As one who had limited knowledge about Caterpillar products, I always felt that it would be the ultimate machine to own if I could ever afford one. Anyone who spoke of CAT, spoke highly of the reliability and endurance. Plus, the all raved about the company itself. About two years ago, an opportunity arose to obtain a 2007 CAT 242B skid steer. It was more powerful than I needed, had a cabin, heat and a/c. Sadly, the prior owner was behind on his payments and was about to get hit with a serious mark on his credit for a repo. Long story short, I took over the payments and the burden was no longer his. The machine had about 230 hours on it, so it was virtually brand new. If you’ve ever driven one, you understand just how handy and powerful these machines are.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. To-date, the machine had been flawless. It was always checked, lubed and maintained prior to use, so when the oil light began to flicker, my first thoughts were that it must be a faulty switch. Having seen a few engine failures due to ignoring the so-called “idiot-light”, I shut it down immediately and began looking for the root of the problem. Oil was full and only had 50 hours on it. Filter was new, but replacing it just in case was a good measure. No good. Pulled the oil pressure sending switch, tested with an ohm-meter and it was fine. Not looking too good at this moment. Then I plumbed in a mechanical oil pressure gauge. 0psi. Uh, oh…

Not one to take any chances, I took another gauge out of a known-working car and checked it back-to-back. Nothing. Zero psi. Panic sets in as this cannot be a cheap job, yet I’ve done nothing but take excellent care of the machine. At this point, I call a friend who is a heavy-equipment guy who has worked on CAT’s for 20 years and happens to work at large dealership in the East. He asks for the machine’s id # and before you know it, there are two potential issues that point at this very problem. One bulletin(similar to a recall notice for cars) says that the oil pump gear dowels shear off causing a loss of pressure and engine failure. The other says that the oil pump pickup can come off causing the aforementioned issues. Well, at least there is something to go on, but the machine is three years out of warranty. This is when the value of purchasing from Caterpillar became perfectly clear.

A call to the local CAT dealer starts with the usual description of symptoms but ends very differently. This time, the rep. says that CAT is very good about issues like this, so it’s best to take it apart, ascertain the real issue, then talk to the company. You’re not going to believe this, but they replaced the entire engine and the receipt says “Caterpillar Goodwill 100%”. They paid for a reman engine which is $8k, the installation and everything but the incidentals. Are you kidding me? Someone actually stands behind their product to this extent and took care of a machine that was babied but three years out of warranty. This is the kind of company I want to deal with and will literally forever. This kind of goodwill is unheard of in any industry and I am thankful for the backing of CAT and all involved in the transaction.

What will my next machine be? A Caterpillar. Without question, a Caterpillar and it will be from the dealer that helped bridge the gap and turn a bad situation into a great experience.