Cat 312 repairs

[rudeag]

I have a burnt Cat 312 grey machine and encountering problems with the American parts and service manuals. Are there any 312's in the E. Texas area that I could look at? The hyd. area was burnt and there are differences in the plumbing between American and Japanese models. Since most of the hoses burned it is impossible to tell where they go. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Randy

 

[Lee-online]

what year? model?

Serial number would really help.

 

[rudeag]

93 or 94
312 is the only numbers/letters on the plate
S/N 7 DK 02085
thanks for any help

 

[CRAFT]

My ser.# starts with 6GK and it is deff a '94 ...... I maybe able to help, but you have to post pics of the area that you are wanting to re-plumb .....the more pics the better ..... cheers

 

[rudeag]

Craft,
Is the swing control valve located on top of the swing motor or elsewhere?

 

[CRAFT]

No, it should be at the control bank where all of the spools are .... there are pilot lines both on top ad on the bottom of the bank ... and is directly behind the swing motor (@ a right angle) ..... with the main hyd feed lines coming out of there as well .... I am heading out to the job site later today and will take some pics of the ares concerned .... but you should also take some pics to show us where you have all the damage

 

[rudeag]

cat 312 repairs pics

Here are some pics, the blue valving on top is for a hammer, as far as I know. The valve pic with the red hand is on top of the swing valve and could be part of the hammer plumbing? Since I don't have nor need a hammer my wish is to eliminate everything to do with the hammer but I need the initial plumbing diagram in order to re-plumb. Any help?

 

[MrKomatsu]

1993..japan made unit....

 

[Willis Bushogin]

grey market machine

I have a burnt Cat 312 grey machine and encountering problems with the American parts and service manuals. Are there any 312's in the E. Texas area that I could look at? The hyd. area was burnt and there are differences in the plumbing between American and Japanese models. Since most of the hoses burned it is impossible to tell where they go. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Randy

If you need a Japanese parts manual, get Cat to order you one. They can do it, because I have one for a 320L. (its for sale if anyone needs it) If your Cat dealer cant do it, let me know and I will give you my dealers name. All you have to do is locate the item you need and the part number is in english.
My dealer also has parts machine, they did have a 312, but that was months ago
Im sure these guys can help with your problem, also
Good Luck

 

[CRAFT]

rudeag ....took these pics for you
this kind of shows how much extra you have in hoses , compared to mine
I do have the thumb circuit on mine as well
I also do not have the original water separator anymore took it off it caused alot of air in fuel system probs
Where did this fire exactly happen ? those hoses on your a toasted but all you have to do is remove one or two at a time and replace them until you're done
But all of the extra crap you have on top of the main valve bank, that you show in your pic can disapear, relating to the hammer

 

[rudeag]

Craft, Thanks so much for your help. The fire was in the platform that the swing motor sits on. Pretty intense for a while. I know the hoses for the hammer can disappear but I'm not sure where to re-plumb some of the main feed hoses. Do you have a service and/or parts manual for your machine? Would it be too much trouble to remove that top grated plate and give me some pics of the valve bank? Appreciate it.

 

[CRAFT]

No problem, when I get back out to that job site where it's sitting I'll do that.

Don't know if you've checked it out yet, but Cat has an online service called SIS .... it might be very worth your while to sign up .... call your local Cat dealer and talk to a product support guy, he can fill you in, at least the info will be very accurate
It'll give you all service info and parts schematics, data for hyd pressures ect. that you'll need anytime 24/7 ..... it would be cheaper than a set of shop manuals, and saves alot of time waiting for guys to give you feed back
Just a thought, but we'll do what we can in the mean time
Ohh did the pilot lines on the rear and bottom of the main valve bank get burned too ?

 

[rudeag]

Craft,
I checked with my local Cat dealer and the SIS is fairly expensive and is more for fleet operations. Additionally he said they don't don't know a whole lot about the gray machines and there are no service manuals or parts books , at least in English. They have had this problem for a long time and now its my problem too. Yes most of the lines are burnt completely. Thanks again for your help and look forward to more pics.

 

[Jam]

Hows is it going... Normally the hammer piping is taken from the forth spool in from the right hand side. How many auxiliary circuits are heading up along the boom? Seems an extremely complicated set up so wondering was the machine used as some sort of tool carrier...

 

[Willis Bushogin]

grey market

Craft,
I checked with my local Cat dealer and the SIS is fairly expensive and is more for fleet operations. Additionally he said they don't don't know a whole lot about the gray machines and there are no service manuals or parts books , at least in English. They have had this problem for a long time and now its my problem too. Yes most of the lines are burnt completely. Thanks again for your help and look forward to more pics.

Bull about they cant get parts manuals for a grey market machine, they are too lazy to look it up.
Call Gregory Poole Equipment co, in Washington, NC 252-946-1081. They have that crazy answering service. what you are looking for is, construction parts, then parts Ask for Barry Brickhouse, I know he can help with the parts manual.
You can also ask him, if they have a salvage 312 grey market machine that maybe you could get parts from if you need them.
They have a website and Barry's name maybe on their contact list, where you can send him a email.
Just a thought, but, ask your local dealer if there is another machine like yours in your area. You may have to talk to a equipment salesman, they tend to know where machines are, more than parts guys
Another thought, boy Im full of it tonight, do you have a local hydraulic guy that works for himself or on the side? A good hydraulic guy can figure it out, if you havent tore all the hoses out and most likely he can make the hoses at your site. Most of these guys charge, about half as much as the dealers and regular shops. The guy I use, used to work for Cat and he went out on his own and he doesnt waste all that shop time. Ask around with people that has heavy equipment in your area, Im sure there are local service guys, that they use. Im not trying to bad mouth dealers but shop prices are around $100 hr and the local service guy is around $40-$50 hr same class of work
Im finished with the thoughts
Good Luck

 

[rudeag]

Craft,
What is the S/N on your machine?

 

[CRAFT]

Hey there ! ... it starts with .... 6GK00xxx ... I am currently done at the job site the machine is at now, and will be moving it next week at that time I will be bringing it home for a day to service it before it sees the next site.
At that time I will take more pics of the area you asked, but I don't think a pic is possible of the bottom of the valve bank. Its just to tight to get a pic thru the hole on the bottom of the machine, ( thats why I asked if the pilot lines on the back and bottom sides of the valve bank were burned too.
For some reason I think mine was built over seas too, cause the first couple of years I had it, they kept on getting some of the parts wrong, but that was mainly the filters ..... Cat Finning had retro-fitted all of the stuff to common #'s ...... I agree with Willis, I think your guy is just to lazy to look .....CAT has a huge network and has access to everything and every machine with a Cat logo on it
???? .... what if they sent (your dealer tech) guy out to your machine to do a repair...... Uhhhhhh can't fix cause its from Japan ???? ....I don't think so.
Call another dealer or call Cat direcly TALK to product support ....its probably a toll free number in your area too.....cheers ....GK

 

[rudeag]

What I have gathered is most if not 312's were made in Japan or France. Some for domestic use and some for USA use. The USA machines needed to meet emission standards for USA. The others did not have such standards. The grey machines were exported legally or illegally to the USA and therein lies the difference. The machines are very similar but have differences in the hydraulic plumbing. I can't speak to the engine but assume there are differences there also. Reliable info on the hydraulics is impossible to obtain except thru a Japanese parts book, written in Japanese. I. As far as I know a service manual for the grey machine is not available. If someone has more or more accurate info let the group know. I am still looking for another grey 312 to talk to the owner about. Anybody?
r