The owner of a Caterpillar 303.5 mini excavator reports that the machine's tracks lose significant power after about an hour of operation as the hydraulic oil heats up.

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    "summary": "The owner of a Caterpillar 303.5 mini excavator reports that the machine's tracks lose significant power after about an hour of operation as the hydraulic oil heats up.",
    "category": "reliability",
    "comments": [
      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydraulics/comments/1wl6br4/comment/pawh7za/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 5,
        "author": "Inside-Lock192",
        "excerpt": "Hi op\n\n Is it only the tracks giving you grief when the machine gets hot? If so it could be internal bypass in the rotary coupling or the track drive motors. How many hours does the machine have and how hot is the oil getting?",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-20T04:44:44.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Inside-Lock192/"
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      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydraulics/comments/1wl6br4/comment/paw9s13/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 2,
        "author": "phranks_phluids",
        "excerpt": "Is the relief stupid hot when the system is weird? What's the reservoir temp?",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-20T03:55:09.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/phranks_phluids/"
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      {
        "url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydraulics/comments/1wl6br4/comment/pbhd3qt/",
        "depth": 0,
        "score": 1,
        "author": "Aggressive-Many997",
        "excerpt": "Cycle times on left and right track, try to isolate it to one side if possible. If it is only the one side that is slow, check for excessive case drain on the drive motor pull off the case drain.\n\n If both sides have the same cycle times, pull filters and inspect for contamination. Verify pump has good flow and if that checks out, inspect relief valve.",
        "posted_at": "2026-09-23T01:24:51.000Z",
        "author_url": "https://www.reddit.com/user/Aggressive-Many997/"
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    "evidence": [
      "[post] I've got a CAT 303.5 mini and the tracks feel strong the first hour, then power drops once the hyd oil heats up.",
      "[post] By afternoon I can barely crawl up anything with much grade.",
      "[post] If I shut down and let it cool, power mostly comes back."
    ],
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    "post_date": "2026-09-20T03:50:33.000Z",
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    "post_text": "I've got a CAT 303.5 mini and the tracks feel strong the first hour, then power drops once the hyd oil heats up. By afternoon I can barely crawl up anything with much grade.\n\nFluid level looks fine and I changed the return filter recently. Oil temp runs higher than it used to but nothing is in alarm. I haven't touched the relief valve yet because I'm not sure that's even part of this.\n\nIf I shut down and let it cool, power mostly comes back. That makes me think heat, not a mechanical bind. Maybe weak cooler flow or internal bypass, but I don't want to start throwing parts at it.\n\nAnyone seen this on a CAT mini? What did you check first?",
    "sentiment": "negative",
    "subreddit": "Hydraulics",
    "event_date": "2026-09",
    "post_title": "My 303.5 mini loses track power when hyd oil gets hot?",
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    "source_url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Hydraulics/comments/1wl6br4/my_3035_mini_loses_track_power_when_hyd_oil_gets/",
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