I took the plugs out of the bottom track rollers on the 941 track loader that I recently acquired, to check the oil level in them & see that someone had pumped grease into all the rollers, likely because seals were leaking I am thinking. No oil comes out of any of them, they are just full of what appears to be GP grease. Since they are full of grease I will leave it that way & try to pump a little in from time to time which will hopefully extend the life of them. Will putting a little grease in from time to time damage the seals if I am careful? Does anyone know what thread the plugs have, as I would like to make up an adaptor to couple up to my grease gun, to pump some grease in? They appear to be a straight thread of some sort.
Maybe pump some oil in to thin out the grease a bit.
If you pump grease into the rollers any excess will be forced out through the face seals. Also the same will happen if the rollers get hot and the grease expands. These rollers should have oil in them and they are not difficult to reseal if that is actually the problem. There is a thread somewhere in the Track Loader forum where a guy called kb9tci overhauled the track rollers on his (I think) 951. That should give you all the information you need to tackle the job. HeavyEquipmentForums
If the part # is 2S1731=7M3383=5M1282 they are a 3/4 - 16tpi. Really should use the cat lube tool and proper oil to fill the reservoirs that grease won't. Or fill them with measured amount of oil when they are vertical off the track truck.
Do you suppose these lubricator nozzles would still be available? Is it a button head fitting that connects up to the nozzle?
Yes they are still available, usual Cat pricey. Here is a pic. Tool is dual thread size, comes with protective tube, your choice of threaded connection, usually add button head fitting.
$145 to you sir ........
I sent an email off to our local Cat dealer, to enquire about price & availability.......will see what he comes back with............
HE parts distribution 800-438-2699 They have the 5m2080 service tool in an aftermarket part for around $12! it has the button head fitting but hey for 12 bucks who cares. weld any old fitting on it you like. we welded a straigh tube to ours to be able to slip it in a hose and put a clamp on it. that way i can put it on my bucket pump. I can already tell you the cat dealer is gona come back at about $120
Are you sure that's the 5M2080 lube fitting? I'm wondering if there is more than one part under that number. Regals price is about $24 http://www.regalcorp.com/regallink/Part Lookup.aspx
Yes I am quite certain as at that price we bought 2. I jumped on it like a hobo on a hot dog! Here is a copy of the receipt.
That seems like a heck of a deal. What would you say about its construction/quality? I hope it's not some piece of pot metal.
Quick Google search on part number comes up with this: https://webstore.h-eparts.net/nozzle-22839.html
See the price even went down. That almost never happens. As far as construction it is turned out of steel and zinc plated. For the price you wont be able to tell the difference or care other than the fact your wallet feels heavier. Sad thing is that it cost more to ship it than it will cost for the tool. If you have other stuff you need its best to piggyback it on another order.
I will try to remember to get a picture of it when im out in the shop tommorow
For that price, it may be a good option. Thanks for the tip.
If you are looking to just inject some lube to finish the life out of the rollers. I made this many moons ago to fill rollers with grease. Nothing more than a fine thread 3/4 inch bolt I drilled, tapped and used a rubber hose to seal it. It worked fine.
Very ingenious option, if I just stick with grease. Thanks
You could even use that adapter with a heavy viscosity oil pumped from a volume bucket to fill rollers.
Problem with this adapter is you are only filling one side of the roller. If you look at the cat tool it has an o-ring on the end of it. that's so it seals when you insert it into the roller and the lube is filled into the inboard bearing cavity and back through the outboard bearing cavity and out the relief cut in the tool. If you use this set up to add oil you are only filling the bearing cavity closest the fill plug and you then must wait for the lube to run to the other side.
I have a question, my rollers are new enough to have the stupid rubber plug insert, can these holes be drilled and tapped to use the tool mentioned earlier to relube?
If rollers need re-lubing they need to be disassembled and re-sealed because if the seals continue to leak the bearings will fail. At the time the rollers are assembled and in a vertical position it's easy to fill them with oil up to the bottom of the hole because the air will automatically find its way to the top. Then simply bang a new plug back in.
well, nige.. my old tractor sits a lot, and this is when I notice oil leakage. when it is running, it holds oil ok. I was just trying to keep the bearings lubed w/o pulling them off. shell wear is very low at this point, they just sit too much.
Unfortunately steel face seals don't react well to not moving for long periods. In your case re-lubing might well work. The 6Y-0473 plastic plugs cost literally pennies ($0.14) each, and I'm sure there is a Part Number of lubricator nozzle designed specifically for non-threaded roller shafts. To get the plastic plug out you have to carefully drill through the centre of it if you want to re-use the stopper, once you do that the soft rubber stopper can be pulled out.
cat parts desk gave me several of the rubber plugs, I ruined all but one and I must say that is one pita. it is the replacement of the plug that I have a problem with.. which brings me to the question of can I just drill and tap the thing or is the material hardened too much?
The shaft is case-hardened. No drill or tap will ever go near it IMHO. Getting the hard plastic plug out of the centre requires a 1/8" drill IIRC. You need to go absolutely straight down the centre of the plug then grab it with a pair of pliers and it should come straight out. Once the plug is out that's all you need, the soft rubber stopper does not need to come out.
Here is the picture of the tool you would get from HE parts for less than $11. Notice it does not have threads. This tool will work with threaded and non threaded rollers. If it is threaded you dont need the tool to be threaded. Just shove it in and hold it by hand. Trust me there is not enough pressure to cause an issue. I have used mine to fill threaded and non threaded rollers with the greatest of ease. At the price HE parts is asking for this tool its hardly worth the debate. Trust me once you get it and use it you will wonder why you worried about it so much. Its a pretty simple thing. Just buy the tool and make your life easy for cheap. That's my experience in this!
thanks, workshoprat92, that helps a lot. I will look this up.
Yes it will work on rollers with a threaded plug and on rollers with the plastic / rubber plug.
Any ideal how to get 3/8 drive roller plugs out of a 955l. Thanks.
thanks, Old Magnet. I appreciate everyone's help.
I am assuming by the question that your plug is stuck or hard to get out? I hate to be a smart ass and say a 3/8" drive wrench LOL.
broke three breakovers-i am sure you are smarter than me-I know what tool to use-just having lots of trouble. thanks anyway.
3/8" impact gun maybe..? Those plugs shouldn't be that tight but they are awkward to get at.
I don't know about smarter. Probably just more experienced LOL. Well what size break over are you using? sometimes go with a bigger break over and use an adapter. Or something else you can try is an impact wrench. sometimes the impacting action really helps. 1/2" impact wrench with an adapter down to 3/8" Make sure the plug has all the crud dug out of the drive hole so it seats in as good as possible.
Not familiar with these rollers but if it is a pipe plug or an oring sealed plug that has a 3/8 inch square hole in it. First thing I would do is to take a big punch and give it a couple good solid hits just to wake it up. Next thing would be to take a 1/2 drive 3/8 square plug socket. Looks just like a 1/2 to 3/8 adapter but no ball in the side to hold on the socket. I'm guessing the "breakover" is what I would call a breaker bar. Problem is they have the hole in them for the ball and spring to retain sockets, this causes a weak point where they usually fail. Example of the plug sockets: http://www.toolbarn.com/grey-pneumatic-1-2-drive-male-pipe-plug-sockets.html
Breaker bar yes same thing. tool used for instantaneously snapping your knuckles into some solid object and or causing your joints and muscles instantaneously unload causing great pain. It also doubles as a hammer or jack handle when your to tiered to go to tool box. yep that be the one
I think I am going to go with this option, as the rollers are old & worn & I can get a 3/4" #16 Bolt, bore the center out & just force some grease in. If it squeezes past the seals, is that any problem? The previous owner said he had been doing it on a couple of rollers, but when I checked the rollers, all of them had GP grease in them, no oil at all.