we have been working on a 1996 PC150. We have been trying to tighten the track but it will not take any grease. We put it in the shop all day to warm up, we took the grease zurk out & pushed the wheel back to try & push old grease out but nothing came out. Today I went & got a new grease zurk but it still will not take any grease. Anyone have any suggestions? I am about ready to pull it outside & hook a backhoe to the wheel & pull to see if that helps any.
On my cat 330l the zert is screwed into the top of a valve which also screws out, with if I remember right took a 7/8 socket, and cost from CAT about 25 dollers. I was having the same issue as you and that took care of it.
You've got a frozen adjuster. Basically dirt gets packed into the cylinder and locks it in place real tight. You have to break the track and pull the idler, adjuster and recoil spring out. Seperate the idler from the yoke and then pull the adjuster cylinder rod out of the barrel. I have had to tie the yoke to a D6R and the spring side to the excavator and ended up pulling the excavator around. It's not a job for anyone other than professionals. I've never had one I couldn't get loose but have done some head scratching a time or two figuring how to get a straight pull. Once you get it apart, just clean everything up and put back together with new packing and grease fitting. Good Luck!
Track Tension: I replaced a seal on one of the track tension adjustment cylinders on our JD 750c dozer, and the book has warning after warning on the dangers of miss handling the tension recoil spring. If you have a book, might be a good idea to read up on it a little, just as a matter of safety. Be careful, and good luck, OCR...
I have the same problem and it is a common problem. The dealer says they've never successfully gotten one apart. Apparently the piston is rusted to the cylinder. I've tried a few things including buying some high pressure fittings and hooking up a 10,000 lb. Portapower pump to the grease port. We left the track up in the air and full pressure (had a gauge) on it for 24 hours. And ran the track and banged on it and filled it with penetrating oil etc. etc. No joy at all. The last estimate I got was about $2500.00 per side to replace the adjusters but I haven't done it because work is so slow. If you find a way, I would shure like to hear about it. Almost forgot, on a 150 the rod is not attached to the piston so pulling doesn't do anything.
We had an EX120-2 that still had decent undercarriage, just needed bushings turned, the boss told us to take the tracks off and send them to track shop. Counldn't get the tracks to release tension, tensioner stuck. Me and our other mechanic took it down on the yard, took the grease adjuster out, had D-4 blade against sprocket end of track and D41P-6 against idler end of track and started pushing. The bosses dad came out the door with a look on his face of "what the @&*# are those nuts doing?" It finally turned loose and grease blasted out of it. Now we can get the tracks off!
On the Komatsu machines the rod is what gets stuck. Once you get that out you can clean the cylinder and then pull out the piston. I have used air pressure to blow out the piston but I don't recommend doing that to anyone else. This is kind of common but there is a reason it happens. Every machine I've had this happen on had worn out track rails and the idler support blocks were past the ends of the track frames. Since the idler is free to work up and down now the gaps created between the rod and cylinder allow dirt and water in. The only time you have to worry about the recoil spring is when the nut is broken off the containment rod. If that happens the track will be tight as a fiddle string and taking it apart will really be an adventure. Two resonable size dozers are usually a go no go test. If you break the adjuster, well it was really junk anyway. I don't know why it costs so much for a new adjuster. I used to buy them for around $800 for that size machine. I guess it's just another Komatsu bear trap for your money.
John, I'm going to agree with you on that. Some may argue this, but it's been my experience that it seems no one is more proud of their parts than Komatsu. They seem to like to clean out your billfold with the price of their parts.
On our machine at least the rod is free. I really think it is the piston stuck to the bore. The way the adjuster is designed is kind of inside out compared to others I've worked on. No way to actually push anything apart and trying to push it together didn't work either. As far as parts prices, they are definitely higher than Cat on anything we've bought. The machine just has never needed much until it's just getting tired.
The seal on the adjuster is wore out, the hard part is taking the tracks apart, then just pull the idler out with the recoil spring, they are very easy to come out just look under the frame and watch for the spring not getting stuck on any part of the frame, pull the adjuster out and and pull the tube and replace the seal, and put it back together.
Did you release the mounting that the jerk is mounted in, and did the idler (a)go back in when pushed and (b) if it went in, did the idler spring back out to where it was before you started to push it in? I dont think you actually released the right part in order for the grease to escape. In which case the idler should have remained under pressure, been difficult to push in and returned to its original position when released.
Exactly right. There is a big hex to release grease to loosen the track and a big check valve behind the grease fitting itself. . There is no way a grease fitting check ball would hold the pressure developed during normal running even.
Had the same problem on a pc130-6, was 1997. Both cylinders had seized, tried pumping grease into them and everything. Took them off and left them into an engineer who used a press i think to free them and put new seals in and they were perfect. Said to let the grease out twice a year and re-tension them again to stop them seizing in future
My PC60-7 had frozen adjusters , i also used a 100 ton shop press to get them appart . I tried other ways , i removed the idler and drilled a piece of steel channel , 6' long so i could bolt it onto the end of the rod . I lifted it up and down with the bucket , twitsting it in the cylinder while i pumped the grease gun but it would'nt come out . I pulled them out and borrowed a press , the press plates go under the idler bolt flange . A gudgeon pin either side of that with a piece of steel across the top of them . This way , when you push , it is the front of the cylinder you are pushing on . I bought a 2" flex hone and honed the cylinders out with Kerosine . They came up like new , a set of new seals and they were perfect . That's why i don't like walking in water and slush , it gets in.......
Is this a problem that is limited to Komatsu? Is there regular maintenance to keep the idlers adjusters free? Anto Modded mentioned releasing the tension by letting out the grease twice a year so that the pistons don't freeze up.
That's what was recommended to me - release the pressure and collapse the adjuster a couple of times a year. Of course I never heard about this until it was already too late. Most of our work is basements and you just move so little during a day that tracks adjustments were just not needed very often at all.
I dont think the problem is limited to Komatsu. Im sure it can happen to other machines aswell. We never adjusted our tracks in 3 years cause we wouldnt do a mad amount of work with the machine.
Usually it is due to the fact that the track adjuster seal is bad and allows dirt/debris and water into the adjuster causing it to seize. Sometimes they will come apart and be fine once they are cleaned up. You need to check the cylinder to make sure there is no pitting inside the tube. If there is, a new seal will not hold and you will end up with the same problems. If your chains are stretched to far, the adjuster could be extended out too far and will blow out the seal. If that is the case you can short track the machine and repack the cylinders. Sometimes it can be cheaper to go that route instead of paying someone to fight with yours and get no where with them.
I've never heard that before but for the price of a couple of tubes of grease it does sound a very good and easy operation. :drinkup
I agree its not only Komatsu i have had cat 345b's do it aswell! but komatsu does seem to be more prone to it than others! I had a made up fitting that screws in place of the grease fitting, it fits Komatsu and cat not sure what other makes! I ve used a high pressure hydraulic pump, the type used for track pin presses etc! the cats went no problem, but have seen the komatsus needing heating and lots of hammering aswell!
Nope, any machine can suffer from track adjuster constipation! Biggest problem is, it's back in there where we can't see it. Unlike a leaking boom lift cylinder that you can see and say, "man, I need to fix that!" The track adjuster is hidden, you can't tell how crappy it is in there. There is probably some merit to occasionally releasing track tension, then retighten, just to keep it free. But if you happen to have a bad wiper seal, you'll still get an ingress of dirt that will in time become a problem.
ATCOEQUIP is right,no machine is immune from track adjuster constipation.I never herd it called that but it makes sence.
That is exactly what happened. The mechanic got it apart & said the seal was bad & caused corrosion in it & wouldn't let grease work it's magic. The dealer wanted $600 to just tear it down so I called a local guy & he had it apart & loaded in his truck within an hour, what a bunch of rip offs. We should have it back running tomorrow hopefully since I have a beaver dam to tear out & a few manholes to set this week.
Yep. All kind's including Big Dozer's. The Bigger machine's at least should have pressure feed accumulated track tension like BIG hydraulic production machine's 40 BAR feed with an Accumulator instead of a Recoil spring. Hope you get it back-up-and running jkiser.
Geez. $600.00 does sound a little steep just to tear it apart. There really isn't much too them. At least we try to be fair about it, if we can't fix the part, we will give you a break on the labor if you buy the new assembly from us. I am sure the dealer wanted $600.00 plus new parts and labor to reinstall.