Cat 215, some questions

[a65l]

Hello all. After some debate and thinking, I bought an old (96L) Cat 215. It's far from perfect, but in some ways was better than some more expensive machines I looked at. I got it for about scrap value, and it runs, and moves, albiet a little slowly.




It's not without its issues, some of which are obvious from this picture. It was a working machine for many years, then was retired out to a farm to dig a pond. IT apparently died out there, and the owner replaced the fuel injection pump to get it loaded on a transporter when they sold the farm. It has a 3304 engine, non turbo.

The machine currently has a trolling motor fuel tank supplying fuel directly to the f.i. pump. One of my first priorities is to restore the machine's fuel system, or at least enough of it that I can run fuel through the filter. When replacing the f.i. pump, the stock steel fuel line was bent way out of the way, and way out of shape. Which brings me to question number one.. are there any issues with replacing that steel line with a bradied hose? I know the pump is the only suction source in the system, but as long as the filter is clear and there are no other issues, I can't see collapsing the hose being an issue. The only other issue is that it passes fairly close to the muffler, but if I get proper hose I don't think that will really be an issue. As it runs now, the engine feels weak, especially when walking, so I have concerns that there may already be contamination in either the pump or the injectors. The day I got it running, after sitting for 3+ years, it smoked quite a bit on startup but seemed to clear up after it ran for a bit. I'm also wondering about the f.i. pump, I'm certain it wasn't a rebuilt unit, as they just wanted to get the machine running to move it. Given the price I got it for, and compared to what I would spend to rent, I have some room to spend money on it.

 

[a65l]

Ok. An update, if anyone cares. Got replacement fuel supply hose, also replacement priming pump and now engine is being fed fuel thru a shiny new filter. Still feeding from the trolling motor tank, but at least it's filtered fuel now. Engine seems to be running a little better, but still has a pop and miss occasionally. Will do the injector disconnect here, but have another issue I want ot try and sort out first. The engine seems to be running hot. The temp gauge isn't working, so this is subjective. It ran hot the first day I had it, I found the fan belts very loose and fixed that, now fan blows but checking in radiator after it's run for a bit I didn't see any flow. I removed thermostat and ran, now have rapids in radiator, so water pump appears to be moving water. New thermostat and gasket on order, BTW. I also note that there don't appear to be any cold spots in the radiator, and both the upper and lower hoses get hot. I need to get the temp gauge working, it might not be getting overhot, but not really sure. Plenty of coolant, BTW, and the stuff Idrained out to remove the thermostat looked fairly new. No trace of oil, no oil sheen, nothing. It looked so good I filtered it and put it back when I replaced the housing.

 

[Acoals]

Get one of those infrared temperature guns, that way you can check the temps at the thermostat housing and get an actual reading of the temps. That will take the subjectivity out of things.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Klein-Tools-Digital-Infrared-Thermometer-Dual-Laser-IR5/207004900

 

[skyking1]

looks like you are working through it just fine. we do care

 

[Vetech63]

It's very likely that the original fuel tank has rusted on the inside and that's why it isn't being used.........very common on older machines. Cleaning it out is only a temporary fix.......once the rust starts its impossible to prevent so the contamination will continue moving forward. You can put a separator between the fuel tank and your filter to catch a majority of it, you will just need to monitor it and clean it often.

The temp gun, as mentioned above, is your best friend. It will help you and us narrow down the area of concern without manually eliminating one thing at a time until we luck into the problem. You can get a decent one at most auto parts stores.

 

[Gary Layton]

Keep us posted on how it progresses...I am paying attention here but it's the other folks that have the knowledge you need. I have a CAT 320CL so your project has my attention for sure.

 

[kenworth]

I look forward to seeing your progress on this project.
I had a steel fuel tank off a forklift that was nasty rusty inside and I took it to a radiator shop and they cleaned it out for me, it came out shiny clean from whatever bath that they soaked it in.

 

[a65l]

From what I see looking into the tank, it's rust free, but it's also 3/4 full of fuel. Now, no guarante of course that there isn't an inch of water on the bottom. Draining the tank completly is the next big project. Aside from changing filters, etc etc, as they're rolling in here and there. I forgot to have the wife watch the undercarriage when I walked it over to the shop yesterday, I wanted to mark rollers that weren't rolling for further attention. I already have 2 that are flattened, so I suspect they're not moving at all.

I did get in an replace the muffler with an aftermarket unit. I ran it with no muffler for a bit, but wound up melting the oil pressure line. I think it was pretty well done anyway, but that was the last straw.



Yeah, I don't think there's any saving that.



Not too spendy, and looks like a decent unit. Nowhere near as heavy as the old one, though. Slightly smaller diameter, I Might wind up making some shims to help hold it in place, as I really don't want all that weight on the exhaust manifold all the time.



Temp oil pressure gauge setup. I have another line to run back to the driver's seat but it's a PITA and I need to do some pressure washing underneath first.



I don't see anything too awful looking down there, do need to pull those wires back against the starter to keep thyem away from the muffler.

 

[a65l]

Quick video of it running, but not pulling any load... sorry I had to link it, but I'm not on any approved media sites..

idling


This is prior to putting the pipe on, obviously. Blowing some bluish smoke, but running pretty well.

And another, as long as I'm here...

Running at higher rpm

 

[skyking1]

I think you did well getting it for scrap value. That does not sound so rough.
What are you planning to do with it?

 

[Vetech63]

That wiring and upside-down gauge is setting my OCD off BIGTIME!

 

[Vetech63]

I forgot to have the wife watch the undercarriage when I walked it over to the shop yesterday, I wanted to mark rollers that weren't rolling for further attention

You can do this without her. Mark the outside of each roller flange with a splash of paint at the 6 oclock position. Track a bit and see which haven't moved. She should be planning dinner LOL

 

[a65l]

Plan is to dig a pond. Something larger than the backhoe can handle. Then, hopefully pass it on to the next pond digger.

Aha.. didn't think of the paint trick for the rollers. Thanks!

 

[Dgreen4298]

You should be able to lift it off it’s track to check the bottom rollers by hand

 

[Dgreen4298]

Some advice for you. Be sure to check your final drive oil levels.it is different than the hydraulic system. There is a fill plug on the side of each unit, fill it till oil comes out, you’re not supposed to use gear oil they say it bad for the duo cone seals. Some thing for the swivel drive gearbox, it’s not connected to the hydraulic system oil, there’s a fill plug next to the drive motor, just fill it all the way up, if it’s low and won’t stay to the top then you have a leak that needs repaired asap, continued use with low oil will ruin the gears and bearing inside. The grease fittings for the swivel final gear is inside the cab on the right side of the seat on the floor, this is separate from the gears inside the gearbox, just pump your grease gun on the two fittings as the machine is slowly turned. you don’t want to slack on any of this

 

[a65l]

Thanks for that! I checked final drive oils already, l/h is good, but r/h seemed to be overfull, and pressurized. Wasn't expecting to get a shower when I cracked the cap. It's full of gear oil, too, suppose I need to drain that and replace with 30wt like book says. I checked servicing on the combining gearbox and swivel drive as well, had to add some to combining gearbox but none to swivel.

So a few steps foward and a couple backward today. Changed engine oil/filter and air filters, and the case drain for the middle pump. Then tried to run machine but it's colder and it wouldn't fire. Then it stopped blowing white smoke.. dammit! I forgot to fill the tank on top, and it sucked air. I ran the batteries down trying to bleed injectors so we're all closed up for tonight while the batteries slow charge. Ah well... always something.

 

[Nige]

A suggestion would be to get hold of an Operation & Maintenance Manual if you don't have one already.

 

[Dgreen4298]

You may have a leaking track brake on the right hand final drive. When it leaks internally it will go by the outer seal and into the final drive. A good way to tell is remove the vent on top of the brake and with the engine off the hydraulic fluid that operates the brake will drain out and not stop. There should be oil down in the vent hole but it’s just to keep the back side and the drive motor shaft lubed, you have to add oil there when rebuilt, it’s the same oil as the final drive. if it keeps pushing out then the internal seals are leaking and filling the final drive because it can’t push out the one way vent.

 

[Dgreen4298]

you can add new fuel suction and return lines to the tank and abandon the old ones if they are rusted with holes. The only way to tell is with a bore scope camera. The lines are on the other side of a center baffle in there and you can’t see them. Just use stainless lines with bulkhead fittings and move them over to the other side of the tank where you can reach your arm in there to tighten them. You’ll have to make new flexible lines to then Hooke back to the original bulkhead fitting under the muffler

 

[a65l]

A suggestion would be to get hold of an Operation & Maintenance Manual if you don't have one already.

You're refering to the thin maintenance book, that covers the daily stuff, etc etc. Got it with the machine... and very glad I did. I also got a parts book, which has also been very handy. Amazing how much of that stuff (seals, etc etc) is still out there. Batteries are still charging from running them down yesterday, hopefully I can lure a buddy of mine over here to crank it while I bleed the injector lines later.

I did try and buy a PDF of the full maintenance manual from two different places online. One purported to be based in Georgia and an American company, and the price, while not quite when I would expect to pay for a paper manual, was close to $200.00. I got a manual from them, but it's a mishmash of cat service procedures, not well organized, and while the webpage stated it was for a 96L machine it was not. So beware, if you're looking for an online manual, that they probablly dont' actually exist. The other one was 1000 pages, and 800 of them were copied from a Cat site dealing with doing maintenance with the machine's computer. All I wanted to do was to read up on how to set the valves.