CAT TH407C overheating transmission

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
We've got a 2014 th407c which the transmission seems to overheat very easily, looked around at forums and it seems a reasonably common issue, they recommend getting a mechanic to fit an expansion tank for the trans fluid and and extra external oil cooler for it, any body know 1) how I could do that in the shop or 2) anyone who could do it professionally in the Hertfordshire area or further afield...

Another issue is rubbish Aircon, but I think the trans getting hot could be causing the cab to get hot and therefore making the Aircon seem awful...

Cheers
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
I presume you have washed all the rads out thoroughly, its does help, are you dragging heavy loads up hill or is it getting hot just doing normal jobs around the farm?
Yep the are well cleared out, it has the reversible fan fitted too. And loading a stacking straw and loading up dirt/grain etc. Nothing livestock
 

Timbo

Member
Location
Gods County
has it got some form of thermostat for the tranny cooler ? At that oil temp dping light work , it cant be cooling at all. Does the cooler feel like 120c to the touch ? Infra red thermo esse ntial for this kinda diagnosis...
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
has it got some form of thermostat for the tranny cooler ? At that oil temp dping light work , it cant be cooling at all. Does the cooler feel like 120c to the touch ? Infra red thermo esse ntial for this kinda diagnosis...
I haven't properly checked, but you can tell it's much hotter than normal when it does get hot, we've had a mechanic have a look and he has done his best to keep it cool (check the rad etc)
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
This was still an issue for us, so we took off the panels shielding the radiators and gave them a thorough clean with a pressure washer being careful not to damage the fins and plenty of muck still came out. This seems to have helped and hopefully cured the issue...

To make sure there isn't any known issues for this problem I spoke to finning regarding this issue: they don't think there is an known common trans problem, apart from a lack of airflow as it's at the bottom of the radiators and so only gets 1/3 of the fan airflow but they don't think this should make it overheat as much as it was for us. The transmission rad is 2 radiators sandwiched together. Apparently debris and straw gets clogged between the 2. If it can't be blown/washed out you have to drop them out and split the pack and then clean them out properly (we will try this next if it still gives us issues, however when I finished cleaning them the water coming out was clean). Another issue he said was a earthing issue which causes erratic temp readings - causing the overheating light to come on. This is the earth lead connecting the trans to the body, if so they replace it with a different sort of lead apparently. Finally he said whenever overheating is an issue, to run the machine with the clutch lock button switched on, as this stops the trans working against your brakes - heating it up. We hadn't been doing this as of course this makes it quite lurchy when stopping and starting.

We also have issues with the AC being naff. He said quite frankly that they are rubbish in the telehandlers as the cab doesn't insulate well enough, and again just to make sure the radiator on the top rear of the cab is clean and the air filters under the floor aren't blocked, and obviously that the system is charged. We are hoping our AC was bad because the trans was producing so much heat - heating up the cab to much!

Hope this helps anyone else having similar issues. I'll update if this doesn't solve the issue.
 
Don’t know exactly what transmission the cats got but are you using a high gear and getting a lot of transmission share which is causing heat buildup

is the tick-over set to high ?(does the machine creep when in gear without your foot on the break)
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
Don’t know exactly what transmission the cats got but are you using a high gear and getting a lot of transmission share which is causing heat buildup

is the tick-over set to high ?(does the machine creep when in gear without your foot on the break)
No it doesn't creep and no we don't drive in 6th going 10mph etc, but often in 2/3 going slow as 1st going flat out only goes a few mph. Pushing hard in 1st also often overheats it in hot weather
 

serri

Member
Location
leicestershire
We've got a 2014 th407c which the transmission seems to overheat very easily, looked around at forums and it seems a reasonably common issue, they recommend getting a mechanic to fit an expansion tank for the trans fluid and and extra external oil cooler for it, any body know 1) how I could do that in the shop or 2) anyone who could do it professionally in the Hertfordshire area or further afield...

Another issue is rubbish Aircon, but I think the trans getting hot could be causing the cab to get hot and therefore making the Aircon seem awful...

Cheers
Used to have a Cat 330b that did the same thing, eventually traced it to a faulty relief valve , maybe worth checking.
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
Spend a day properly cleaning rad, alternate washing and air line. You never get it all out just washing.

It takes bloody ages to properly clean a blocked rad.
A token gesture of a quick wash or blow out often is no where near enough.
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
Don’t know exactly what transmission the cats got but are you using a high gear and getting a lot of transmission share which is causing heat buildup

is the tick-over set to high ?(does the machine creep when in gear without your foot on the break)

Almost certainly a Spicer turner seen as CAT bought them a few years ago🙂
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
Spend a day properly cleaning rad, alternate washing and air line. You never get it all out just washing.

It takes bloody ages to properly clean a blocked rad.
A token gesture of a quick wash or blow out often is no where near enough.
Yeah I spent about 2 hours pressure washing it and blowing it out till the water ran out clean. Our machines also got a reversing fan, so I was also blowing it out with that
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
Yeah I spent about 2 hours pressure washing it and blowing it out till the water ran out clean. Our machines also got a reversing fan, so I was also blowing it out with that

Almost guarantee just because the waters running through clear that it's still full of crap!

The only way to know is blow it through with air line and hold hand otherwise to catch the sh!t.

The air seems to agitate the crap more if its wet.

I've spent 6 hrs cleaning a rad once! And it was out of the machine using a steam cleaner from both sides and alternating with air. Jobs not done till its clean🧐
 

cousinjack

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cornwall
We've got a 2014 th407c which the transmission seems to overheat very easily, looked around at forums and it seems a reasonably common issue, they recommend getting a mechanic to fit an expansion tank for the trans fluid and and extra external oil cooler for it, any body know 1) how I could do that in the shop or 2) anyone who could do it professionally in the Hertfordshire area or further afield...

Another issue is rubbish Aircon, but I think the trans getting hot could be causing the cab to get hot and therefore making the Aircon seem awful...

Cheers
Have you got the correct oil in the transmission ??
I know our th220 will overheat really quickly if it’s not got the right oil in it ..
Put the correct oil in however, and it’ll go all day with no problem ..

I’ll have a look tomorrow what oil we use .. 👍👍
 

ACEngineering

Member
Location
Oxon
Have you got the correct oil in the transmission ??
I know our th220 will overheat really quickly if it’s not got the right oil in it ..
Put the correct oil in however, and it’ll go all day with no problem ..

I’ll have a look tomorrow what oil we use .. 👍👍

Morris CT10 or jcb trans special 10w is the same spec as CAT but imo ATF Dexron 3 will do exactly the same.
 

jpn

Member
Arable Farmer
Almost guarantee just because the waters running through clear that it's still full of crap!

The only way to know is blow it through with air line and hold hand otherwise to catch the sh!t.

The air seems to agitate the crap more if its wet.

I've spent 6 hrs cleaning a rad once! And it was out of the machine using a steam cleaner from both sides and alternating with air. Jobs not done till its clean🧐

The only way to guarantee its clean is to drop it out, split it and then clean them (that'll be at the very least a days work), but since it started with literal mud along the bottom 5 inches of the rad, the fact that it's running clean with water to me is a good indication that it's very nearly clean. The only thing that could be still in there is straw however the rads are pretty well protected by mesh air vents that stops any big stuff. As I said if it continues to be an issue that will be the next step 👍
 

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