypassed everything and it keeps telling me its either low oil pressure, speed to low, or compressor too hot.
Better check the oil pressure with a gauge hooked up to the main oil gallery, as I have tested one to find out the oil pump failed. Have you cleaned out the rads. Has the oil water separator been changed as it is part of the necessary maintenance, if it has enough hours on it. Is the discharge valve being opened too much and working the unit too hard. Simon C
Well as it turns out I did just today put a oil pressure on a tee with the oil pressure switch. So when i fired it up the oil pressure was reading just below 60 lbs. after about 5 mins though it started slowly dropping. I was opening the valve a little off and on to simulate typical air usage and the oil pressure continued dropping. I had bypassed the oil pressure switch wire and just ran the harness wire to ground so it stayed running but when it got down to a hair above 40 I shut it down. That was after it had been running a little over 20 mins. Since I've owned this the radiator has been drained and refilled with antifreeze, the engine oil and filter was changed out with 0-40 synthetic, and the compressor fluid and filter was changed. But not the air/oil separator in the sump tank hasn't been touched. The air coming out of the service outlet is clean-no oil at all. But as for the oil pressure dropping IDK, but I was afraid to keep it running not sure of what the acceptable pressure range is even. Does this sound like a bad oil pump? Do they drop off like that, or would the pressure start off low and stay low?
I forgot to mention it has a JD 4024 motor..
If you checked oil pressure on the opposite side of the engine from the engine oil filter, then you are plugged into the timing advance circuit. Tha circuit will have engine oil pressure cold, then drop to zero when warmed up. Engine oil pressure needs to be checked on the filter side of the engine (use the port just in front of the filter just under and behind the lower radiator hose).
yes below the engine oil filter, right next to and below the lower radiator hose. tee'd off with the engine oil pressure switch on the same port. according to my mechanical oil pressure gauge that I set up the engine oil pressure drops slowly and steadily after about 5 minutes running time. yesterday when I ran it it dropped from about 58 lbs. down to about 41 lbs. in a period of 20 mins. is this for sure a bad oil pump? or could something else cause that? wondering if there are any other tests I can do before I pull the engine out because that's going to be a little bit of work. this thing is very compact and there's lots of stuff that has to come out in order to get the motor out...any ideas appreciated
60 to 40psi from cold to operating temp sounds about standard. Work on quite a few of those engines that have a LOP pre alarm at 20psi, and won't shut down for LOP until 15psi. Oil pump is built into the front cover, and is a process.
thank you for that I think will try running it again this time with the oil pressure switch wired to the harness and see at what pressure it is shutting down, and maybe after that run it grounded so it stays running and see if it continues to go down below forty after running it awhile at least if it is a bad oil pump I won't have to pull the whole engine out since its behind the front cover
Oh, you'd be pulling the whole engine out. Oil pan needs to be pulled to access the oil pickup tube before the front cover can come off. Usually the front covers start to leak coolant and has to be resealed, and like I said; It is a process. I know the rental company I previously worked for couldn't source the oil pump separate from the front cover, so it was big money if it needs to be replaced. Also way more work (and custom built tools) swapping the fuel controls over on the variable speed engines than the single speed, and getting the fan hub out can be near impossible. Just a warning to diagnose EVERYTHING before condemning the oil pump. There's a reason our Deere dealer wouldn't touch anything with a 4024 or 5030.
Wow! No Deere dealer should be turning away Deere engine work. I agree, those engines have been a black eye to Deere, and can be a pain to work on, however, the dealer needs to support their product. The dealer I work for won't turn those away. We literally have worked on hundreds of those puppies (we have a large OEM market here), and that is just our branch.
I would like to be a fly on the wall when the Deere Territory Customer Support Manager hears about the dealer turning down engine work !
Going to keep my mouth shut and not get anyone thrown under a bus.
Dang that all doesn't sound good.. I guess I'm hoping its not a bad pump but if its normal for the oil pressure to go from 60 to 40 after warm up then I might be ok. I'm still waiting on an oil temp gauge so I can check the compressor air end oil temp. it hasn't arrived yet but when it does I'll run it again and see if that gives me any more clues like say if its getting hotter than it should...these things have a thermal valve that diverts the compressor fluid to the cooler once the fluid gets warm enough. I'm thinking the element inside that thermal valve might be bad and not sending the fluid to the cooler like it should causing the air end to run hot, although when I feel the hose going to the cooler it feels warm. so far I've gotten three error codes on shut down on different occasions. one was low engine oil pressure, the next was speed too low, and the last was compressor temp too high. so I've been thinking possibly the element in the thermal valve is not opening all the way causing excess heat, stress, and resistance, maybe, idk, which is why I want to take a temp reading on the compressor fluid in the sump. My unit doesn't have a temp gauge so I have to buy an aftermarket one to get an actual temp reading. I'll keep you guys posted
Just fixed a generator that had no dash display, was sold like that at auction for 10 cents on the dollar. Found bad ground connection and power feeding the display on the digital computer. Has run for over a month on a job. Since you had 3 codes go off at once , you could have an electrical problem such as bad ground, or power to your display. You may have tested all of this already, wouldn't want you to miss an easy fix. Read about your oil pressure testing, did the manual specify a specific weight of oil for the test? Just wondering as it will drop more with some than others. Good to leave gauge hooked up and put heavy load on unit and see if it drops oil pressure before shuttting down, with you supervising at gauge in case oil does start to drop off. If it doesn't go below minimum pressure in manual with correct oil, you have a wiring sensor problem, that simple. Simon C
well I took your advice about the ground and I realized I didn't't even know where the control panel harness ground was and went looking for it. it was sandwiched between a harness clamp and the block and both were painted. so I moved it to where the frame and battery are bonded to the block, and ran it for about fifty minutes or so and it didn't shut down at all. usually it shuts off after about 30 mins or so. Could that be it?? Seems too good to be true... gotta test it some more-didn't have enough time today just found out manual says to use only 10-30 for engine oil. I'm using 0-40 synthetic cause that was what had been recommended to me by somebody at Quinn when I changed the oil. had a pretty good load on it today but next time I run it I'll open the spare valve a little to increase the load and make things more interesting. and btw I was running it today with the oil pressure switch connected, not bypassed, and it never shut off. engine oil pressure was 58 at start up and dropped slowly to 44 lbs after about 15 minutes and stayed there till I shut it down 50 mins later
That oil is fine for that engine. That is the recommended oil for the electronic version of that engine, which is mechanically identical except for the injection system.
All control circuit problems should start at battery cables, Frame grounds , Panel grounds, ECU power and ground. Thats where I normally start along with the fuse panel for easy checks. Many a problem has been solved by checking these items first. Simon C
Seeing this thread and I'm having the same issue but a 375 with CAT engine.