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Cat 321d overheating?

klik440

Member
Got called out to a piece of equipment and complaint was engine and hydraulics overheating. Story on this machine is they got it stuck in sand and water and engulfed the whole engine bay with water sand mix ( it was a mess). The sand was so bad that it ate the drive belts clean off, it got hot enough to derate it but we got it out finally. Got it back to shop pulled counter weight and side panels to get sand out did not remove cooler but was able to pry back fan shroud to get access to inside of coolers (coolers are not stacked together but side by side). Used water and air to remove sand from fins until water was free flowing through. Machine is not building pressure like a head gasket blown. But under heavy working conditions is when it gets hot. Kind of stumped on what direction to go next. Have access to cat et but I usually use my Cando scanner just faster than the laptop. It has codes for the overheating cooling and exhaust. Just throughing this thread out try and get some advice before I call the stealership. Thanks in advance
 

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klik440

Member
I read in another post about that where even though you can't hear the belt slipping on pulley it actually is.
Machine has 3800hrs and service tech is going to service coolant and I'll check belt tension. Thanks for replying will let know on outcome
 

Delmer

Senior Member
Sand ate the belts off, that sand was wearing between the pulleys and the belt, think about how sand wears steel vs how sand wears rubber. Those pulleys, especially the crank pulley because that's the only one that was turning, are worn so that the V doesn't grip the bulge of the belts, worn pulleys are like a flat belt, they won't grip.

Temps going into and out of the radiator will help, but both the coolant and hydraulics overheating seems like not enough air.
 

John C.

Senior Member
I don't believe I've seen a D model Cat excavator without some kind of fan clutch or variable drive system. I would also think that if the machine was stuck so deep as to pack the coolers that they should have been removed and cleaned properly.

I don't know what the photo was in the first post but the readings coming out of it didn't mean a thing to me. I could get better information out of the monitor than what was presented there.
 

92U 3406

Senior Member
I'd say open it up so you can get at the coolers and hit it with a pressure washer. I had a machine the other day I pulled the rad on. I spent 45 minutes with the steam cleaner and degreaser just to get the rad core clean.

Another thing I'd check is if the foam seals around and in between the coolers is in place. If its easier for the fan to suck air around the coolers, instead of through it, it will.
 
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