O/T Cat 944 Wheel Loader

This is a little off topic but I was hoping someone has some information on this. I have an old CAT 944 wheel loader that has the 4B354 Schwitzer turbo on it, the exhaust elbow that connects to the turbine housing is worn out. I need to try to find a good used one to fix my exhaust leak. Any infomation would be great.

Go to the ACMOC, & ACME forums, join if need be, there are lists of suppliers and the like, + all the members, people that participate there etc. you should be able to source something, new, used, or possibly fabricate what you need. That is a early 60's loader if I am correct, next one up from a 922.

Mine burned a leak there, Cat had the connector. Wonderful machines. Billy's right about expert help in those forums. You can see a long thread about my finding out why I didn't have much power. Turned out to be the governor needed rebuilding. Those guys were great.

Tom I joined there put they won't let me post yet. Does your loader have the same elbow/turbo setup? If so do you still know the part number?
Thank you

Turbo yes, elbow I'm a little fuzzy about, I'll look.

Seems you don't YET have a parts book? Ebay's where I found all 3 manuals for mine. Make sure you pay attention to your machine number to get the correct parts book. In the meantime, my parts book might cover your tractor. I'll check this afternoon, post later.

Hope you noticed my widow-maker canopy. I was pretty proud of that. My 944 spends its days in the woods, doing exactly what I'd hoped.

BTW, if you get into your steering, some of those ball joints are rebuildable with inexpensive parts. Mine were.

OK GM,

My parts book covers 43A1587 to 43A3011 inclusive. There are 2 elbows, one on each side of the turbo. The elbow to the exhaust pipe is always 5M3635, the other one is 7M4277 or 8M4130 depending on your machine's number.

If you have an earlier machine, my first parts book lists the elbows as 1M16 and 1M27 for the one that goes to the exhaust pipe.

There's also a coupling between the turbo and the exhaust pipe elbow, that's what I replaced for a few bucks from my Cat dealer. Part # 5M5824, I'm remembering $35 or so.

Your Cat dealer should be able to look up any part if they have your machine number. Not in their computer, but microfiche works fine. Pay attention if parts numbers change, as frequently happens. Once you have a good part number, internet searching will often yield surprises. I've found that everybody uses the latest Cat parts number. As that changes with different versions of the same tractor, it's about the only way they could keep track.

One thing to watch out for: parts installed on your tractor that weren't there originally. I got into that on my other Traxcavator, a crawler. There was a part in my transmission that wasn't supposed to be there. Not a problem but you always know you weren't the first in there.

A parts book will help immensely to figure out what you're looking at. Great tractor you have there, keep it working.

Tom, sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Thank you for all your help. I do not have parts manuals, I will be getting them soon since I just got the loader. Mine is a 43A4237 and I need the elbow that connects to cartridge housing (hot side) of the turbo and the gasket between them. If it shows that information that would be great. Again, thanks for all your help.

VA TOM!! Does that coupler have the flange with 6 bolts holes that bolt right to the turbo? The elbow was the right one and is still available. Thank you for all of your help.