replacing old hydraulic fan on cat 246 skid steer

[Tyler d4c]

Come to think of it if I remember right the fan motor is a sae style 2 bolt mount can a motor be sourced from a place like surplus center

 

[shawnseveras]

update!
so i have the fan it has finally arrived. it is too small for the shroud so im putting it dead center and im going to see how that works.

just currently looking for a (key on wire)- ie when you turn on the machine the fan has power in the relay awaiting the temp switch to send signal back to relay to turn on the fan. thats all i need now. but we will see soon.

 

[shawnseveras]

update!
so the fan works well for short term use. i ran the fan for about an hour with variations of applied gas to the peddle. now the fan is directly attached to the radiator and i am running it direct from battery. no problems with the alternator keeping up with the recharge to the battery as of yet. i will however reattach the original shroud used on the radiator and attempt to attach the electric fan to it.
now the reason for saying it is good for short term use. when running it like i said i ran it for an hour in the first 30 it seemed to be running nice cool air through the radiator then at the one hour mark it was full heat. probably around the 200 f area. hence why i only ran it for an hour and not longer. now when i shut the machine down i left the fan running for 5 minutes after 5 minutes it was blowing cool air down ward onto the motor.
i will continue to update you all on the progress as it goes.

update on seal. original seal has been received by the person making a new one. no update yet on how long it will take to make it nor what process they will take. i will also continue to bring updates on this for all those interested.

 

[Werty246]

Thats great progress. Keen to do the same. Any tips on choice of fan and how to wire it to pick up engine temp.? Regards Werty246

 

[heymccall]

update!
so the fan works well for short term use. i ran the fan for about an hour with variations of applied gas to the peddle. now the fan is directly attached to the radiator and i am running it direct from battery. no problems with the alternator keeping up with the recharge to the battery as of yet. i will however reattach the original shroud used on the radiator and attempt to attach the electric fan to it.
now the reason for saying it is good for short term use. when running it like i said i ran it for an hour in the first 30 it seemed to be running nice cool air through the radiator then at the one hour mark it was full heat. probably around the 200 f area. hence why i only ran it for an hour and not longer. now when i shut the machine down i left the fan running for 5 minutes after 5 minutes it was blowing cool air down ward onto the motor.
i will continue to update you all on the progress as it goes.

update on seal. original seal has been received by the person making a new one. no update yet on how long it will take to make it nor what process they will take. i will also continue to bring updates on this for all those interested.

Didn't the original blow air up and out?

 

[Tyler d4c]

Didn't the original blow air up and out?

Yes yes it does

 

[shawnseveras]

so the fan in question is about 47usd in total. the fan itself has two options as far as push or pull. anyways its on amazon. the link is below. the one i put down in the link is 52$ but you can find them for cheaper on amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Performance-...r+fan+with+temp+sensor&qid=1589252248&sr=8-65

also here is the wiring diagram if you would like to take a look.

http://www.catsch.info/renr4823.html

to be honest there is a few different types of fans that can be bought online. and like i said it works as a temp fix but it isn't a good permanent fix for the problem.

@Werty246

 

[Werty246]

Cheers Shawn l'll check thelinks thanks mate

 

[Werty246]

Well l fitted shaft seal on hydraulic radiator fan motor and used gasket maker to replace internal figure 8 gaskets. As predicted it failed after 1hr. So ordering electric thermo fan motor and save $500+ . The fans on amazon that Shawn used look ideal. Thanks heaps for the tips.

 

[Nige]

So ordering electric thermo fan motor and save $500+ . The fans on amazon that Shawn used look ideal.

I think the jury is still out on whether or not those electric fans will actually do the job.

 

[hosspuller]

Those figure 8 seals look to seal the sides of a gear. The radial stubs likely to prevent rotation. Would O-rings seal ? Perhaps Teflon rings ?

After my experience with an ORB fitting and Teflon tape. I have new respect for redneck hacks.

 

[shawnseveras]

Update: so radiator is completely clean, fan is blowing upward and out through the radiator. and temp gun to see what temps reach in the radiator is on its way from amazon. for the time being i will be researching other improvements on the cat while i wait for that to get here. such as installing a drain line for high flow applications and weather or not the cat skid steer can operate the brush mower attachment we have. also starting two new threads soon on this skid steer and another. but in the mean time it isn't ruled out. (just on the fence atm) however if you can throw the cash at a new hydraulic fan motor id suggest that lol. this whole adventure on electric fans has raised some questions and generated a lot of theories! ill also submit new photos and how i cleaned the radiator on this cat without taking it off!

 

[shawnseveras]

update: it ran 45 minutes small amounts of heat. checked periodically to make sure that the radiator wasn't plugged and it started heating up on the top right half and that spread to the middle top then the top left. Yahoo no plugs inside. so i let it run for a while while cooking steaks on the smoker and after 46 minutes or so into it i noticed a red light come on. its the low oil pressure light. so ill have to postpone any celebration and solve yet another damn problem. oh BTW the electric fan seems to work well ATM. i have the air going upward from inside the engine compartment and its working fine. here are some pictures of the setup. im sure ill put a switch in but i dint want to cut any of the wires on the cat to tie in that automatic temp sensor relay yet. so i took the fan and motor and took it off of the shroud it came with. then i reversed it and attached the plastic shroud to the inside of the metal one. the black wire is ground and the blue wire hooking up to the red wire is the power. oh and also put some of those foam stickers between the base of the electric fan motor and the metal shroud. mainly because when it gets up to speed it made a rattle noise ,when i discovered the source i put the foam inserts between the two and now its quiet. so all and all i cleaned the radiator fins with a garden hose and some dawn dish soap to get it unplugged that took days to do. but overall it is ready to go back to work i think. depending on this engine oil problem...... i just hope it just needs that 1/4th of oil filled and that's it. oh and @Werty246 there ya go mate! oh and side note a 18 inch fan would be perfect lol. oh and another thing that hose from engine to radiator on the right shakes like crazy. does that happen to anyone else?????

 

[Werty246]

Cheers Shawn, ordered my fan today,The hose on my 246 doesnt shake just slightly vibrates with the engine running. Regards Werty

 

[Mudgee Mark]

Hi from Australia
I have the same problem with my 246c top seal leaking and no seal kit available new motor only available $900-$1200
So going electric
Can I just plug the hydraulics or do you need to put the pressure into the return?
Can i use the power to the solid for the fan ?

 

[Mudgee Mark]

My set up looks different

 

[Nige]

My set up looks different

Thats because the OP had a 1st Generation 246. You have a 3rd Generation 246C. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. Post your Serial Number and I’ll take a poke around for parts listings.

There is a chance your fan motor was made by Rexroth, in which case you might be able to get a seal kit for it from a Rexroth dealer.

 

[Mudgee Mark]

Thank you Nige
I’m in Oz so maybe a problem getting it but we will see
CAT0246CLJ03641

 

[Mudgee Mark]

 

[Mudgee Mark]

Pretty shore it’s 2582577