Does some body has experience with oil anaysis data regarding that type of engines?
i found a strong coorelation between a sudden Cu increasing and engine break down.

I have been working on 3406 Cat engines ever since they came out. What other metals have increased numbers or is it only copper?

The reason I ask is because I would think that if main and rod bearings were going out that there would also be a increase in metals like tin and iron.

Do you know what the engine failures are? Main or rod bearing failures, rockers, cam followers etc...

Hi Micbial.
You are right. The rod bearing failed and the rod broked out to breath a fresh air.
The interesting part is that happen fast. theonly indication was one sample: Fe 110 ppm and Cu 65. No Pb or Sn.
At another 3406 engine the oil pump failed. Those 2 engines were install on drill machines , high RPM and we never reached more than 8000 Hr.tHE MAINTENANCE IN GENERAL IS GOOD. We are using CI4 oil. With 3508 for example we are reaching more than 30000 Hr on front end loader.
Do you have any experience with other models of Cat engine? I got a lote of data.
thanks

Dan - Let's get a little more info on your operation and maintenance of these engines.

What is there standard operating RPM?
What percentage of time are they under load?
What exact engine oil and viscosity are you using?
Do you by chance know what there average operating temperature is of the coolant and engine oil?
What is your oil analysis schedule? In other words, how many hours of operation between test.
Do you change oil based on UOA for extended drain intervals or by a specific time.

If you can, can you email me a scan of the UOA that showed the CU of 65? If so, send it to sales@trclubricants.com and I'll look it over. If you can also send one or two previous UOA's also that would be great. That will give me somewhat of a baseline to gauge that analysis.

The UOA that showed a CU of 65 would have thrown warning light's off in my head. I would have probably taken the engine out of service and done a rods and mains check.

Are you running factory Caterpillar oil filters on these engines or are you using a aftermarket filter? Personally I like the Caterpillar filters. I have cut alot of them open over the years to examine and alway's found the Cat filters to have a lar*** surface area (more pleat's) and thicker filter media than most after market filters. Donaldson also makes excellent heavy duty diesel engine filters and has even recently released a extended drain interval oil filter for diesel engines. Might be worth checking out. I alway's suggest buying the best oil filters you can get and in the case of Cat's, the Cat filter is hard to beat.

Look forward to your reply and helping you track down the cause of the failure. Anytime a citty cat makes holes in the side of the block there's something wrong.

what type of unit is this engin powering?Is it mobile equipment?Does it operate under a retarder.The scenerio of which this engin failed putting aside the cu content is familiar to a high RPM engine engaged quickly by a retarder while unit under load......just a thought.

I recently started a new 3304 Caterpillar engine and the first few (one month intervals)UOA showed high Cu, after break in it came down to below 5ppm so that is what my baseline is. The reason is the oil cooler contains Cu.