Too much pump oil?

[Camelot]

Hey folks...gotta quick question...I recently changed my pump oil and may have added too much.

The pump (Cat) takes 18oz of oil. I wasn't paying attention and added a little over 20oz (it was a 21oz bottle and I almost emptied it). I left it, figuring it would be OK. After the oil change, I noticed I was periodically losing pressure at the wand and surface cleaner. The surface cleaner will literally stop turning and just spray water from the nozzles. I tried another surface cleaner with the same results. The only change has been the changing of the pump oil, so my question is "Will overfilling the pump cause this loss of pressure?"

Thanks in advance for any help!

- John

[MMI Enterprises]

check for debri clogging tips, filters, maybe pump checkvalves

[Tmrrptr]

No. overfilling pump may cause it to blow oil out, or blow seals.
Worst case scenario is it could lock up pump and maybe break something.

You probably got a coincidence going... crud in the nozzles.

Use a turkey baster from a discount store to suck a bit back out the fill hole if you don't want to slosh it out by tipping...

[Christopher]

I had the same thing happen with my Whisper Wash Classic......The Bearings went out, nothing wrong with the machine.

You could turn the spray bar by hand and it was a little tight but too tight for the water pressure to turn it.

Try your pressure washer with the wand, if things are good, you just need to rebuild the swivel.

What brand of surface cleaner is it?

[Christopher]

OK, scratch that. I just re-read your post.

I have had a few ounces of pump oil in my pump before and had no problem at all, just blows out a little at a time throught the breather cap.

You could have trash in the line that is clogging up the spray nozzles, try without a nozzle to see if you have good flow.

Did you hear your pump cavitate (starving for water)?

[Camelot]

Thanks for the responses, guys. No cavitating, but I haven't checked for debris. The loss of pressure is only intermittent. The surface cleaner will work for a while, then quit. I am having the swivel rebuilt...we'll see if that helps. Thanks again!

- John

[MMI Enterprises]

John you said wand and surface cleaner....
If a slow rise and fall I suggest looking for debri in any float tank, hose filters, or pulling the pumps check valves to see if there is shavings, etc. keeping them open at times. If all clear then it sounds like time to change some pump packing rings.

[One Tough Pressure]

If you were having issues with both the surfacer and wand, did you do any pressure checks? If two different surfacers had the same results, then I would focus on the machine vs rebuilding unions.
Have you considered the unloader?

[Tmrrptr]

I'll bet Alan's got it, with the unloader call...

[MMI Enterprises]

Changed my unloader once...it was some time before having same issue.