greg580b
Well-Known Member
Stepping up a bit in equipment - size at least. Got a deal on a 953 LGP, SN 05Z00882. Buying from a known guy who has lots of equipment. It's his 'round the house' machine. My son knows him and has done some work for him (son's a machinist and has line bored a couple of his machines). Anyway, he's been real straight up about the condition. It needs some TLC for sure (exhaust leaks, broken bolt on turbo, etc). Deal is pretty good especially as we are cash tight (in start of a farm build - clearing, new roads, barn/house build, etc). $6500 now, he delivers, we fix issues (I'll get to the main one), we pay final $6k in 5 months or he takes machine back keeping 6500 and repairs we've done. I've got a few Aces in the hole on this too - my son is a machinist, his brother-in-law is a Cat mechanic for a local construction company, and his former neighbor and good friend is an over-the-road Cat diesel mechanic.
Here's the machine's current status: starts and will run well. Engine overhaul about 2000 hrs ago. Decent undercarriage, overall probably 50%. Nice cab, clean, front window broke out but he has the replacement glass. Has some hyd leakage at cylinders - needs seals but you could still work with if you kept up with fluid. It started, no fluid used, on a 30 degree day - took some good cranking - but started. Son has driven/worked it.
Main issue: Here we go!!!! The engine will sit and idle fine. When you run it, if you throttle back fast or work it just right, it will start coughing and appears to flood itself out. It may cough and spit a while before recovering. Sometimes this is more consistent than others as I understand it. Owner at first thought he had a bad valve so he parked it for a month or two (someone else was running it so it was coughing/spitting consistently). Recenty, he had to move it but then it ran fine. And then it ran fine when my son ran it although he did get it to experience it's coughing fits as he worked it. My 'guys' (son/brother in law/neighbor) current take is pretty wide ranging - bird's nest in intake, injector bad, gasket leak, etc. Son says fuel supply good but hasn't checked individual injectors.
So, a couple questions:
First, thoughts on the coughing issue? Yeah, pretty vague symptom description so far but should have more after it gets delivered this weekend. Mainly wondering if anyone's had/seen a similar type issue before.
Second, thoughts/advice on other 'things we should check' while we are getting this fuel issue resolved? We are going to pull turbo, fix broken bolt, and check turbo internals out with it off. We'll get those exhaust issues, get the window in, and generally clean, lube, and check track tension. Anything else you'd recommend before we start really working this machine. Thx in advance!
Here's the machine's current status: starts and will run well. Engine overhaul about 2000 hrs ago. Decent undercarriage, overall probably 50%. Nice cab, clean, front window broke out but he has the replacement glass. Has some hyd leakage at cylinders - needs seals but you could still work with if you kept up with fluid. It started, no fluid used, on a 30 degree day - took some good cranking - but started. Son has driven/worked it.
Main issue: Here we go!!!! The engine will sit and idle fine. When you run it, if you throttle back fast or work it just right, it will start coughing and appears to flood itself out. It may cough and spit a while before recovering. Sometimes this is more consistent than others as I understand it. Owner at first thought he had a bad valve so he parked it for a month or two (someone else was running it so it was coughing/spitting consistently). Recenty, he had to move it but then it ran fine. And then it ran fine when my son ran it although he did get it to experience it's coughing fits as he worked it. My 'guys' (son/brother in law/neighbor) current take is pretty wide ranging - bird's nest in intake, injector bad, gasket leak, etc. Son says fuel supply good but hasn't checked individual injectors.
So, a couple questions:
First, thoughts on the coughing issue? Yeah, pretty vague symptom description so far but should have more after it gets delivered this weekend. Mainly wondering if anyone's had/seen a similar type issue before.
Second, thoughts/advice on other 'things we should check' while we are getting this fuel issue resolved? We are going to pull turbo, fix broken bolt, and check turbo internals out with it off. We'll get those exhaust issues, get the window in, and generally clean, lube, and check track tension. Anything else you'd recommend before we start really working this machine. Thx in advance!