Caterpillar 289d brush cutter issue.....

[277]

I have a 2015 Caterpillar 289d cab machine with hi-flow. Brush cutter is a wolverine 72" normal flow. I press continuous hydraulic flow switch and proceed to lock it in with the thumb roller switch on right joystick. Mower starts, but slows way down, and sometimes will even stop when trying to cut. Engine runs fine, it does not bog down or anything, just the brush cutter.
I'm wondering if I have a continuous flow problem, or maybe not enough pressure??? I don't have any codes.
Machine runs and operates fine with the normal bucket and grapple bucket, but of course I'm not using continuous flow for them.
Any thoughts???? Thanks!

 

[Canuck Digger]

I aint no mechanic but just a thought. I believe the brand of brush cutter is an off unit brand that plugs up auctions all over.. . Potentially an issue with the unit. Not sure you'll get any support. I'm pretty sure it's a you buy it, you own it and good luck scenario. What I'd probably try and do is hook up and/or rent another attachment that would use similar flow and see if the same issue occurs

 

[Chrisso]

Post your s/n (or just your prefix) and we can see if there's any specific troubleshooting/specs for your specific machine. As CD suggested above, if you can try another high flow attachment that might be one way of ruling out a machine issue.

Definitely don't want that debris in your hyd system if it is failing.

Also how are you activating/deactivating high flow?

 

[277]

Canuck Digger, I did try another 72" cutter and the same result. It was an Edge brand.

 

[277]

Chrisso, I'm not using hi-flow. My machine has hi-flow, but brush cutter is normal flow.

 

[Chrisso]

Chrisso, I'm not using hi-flow. My machine has hi-flow, but brush cutter is normal flow.

No probs. Just checking the most basic thing first. Without your s/n, I'm guessing high flow is activated by using the jumper wire on the load frame electrical connector. If you have the jumper lead removed for std flow and it's still faulting, really the next thing is getting a laptop w/ ET and checking inputs, switches, thumbwheel etc, both in std flow and high flow. I've seen std flow attachments do some wacky things when commanded high flow. Failing this we could have a hyd issue such as a relief popping when it shouldn't, sticking solenoid, etc. Keen to know what you find!

 

[heymccall]

Is this like my newer cat excavators, where the hydraulics are derated when the fuel supply is restricted.
I know dirty fuel filters on a 324D excavator will cause a 100% hydraulic derate (boom will stop at mid stroke when digging), and boom will resume after no input for 10 seconds or so.

There are lots of fuel supply issue threads on here for Cat (and others) SSL & CTL machines.


On my later Caterpillar engines, it has been my experience that the controller will strive to maintain RPMs anyway possible, including trimming the hydraulics, and, only when extremely restricted will the engine RPM drop or stumble.

 

[277]

My serial number is CAT0289DVTAW02740.

Heymccall, I do not think it's a fuel issue. Machine runs good. I purchased it with 3015 hours on it and that is when the fuel, oil, and hydraulic filters were changed. It now has 3060 I think.
Thanks for the replies!

 

[Chrisso]

Ok, so there's a bunch of hydraulic tests/adjustments that can be done to check the high flow hydraulics, requires some decent gauges/tooling to do it accurately, so could get expensive real fast (UENR3729 in SIS for those who can access).

Heymcall raises a good point with checking fuel pressure. Common rail setup so anythings possible. Only real way to check I know of is to connect ET and make sure 'desired' and 'actual' fuel rail pressure are close while the brushcutter is faulting, that would rule out high and low pressure fuel system in about 5 seconds. While ETs hooked up, you can check the rest of inputs also, especially continous flow.

Also worth cutting the hyd filter open in case that brushcutter motor is chernobyling inside your hyd system.

 

[Nige]

There have been multiple cases here on HEF of machines in the Cat SSL/MTL/CTL product line suffering loss of performance issues due to blockages in fuel lines, fuel line fittings, filter heads, tanks, etc, etc. None of which could be "fixed" by changing fuel filters. There is a thread not far away where the OP has for a long time been chasing an issue that ended up being hay in the fuel tank strangling fuel flow. I don't think he was convinced about the "is the tank clean?" questions until he actually saw the problem with his own eyes.

The above may not seem relevant to issues with an attachment but checking them would at least tick the boxes to ensure that the engine can get a full uninterrupted fuel supply.

 

[277]

Update:
I changed hydraulic filter and both couplers on machine. Ran brush cutter for a good 20/30 minutes with NO ISSUES!!
. Cut open old filter and it looked brand new. I'm starting to think my issue was my couplers on my 289d. They would leak a little overnight whenever I had something plugged into them,, example: brush cutter, or grapple bucket. I'm wondering if I was loosing more than I realized when in continuous flow?

 

[Chrisso]

Thanks for the update. I had a customer report about a year ago that his 4in1 was ridiculously slow after i worked on his machine. I asked him to unplug the couplers and plug them back in, and it fixed the issue. No idea why it fixed the issue but it did. So couplers causing a restriction is rare in my experience. Others may disagree?

If that high flow oil was leaking out (enough to slow the brushcutter that much) i think it would've drained your hyd tank empty in 5 mins.

Hope it stays fixed!