Got the left cover off the 931B

Well I got into the left side steering clutch compartment but first I removed the brake band support bolt. I used a propane torch to heat it up and finally got it out. I'll run a tap in the hole and get a new bolt. No liquid came out which I thought was a good sign...

I had a couple glitches along the way. The return spring for the brake rod broke when I was trying to remove it. Maybe I can heat it up and make a new hook? Pulling the pin out of the internal linkage, I git a blister on my finger. Who ever invented the pliers with the extra jaws inside of the handles, must like pain. The pliers slipped off the pin and of course the inner jaws pinch your finger. OUCH! Inside doesn't look like I expected. Definitely signs of moisture and also a brownish oily kind of coating on all the parts. I don't think pressure washing it a week or so ago would have caused all the rust and crusty build up on everything. The shaft on the steering clutch cylinder also has the crusty build up on it. I think it's a newer style than the one shown in the service manual. It looks round the same dia. the entire length. The one in the manual looks hex and tapered at the end. Is there a special procedure to take the round shaft out? Also does the hyd. cylinder push or pull to operate the clutches? The stop bolt was against the frame and I thought maybe it wasn't returning because of the rusty/crusty build up on the shaft. I look my breaker bar and pried it back a little and oil came out of the line that goes to the steering valve. If the steering clutch wasn't fully releasing/activating because of rust, would it wear out to where it's useless? Brake bands look worn out with a little bit of the lining missing in a couple spots at the top. Less than 1/8" thick.

It looks like it can probably come out without needing to remove the fuel tank but will be a tight fit. I think it will lift up just enough that it can then be pushed over/tilted to miss the fuel tank. Based on what I saw, I need to get the right side apart as well and clean everything up. I read that Cat added a special rust inhibitor in the steering clutch compartments on the newer machines. I've also heard people say to put a little diesel in the compartments. Would pressure washing the inside be good enough to clean it up? I think sandblasting would induce more rust. Any help is always appreciated.

Dave.
Reading your post is a unforgettable experience.
I used to razz you about getting an OC46 like we have,but I'll not do that this time. What happens is the bigger machines require knowledge that very few have. That is one reason I'm prone to smaller machines, knowing it takes longer to finish the job. If I'm correct in reading about your spring breaking, from experience I have never been able to reform the hook end of the spring that was 40 yrs old. It's always guarranteed to break a little further up thus starting with an 8" spring you end up with 2" spring. Brake bands wear out and you can bet if it's on one side, it's on the other, or close to it for wear. The rust that you describe shows a machine was never blown out (rain water etc) or has been setting out in all kinds of weather without being tarped.If it were my machine, I would tear it apart sandblast paint wire brush parts replace worn out ones, follow all adjustment procedures in the book when reassembling. If you sandblast it while in the machine, I wouldn't, it runs the risk of sand being left in there and if there is any seals or bearings,you run the risk of damaging them by not getting all the abrasive out. I would use a good spray brake cleaning solution(compressed cans) and I would still be worried about blowing rust somewhere important (seal,bearings) that won't come out and ruining something else.
When we disassembled the OC46, we were extremely careful about wiping down parts that we had wire brushed/sandblasted before painting and reassembling.We blow out the machine when we finish using it, so in the end its ready for new grease and a complete checkover before using it again. We don't believe in jumping on a piece of equipment and running it without doing a grease job, checking for loose parts, leaks,etc and let it run for a few minutes before operating it at reasonable throttle,not full throttle when moving to the site to be worked. Even all of the above we do doesn't gaurrantee something won't break,but it does cut down on expensive repairs from neglect, in repairs we do not shortcut. Those type of repairs (shortcut) always bites you where you sit, in the long run.
On a crawler/dozer what you find bad on one side, it usually means its bad on the other side, atleast thats what we found out 9 times out of 10. I'm not enjoying your plight, but it seems from your posts, all your problems started when you had that bad bolt by the radiator on your machine and just kept snowballing further and faster from one problem to another.I know this doesn't help,but we do have sympathy for you. The biggest we been into was our TD-20 for a seal on the clutch.That was a machine the engineers thought about for field repair. The manual for ours was over 500 pages with pictures and diagrams and procedures for repairs. I am too old to get into the big ones any more. I hope you get yours straightened out and working again.

LOU

The steering clutches are sealed from the factory but had been opened up in the past. I don't know the history of this machine but I'm wondering if it might have been submerged or partially submerged in the past. I say this because the bottom of one of the roll bar tubes is expanded and split open about 3" long. The only way I know this can happen is if it got water inside and froze. I guess water could have got in another way. Some of the problems I've had and how to fix them was just because I didn't have experience with the machine. It's always "easy" when someone has done it before. I think it's a good machine but being a smaller Cat machine, everything has to be stuffed together in a tighter space. I've heard the engine can be out in less than 2 hours on a D7G. On mine, the engine and trans. have to come out as a unit. Not having a shop to work in makes it more of a challenge but if I can get the steering all figured out, it should be good to go for quite a while. The only thing left is the transmission but I've never had a problem with it and the screen is clean which is a good sign.

Dave---any chance you could post some pics of that steering clutch compartment?? I know in the future i will have to replace the brake bands on my D3B.
Dan

With all the crud and stuff, it would be hard to see in a picture. If you google D3B steering clutches, there's some pictures on the Heavy Equipment Forum. I think it would be a real hard job to do without having a copy of the procedure.