Intro and "new" D4 7U37937

Hi all,

Am in Canada and my addiction to old machinery started a few years back with a JD 40C. Did not turn. Ran rough. No hydraulic pump to run the blade. Guy I bought it from put it together from a bunch of other old machines. It was like a drug....as there was a love/hate relationship...how could it help me in the yard without spending a ton of $$ on it. Rebuilt carb, found a hydraulic pump to rebuild. New brake bands and clutch disks on one side. Now it purrrrrrs and turns on a dime but looks aweful! Still needs a few things but.......

Recently came across an ad for an old D4. Based on the serial number is a 1956. Old guy passed away at 90 and had not run in years, family wanted it gone. Made an offer I did not expect them to accept and got it for less than the scrap value and had it hauled home. This is my first foray into the Cat world. I figured it was a big gamble and we would see what would happen. First weekend I got the pony started without issue. I was actually surprised it started in about 7 seconds of cranking with fresh fuel. I still think it could use a carb rebuild and some new ignition components but starts OK now. When I pulled the lever to engage the diesel the pony died.

After much spraying lubricant and tinkering, unstuck a couple valves. Rack was stuck as were 2 of the injector plungers. Tried again to engage the diesel on it and low and behold it was turning over! Next drained the fuel tank and pumped through a good gallon through the filter assembly to ensure some fresh petrol. Bled the injectors and confirmed good fuel was coming through. Back to trying to start it now and had no luck. Popped 2 injectors out and cleaned the tips as much as I could with limited experience. Tried again and it puffed black smoke out for a couple mins but you could here it fire on occasion. Then it happened.....it ran!

It starts well now but coughs up a good amount of oil out the exhaust. Will give it some time under load to clean that up.

Next step was the tranny. Water was in it with the gear oil and the shifter forks were all froze in neutral. More spray lube for a few days and finally got them all freed up. Put some diesel in the tranny at idle as well to clean things out before putting fresh gear oil in. Was now at the point where I could go fwd and rev. Turning was a challenge and could get slight turns happening but still needs more work to adjust and free up the clutches. That is as far as I got but am pleased it wont be going for scrap. All of the posts here have been beyond helpful and glad to see pretty much every scenario covered off aside from the stuck shift forks. I was not keen on pulling the tranny cover. Need to freshen the final drive lube next weekend then put it to work in the yard.

Undercarriage on one side is fine but the other needs a new track chain as the bushings are well worn. That is the extent of what I think it needs at this point. Does anyone have a source for aftermarket? Have not done too much searching yet. Will get some pics up this week. Oh the old guy has a D7 to I may make a low offer on its still there in a month.

BTW my D4 has a winch on the back that seems free, but the control cables are stuck.

Thx!

Welcome! Sounds like yer on the right track so far! Good to hear you got things figured out. There are a few sources for undercarriage all depends on price too, there are some good used ones around too, the people on this site will be more than glad to help out. Gary

Hello and welcome from the “States”!
Read your post and chuckled. BEEN THERE and DONE THAT!!! Hahaha. Bought many dead ones only to make them bark again. Enjoy your hobby. Hope you get your new CAT dialed in.
Post some pictures please. JM

Welcome! Sounds like you’re well on your way. Might just as well plan on going after that D7, you’ll really like it!! Lol!!

Have fun and post some pictures of your adventures.

Bruce P.

Hi, Folks.
Looks like 'Yellow Fever' has claimed another victim.

Hi, budasterisk.
Welcome to the 'Yellow Fever' NON-recovery ward. This disease has NO known cure except death and we ain't even sure about that at the moment 'cos no-one has ever been good enough to come back and tell us if their death cured them. You probably won't die OF this fever but you will almost certainly die WITH it.

And, as Bruce P said, you might as well go and get that D7 now since you have been infected. I have yet to meet a D7 that I did not like.

Just my 0.02.

[quote="Deas Plant."]Hi, Folks.
Looks like 'Yellow Fever' has claimed another victim.

Hi, budasterisk.
Welcome to the 'Yellow Fever' NON-recovery ward. This disease has NO known cure except death and we ain't even sure about that at the moment 'cos no-one has ever been good enough to come back and tell us if their death cured them. You probably won't die OF this fever but you will almost certainly die WITH it.

And, as Bruce P said, you might as well go and get that D7 now since you have been infected. I have yet to meet a D7 that I did not like.

Just my 0.02.[/quote]

"You got that right Deas, no known cure!"

I think they make a shot for that. Oh wait that was something else, never mind

I will give it another month before I make an offer on the D7.

As I build up my manual collection I need a bit of guidance:

where is the fill hole for the final drives? I can see the drain fitting but on this machine there is a hole a couple inches above from the underneath but on my machine there are no plugs in them. Are those the fill holes?

If anyone had a lead on track chains please let me know. I just need one side and dont mind aftermarket.

Steer clear of ITM track! They don't press the links together correctly, some are too tight and some are ok, some links lock up and some you can see the inner link is scuffed and scraped from being pressed to snug.

the fill plugs for the final drives are on the rear of the lower part of the transmission case and can be checked without crawling under the machine

Hi, Budasterisk
You can see one of the final drive fill/level plugs in this photo, the cup-like fitting with the in-hex plug inside the drawbar support mount.

[attachment=51042]Cat D4 7U20888 crawler with 24-inch plates_1C_Acmoc.jpg[/attachment]

Just my 0.02. Hope it helps.