3 Tips For Taking Better Care of Your Caterpillar Final Drive Travel Motor
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Caterpillar machines are great for all kinds of construction tasks and landscaping projects. Though you should make sure that each and every aspect of your heavy machinery is functioning properly, it’s best to give a little more attention and care to your Caterpillar final drive travel motor.
Preventative maintenance can often save you from having to perform a costly repair down the road. It can also ensure that your construction equipment is operating as efficiently as possible.
In this article, we’ll cover three tips to keep in mind when it comes to taking care of your Caterpillar final drive travel motors.
Checking and Changing the Gear Oil
One of the most important aspects of troubleshooting your final drive motor in your Caterpillar excavator or track loader is to pay attention to the gear oil. This oil should be inspected at least once a month or after 100 hours of operation. However, you may do this even more often if your machine has been involved in constant, heavy work.How do you check your gear oil level? Your individual machine may vary, but Caterpillar owners can generally do the following:
- Remove debris and dirt from the plugs on the cover plate
- Remove plugs from the cover plate slowly
- Ensure that the final drive oil is level with the 3 o’clock opening
You can either top off your final drive gear oil or replace it altogether at this point. If you choose to replace the oil in your final drive, you can simply drain your oil out. As you do so, check to be sure there are no metallic shavings, flakes, or other visible contaminants in the oil, as this could indicate a problem inside the gear hub that requires service. You can then add fresh gear oil and replace the plugs.
You should
perform a gear oil change after every 200 hours of operation, though it’s always wise to change the oil more often if you’ve been using your Caterpillar excavator for any major excavation projects.
Pay Attention to Leaks
Never ignore leaks coming from the final drive of your excavator. There are two types of leaks you should be concerned about: A hydraulic leak and a gear oil leak.
A Hydraulic Leak
A hydraulic leak will usually come from a leaking hose or a problem with the hydraulic components of the final drive itself. A leaking hose is an easy fix. In other cases, there may be a problem with the hydraulic portion of the final drive, which may require additional service or replacement parts.
A Gear Oil Leak
Gear oil leaks are usually found by checking for oil behind the sprocket or dripping on the tracks (if your Caterpillar machine runs on tracks). Gear oil leaks are usually tied to the mechanical face seal and should be addressed as quickly as possible, as a build-up of sludge could result in further damage to the components of your final drive motor. Both of these types of leaks can become catastrophic if they are not addressed immediately. The sensitive components of your final drive require special attention. Neglecting these types of maintenance protocols could lead to larger, more costly failures in the future, arising from the friction of mechanical parts rubbing together.
Trust MiniFinalDrives.com for Your Final Drive Travel Motor Solutions
Of course, we also recommend that you document any maintenance you perform (including the part number of any items you service or replace), as this can make it easier to file warranty claims.
At MiniFinalDrives.com, we provide customers with quality OEM parts for today’s leading brands of heavy equipment, including
Caterpillar,
Hitachi,
John Deere, and
Komatsu.
We can provide you with a new final drive using aftermarket parts and can even obtain hard-to-find parts and accessories for all of your construction needs.
For additional information, call us today at 877-483-2806, or visit our online store at
http://www.minifinaldrives.com to find and order what you need today for fast and free delivery right to your door.
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