Thanks OM

Once the protrusion is measured and correct (with in specs) make sure you mark each liner so it goes back to the same place and not spun around as the measurement will most likely be different if a liner is turned when installed, in the same cylinder position where measurement took place.

Make sure the counter bore is perfectly clean. If any contamination is in there it will cause you grief. I have put wet sleeves into many different motors and the key is cleaning everything perfectly. Make sure the grooves where the o rings go is perfectly clean. If something is in there and the o ring sticks out slightly you can slice it or you will have to force the sleeve down. Put the o rings in dry then smear them with vasaline. That way there is nothing behind the o rings to have them stick out make it hard to fit the sleeves. Good luck.

We’re having trouble with those bands too. Did you put them in or leave them out and just run the stainless shims and no bands?

We used the “John Deere 308 liner soap” on the bands as well as the orings. The literature says to use oil on the upper bands to make them swell after installation, but I’d hate to see them swell any further as they’re already near impossible to install in their original size. 

I left them out. There is no physical way to install them. Honestly with the way the liners are formed there is no way those bands could be used in any scenario. The lip on the top of the liner is too small to accommodate that band being stuffed in there. I installed the stainless shims however I could not use the shims that came with the kits from CTP. They had huge burrs on them and would not sit flat. I ended up ordering the shims from CAT and they were much higher quality. For some reason I was under the assumption that the shims sealed the top of the liner to the block and kept the coolant out of the combustion chamber. I realized later that is not the case and it is the head gaskets job to seal it. What that means is technically coolant can move past the shims and surround the top of the liner in the counterbore area but should be stopped when it hits the head gasket. I coated the head gasket in Permatex Super 300 so hopefully everything will seal up. I will also fill the cooling system before I add engine oil to ensure nothing is leaking down into the oil sump area. I have no idea why CTP includes these bands and apparently, they have no idea either as I spoke to them and got absolutely nowhere. If you buy the liners from CAT they dont include the bands so I guess that is good enough for me. I also read somewhere that the purpose of the bands is really just to center and align the sleeve but since they are already so tight in the counterbore I dont think they would be much help.

Yeah i didn’t notice any on the old liners when we pulled them. We’re going to follow suit and leave them out. Thanks for your prompt response.

I think these bands are standard on CAT engines starting from a touch later of a series than these.

I also ended up ordering a set of the liner shims from the Cat dealer today. I agree with your statement about the CTP shims being crappy. They look like they die cut them with a worn-out or misadjusted cutting tool. The outer edges of the shims are distorted and not flat like they should be. We ruined a couple of them trying to push the liners in with the stupid band. The band has nowhere to go and as you push the liner into the block, the band presses back on the shim and distorts the shim and spits the shim out between the liner and the block.

Anyone else thinking about rebuilding a D315 or D318, the rest of the CTP kit is good to go and actually looks like its of good quality. Just throw away the liner bands and figure on paying more than you should have to for the authentic Cat shims from the dealer.

Thanks Nick, great to know. I am most likely going forward and having a complete out of frame overhaul done on one of the toys here (315). No sense owning it if it does not function proper! JM