An Educational Guide for Excavator Owners & Fleet Managers in South Africa When an excavator fails, most people blame the “big” components: The engine The hydraulic pump The final drive The swing motor But in reality, the silent killer behind most of those catastrophic failures isn’t the component itself. It’s dirty oil . Contaminated oil destroys engines, pumps, valves, and motors faster than any other factor—and it often goes unnoticed until thousands of rands evaporate in