cat 259b3 loss of power moving forward

[mattscat]

got a 259 b3 1000 hrs. took to dealer, randomly developed a miss, lost power, a little blue smoke, slowed to a crawl. let off throttle, cleared up, ran fine no smoke. would randomly do this. dealer checked all fuel pressure, good, pump pressure good, injectors fine. replaced fuel filter, rebuilt injection pump, ran overhead, set valves. still random. replaced turbo, saw minor wear, they were finally told to adjust pump timing 3degrees. seemed to work. they also replaced the pilot valve under joystick, it was seaping oil.
got it home. ran good for a half hour or so, did the same thing. Starts to slow down to a crawl, seams to run ok, no blue smoke.
Almost stops if i raise the bucket while moving forward. if it sits for a few minutes it will take off but its not near as fast as it should be. where do i start looking? dealer is clue less on this one.

 

[heymccall]

Here what you need to do...
Mark the locations of all 3 fuel lines on the filter head. Take note of the inlet hose from tank. Remove all 3 lines.
Remove filter. Next, remove entire assy (2 16mm headed bolts and one connector).
Turn assy upside down. Carefully examine the space between the center pipe and the concentric pipe around it. Now, run a piece of wire through the inlet port until you can see it next to the center tube.

On my 248b (same filter assy), that region of the filter head gets all the tank debris before the filter element and electric pump. I'd almost bet my lunch money that you have a restriction in there. That assy is around $500. But, you can clean it out.
I finally put an inline strainer on the inlet hose to prevent that partial blockage from occurring ever again.

Can't provide pictures until next week.

I use this baldwin because it fits 1/4" & 5/16" hose, and I can only carry so many filters on the truck.

 

[Mark250]

Damm just replied to his other thread didn't see the double post

 

[Nige]

You may find this article helps. Note the "change the (standard) filter at the recommended interval" comment...….
Does your machine have the addition inline filter, or is it standard..?
The inline filter is certainly not standard on any of the listed models but according to the article it can be used as a diagnostic tool for identifying whether low engine power is caused by fuel contamination.
After reading your post of the list of things the dealer has done so far I agree with HMC that the most likely thing not checked is for a restriction in the filter head itself.

 

[mattscat]

I will check that.
The whole thing seemed coincidental, originally. I put fuel in it from a can, and 20 minutes later it starts acting up. Found nothing in fuel filter, changed it. Just got worse. Then went to dealer for the ride of a lifetime, it hurt. $8000 in repairs, and not any better. Yes we had words. I will not mention them here though.

 

[Mobiltech]

You probably did this but just make sure the air filter is clean. They get dirty quick and will collapse the intake pipe and barely run until you back out of the throttle.

 

[Nige]

The whole thing seemed coincidental, originally. I put fuel in it from a can, and 20 minutes later it starts acting up.

There's your coincidence right there...…… 2 + 2 = 6