320 D overheating

[naheed]

just imported a cat 320 d from uk. clean 5600 hrs. had it serviced and put it to work but unfortunatley after an hour of hard work the engine temp almost got to redline.
pressure cleaned the radiator, although wasnt clogged, so put in a new thermostat from the local cat dealer with some new shell coolant but never really made much of a difference.after about an hr of hard digging and loading the temp seems to rise above half.
whats the normal working temp for these machines?

 

[lantraxco]

I wouldn't be concerned as long as it stays below about 115C or 240F. I'm guessing the thermostat opens at around 90C.

Do you have a reading on the hydraulic oil temp?

 

[Nige]

One problem with importing a machine from UK to your location is that the UK machine will not be equipped with the High Ambient Temperature Cooling Package which IMHO would be required in Kenya. That means the cooling system could always tend to run hot.

 

[naheed]

yup hydraulic temp doesnt go over half.

when it got hot, the the coolant bottle had bubbles in it! is 115 normal running temp for these?

IMHO meaning?
what could i do to keep the temp at around 90?

 

[naheed]

would it be wise to run it without the thermostat?

 

[naheed]

plus my 320 c loads engine only on arm in and out function! any advice on that?
cheers guys

 

[Nige]

the coolant bottle had bubbles in it! is 115 normal running temp for these?

115 is not normal operating temperature. The presence of bubbles in the expansion tank could indicate cylinder head hasket problems. Are you losing any appreciable amount of coolant on a daily/weekly basis..?

would it be wise to run it without the thermostat?

No, it would be of no benefit whatsoever.

IMHO meaning?

In my Humble Opinion

what could i do to keep the temp at around 90?

Remove the radiator/hydraulic oil cooler package. Separate the radiator from the cooler and pressure wash them both.
When you reinstall the cooling package make sure that all the ducting and rubber/sponge baffles are all correctly in place and that there is no chance whatsoever that air from the fan can go anywhere else but through the radiator/cooler.
Fit a new fan belt, tensioner, and pulleys. Make sure the belt tension is correct.
Remove & check the water pump and replace it if you have any doubt whatsoever regarding its condition.

If all that doesn't fix it and you still have the bubbles in the expansion tank you might well find that you have to remove a cylinder head.

 

[AntonioRocha]

Doesnt the 320 d series has one of those modern cooling fans wich only gives trouble?

 

[simonsrplant]

Doesnt the 320 d series has one of those modern cooling fans wich only gives trouble?

From what I recall, the d series was always fairly robust.

 

[Jam]

The fan on these can give a bit of bother. Simple thing to check first is the wiring harness where it passed through the rad cowl and goes to the fan hub. Make sure the blades haven't chewed it. If your hub is in trouble there is a modified assembly for the replacement. It's a fairly common cause of over heating. When you start your machine and rev it up the fan should roar up initially and then drop down. Does it do that?

 

[Mobiltech]

I know some of these have an electronically controlled fan that the speed is set by the ECM. The speed control clutch has been known to fail and the fan slows down much like a slipping fan belt. There is a speed sensor in the fan that can be read by hooking up ET. You can also recalibrate it with ET. This depends on what serial number you have

 

[Rajbir Lorriet]

From what I recall, the d series was always fairly robust.

I think you're right here.

 

[naheed]

sorry i didnt say something right, there werent bubbles in the expansion tank but coolant spurting out when it had overheated!
ive thoroughly cleaned both radiators with a pressure washer but they werent dirty at first,it already had a new fan belt and all pulleys and idlers running great.water pump seems good as you can clearly see water flowing quite fast with rad cap off and engine running.the sponges all around the fan cowling are intact so no air escaping around there.



yes noticed that today, as you start the engine you can hear the fan fully engaged than few secs later goes silent.
thus noticed when the temp gets to over half the fan runs free!(doesnt sound engaged)
you have a good point there mobiltech, your probably right about the fan clucth. how can i find out if the fan sensor and clutch are working fine?

 

[Mobiltech]

If the fan does not sound like its speeding up you can access fan speed calibration on the monitor. You will need to go into service on the monitor and enter the fff2 password , then go to calibrations.
Perform the following steps in order to calibrate the Fan Speed:


1.Main Menu

2.Service

3.Enter the "SERVICE" password.

4.Calibrations

5.Fan Speed
When a blue number is displayed, perform the operation that corresponds with the step in table 7 for the number that is displayed.

Note: It is possible for an error to occur when you are calibrating. If an error occurs during the process of calibrating, restart the process of calibrating.


Table 7 Step Operation
1 Connect the speed sensor to the fan. Then press the "OK" key (15) in order to go to the next step.
2 Press the right key (9) or the left key (12) in order to increase or decrease the current value. Tune the fan speed to the target. When you finish tuning the fan speed to the target value, press the "OK" key (15).
3 Repeat step 2 for the new target value.
4 End of the calibration.

The other option is to find someone with a Cat ET program and have them calibrate it for you

 

[ih100]

If the wiring fails, or the connector is unplugged, the fan should default to full speed, not slow down. If you're taking the radiator off, it will pay to flush the coolant passages out at the same time. Without SIS in front of me I won't be certain (Nige?) but I think the thermostat opens at around 72-75 C.

 

[Nige]

Thermostat starts to open at 80 and is fully open by 92 degC.

 

[AntonioRocha]

I have seen in some models, the water pump blades corroded and disappered and not leaking any coolant, already had alot of problems with radiators, full of rust inside clogging the channels, and everytime they looked like new in the outside, using pressure washer wont clean them booth, the space between oil and water radiator, the pressure washer is not enough. I advise you to take the radiator out and take it to a specialist com open it and clean the inside channels

 

[naheed]

 

[naheed]

this is what im getting from the calibration

 

[Mobiltech]

If you have an active error you won't be able to calibrate. What does the error code say?