CAT 3406....what happened to this rod bearing??

[mwilson]

As the title says, what caused this condition??

Hint....we have seen it many times on Cat engines..

 

[GCroyle]

Clue is CAT Engine, somebody didn't change the litter box.

 

[mwilson]

None of you techs going to tackle this one???

 

[GCroyle]

None of you techs going to tackle this one???

OOOOHH! I'm feeling a bit snuffed here.

I'm a Tech.

Campfire Tech
Cast Iron Cooking Tech
Coleman Lantern and Stove Tech
Milspec Lantern Tech
Petromax 500CP Lantern Tech. Those actually have a flame throwing injector to preheat them. Ya gotta see it to appreciate it.
VW Beetle TDI Tech
Two Cycle Tech
Cub Cadet 100 Tech
Clutch Tech, actually more like Dr. Clutch well above Tech but not 18 wheeler stuff.
Airstream Tech, actually in perpetual training on this one

I guess I need to start using the wrong oil in some of my stuff.

Tech In Training

Gary

 

[mwilson]

Hint ---- It's not the wrong oil...

 

[mwilson]

OOOOHH! I'm feeling a bit snuffed here.

I'm a Tech.

Campfire Tech
Cast Iron Cooking Tech
Coleman Lantern and Stove Tech
Milspec Lantern Tech
Petromax 500CP Lantern Tech. Those actually have a flame throwing injector to preheat them. Ya gotta see it to appreciate it.
VW Beetle TDI Tech
Two Cycle Tech
Cub Cadet 100 Tech
Clutch Tech, actually more like Dr. Clutch well above Tech but not 18 wheeler stuff.
Airstream Tech, actually in perpetual training on this one

I guess I need to start using the wrong oil in some of my stuff.

Tech In Training

Gary

Edit...None of you techs with the exception of Gary....

 

[TFucili]

Ether?

 

[mwilson]

Ether?

Nope..

 

[Nigel]

Almost looks like electricity arcing to ground but I can’t figure any reason for that to pass through the crank.

Nigel

 

[Wayne M.]

Not the wrong oil, but something in that oil that doesn't belong.

 

[mwilson]

I've got a 1 1/2 hour drive coming up so I don't want to leave you guys hanging...

Overfull of engine oil which causes windage in the base which in turn causes bubbles in the engine oil....same effect as water bubbles against a cylinder liner...

We've seen it several times over the years...every time we ask how much oil they put in during an oil change and the reply is 44 quarts or more ....that's not a good thing...

A CAT 3406 in a truck with a standard truck oil pan holds 40 quarts period....so a mis-marked or worn out / broken dipstick is usually the culprit...

 

[mwilson]

If you look closely you see marks that look like a bb pellet hit it repeatedly. Those are from exploding oil bubbles..

 

[GCroyle]

MIKE

Com'n I was DARN close I mentioned OIL Texas tea, black gold, etc.

I'm pulling 1/2 point out of the winners pot.

Gary

I'm changing the diff oil today new lube tomorrow I made sure to get the BB less grade.

 

[JR]

Our crane mechanics don't call em Scatapillar for nothing.

 

[GCroyle]

Mike,

On a serious attempt to understand. Is this an overfill to where the crank throws are in the oil thrashing and splashing aerating the oil? The engine doesn't appreciate the foam and damages parts.

Gary

 

[jhenderson]

The same thing happens in hydraulic systems when there is a leak on the suction side. It slowly destroys the pump with miniature explosions when the entrained air is forced out of the oil.

 

[EDankievitch]

Learn something new every day on this site. We had a 3306 wipe out the mains and the crank. Thought it was from the service Tec using RVT silicon to hold the gaskets in place. I couldn’t figure out how the silicon got past the oil filter. Seeing this pic now makes more sense. One of our oilers would overfill it when he did the morning start up.
Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Wayne M.]

3306 is a smooth and sweet engine.
To me, that bearing looked like it was exposed to contamination and was delaminating.

 

[mwilson]

It’s hard to get pictures of but if you had it in your hand you could see the difference..

 

[EDankievitch]

We had well over 30,000 hours on our 3306’s and well over 50,000 hours on our 3406’s when we started to preform overhauls. They were never the same after. Quality of the parts just wasn’t the same. After seeing this pic I’m questioning if that 3306 was overfilled a few times due to people being lazy. After the overhaul they tended to use a lot of oil...