CAT D2 starting issues

laurencen

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quick background, picked up this D@ 5 years aga as a runner needing work, the pony motor blew the main crank seal, fuel lines leaking and held together by wire, the dozed blade was half off pins missing and front apart, over the years done bits to it and have some fun

when I picked it up the old guy went thro starting and I recall when he fired it up the horizontal engagement lever pulled up had a distinctive click, he then pushed the lever to engage main motor and showed the fuel pressure in green and oil pressure, after a few mins of warmup he threw decompression and gave fuel and off it went.

I have ran it a couple times after doing the work to get hydraulics for blade functioning but only short runs

last night fired the pony, pulled the lever but when I pushed the engagement the lower lever kicked out and motor slowed, tried several times same issue so finally held the lever then pushed engagement and it held, what I noticed no fuel pressure, nothing, anyway let it warm up threw decompression off and gave it throttle and it ran fine.

ran it around for a couple hours in the yard tried pushing no issues other than no fuel pressure on the gauge.
anyone have ideas on both fuel pressure and the engagement lever kicking out, ant guidance would be appreciated

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Thu, Sep 26, 2024 9:37 PM

side-seat

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Gauge is bad? Easy enough to get a new one from Cat or knock offs from ebay. It's running so there must be some pressure.
Pinion kicking out is because the fly weights on the pinion need adjusting. They work sorta like a governor.
Check to see if the pinion is rusty dirty etc. There is a screw near the weights that can be turned to adjust them.

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Thu, Sep 26, 2024 10:31 PM

laurencen

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can this be done without removing anything? maybe a inspection cover guess I need a manual for this old beast

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Thu, Sep 26, 2024 11:01 PM

bernie

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Reply to laurencen:

can this be done without removing anything? maybe a inspection cover guess I need a manual for this old beast

Congrats on a running machine. If you’re a member. Tech Library will run you through the pinion latch adjustments. Regardless, look on eBay or on here for Operations Manual, Servicemen’s Reference, and parts book. All for your machines serial number. Coincidentally I just fired my pony /main up Sunday after not starting it for two years.

There are several posts about holding the pinion engagement lever (“horizontal”) up while spinning pony under main load. I’ve done it but not recommended. Mine is adjusted until it’s not! Pinion adjustments will hopefully take care of that. Not sure why engine slowed when pinion kicked out…there is an access port to access the latch adjustment screws.

Without manuals and help from individuals from ACMOC and ACME BOARDS, using and working on my D42T would have been a steep climb and likely resulted in tearing up my CAT. FYI my knowledge is / was limited. Yours might be much higher, so pardon any unintended inference.

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Fri, Sep 27, 2024 5:51 AM

laurencen

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Reply to bernie:

Congrats on a running machine. If you’re a member. Tech Library will run you through the pinion latch adjustments. Regardless, look on eBay or on here for Operations Manual, Servicemen’s Reference, and parts book. All for your machines serial number. Coincidentally I just fired my pony /main up Sunday after not starting it for two years.

There are several posts about holding the pinion engagement lever (“horizontal”) up while spinning pony under main load. I’ve done it but not recommended. Mine is adjusted until it’s not! Pinion adjustments will hopefully take care of that. Not sure why engine slowed when pinion kicked out…there is an access port to access the latch adjustment screws.

Without manuals and help from individuals from ACMOC and ACME BOARDS, using and working on my D42T would have been a steep climb and likely resulted in tearing up my CAT. FYI my knowledge is / was limited. Yours might be much higher, so pardon any unintended inference.

bernie, the engine slowed when the horizontal lever dropped out, this happened when the engagement lever was pushed forward to spin the motor, hence holding up the lever to keep it engaged.
will look at getting the manual even though I work on lots of vehicles rebuilding and a full machine shop Im no means a expert but enjoy working on old equipment, its been 3 years sibce I fixed the fuel leak, the issue was a cracked fitting, I recall removing a block the fuel lines go into, when taken apart and tapping the block it had springs and balls its possible its not together correctly and could be the issue with the gauge

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Fri, Sep 27, 2024 10:03 AM

laurencen

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Reply to laurencen:

bernie, the engine slowed when the horizontal lever dropped out, this happened when the engagement lever was pushed forward to spin the motor, hence holding up the lever to keep it engaged.
will look at getting the manual even though I work on lots of vehicles rebuilding and a full machine shop Im no means a expert but enjoy working on old equipment, its been 3 years sibce I fixed the fuel leak, the issue was a cracked fitting, I recall removing a block the fuel lines go into, when taken apart and tapping the block it had springs and balls its possible its not together correctly and could be the issue with the gauge

this is the only cover I can see in the area, not seeing any adjustment screw or other cover

[attachment=77716]IMG_20240927_182811_resized_20240927_095342007.jpg[/attachment]

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Sun, Sep 29, 2024 12:36 AM

d2gary

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[attachment=77717]20210509_180521.jpg[/attachment]The cover you're looking for is under the dash. I have to take the bolts out of the dash and move it a little to access the cover.

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Sun, Sep 29, 2024 2:18 AM

bernie

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[attachment=77718]IMG_0119.jpeg[/attachment]Attached is from the servicemen’s reference NOT for your machine, I believe mechanism is same or very similar in design.

#3 are the latches and the adjusting screws #1. These are visible beneath the cover d2gary identified. You can rotate pinion in order to access screws by turning the pony flywheel.

Good luck!
Attachment

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Sun, Sep 29, 2024 3:24 AM

laurencen

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this is the only cover I can see in the area, not seeing any adjustment screw or other cover

[attachment=77716]IMG_20240927_182811_resized_20240927_095342007.jpg[/attachment]

weather was wet yesterday and today frost so may have to wait a few days, is it possible the pony was running too high RPM to keep it engaged

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Tue, Oct 1, 2024 8:04 PM

clayton

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Reply to laurencen:

weather was wet yesterday and today frost so may have to wait a few days, is it possible the pony was running too high RPM to keep it engaged

No you have to adjust the adjust screws and when I did mine I did half a turn at a time on both screws of course it all depends on wear also.

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Tue, Oct 1, 2024 9:37 PM

neil

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Reply to clayton:

No you have to adjust the adjust screws and when I did mine I did half a turn at a time on both screws of course it all depends on wear also.

What Clayton said unless your latches are set too tight, so it wouldn't hurt to check the pony rpm which should be 3000 at the flywheel, including under load with the compression on the main engine. Within 100 rpm / ideally 50rpm is probably close enough but if you can get it dead on, that's ideal. If your governor hunts, you might have to average the low and high readings. I don't know how fast Cat ideally wanted it to spin in order to delatch but I can't imagine it would be more than about 3500-3750 pony rpm. Maybe someone on here has specs from Cat? Set the rpm if necessary unloaded, then set the latches after checking unlatching performance. One other thing to note is that if the main engine doesn't fire up solidly / kind of stumbles along, the pinion may not unlatch and this will prevent the main engine from starting, so if you find this happening, disengage the pinion clutch so that the main can take off and unlatch the pinion. This happened to my buddy's HT4. The other problem that can affect latching is when the latches become worn and "slide off" the stop's shoulder that they latch on to. The fix itself is easy (just grind them perpendicular) but getting to the latches to reshape them can be challenging if you don't have a two-piece clutch shaft (after serial # 5U13273)

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Tue, Oct 1, 2024 11:18 PM

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