Cat 330 GC Filter Kit: The Eight Numbers One Machine Needs

Published: November 1, 2026By CN Machinery

Fleet buyers order a "330 GC kit" and then discover the machine wants eight numbers, not five, and that two of those eight share one English name. The list below comes from Cat's own parts pages, read on 1 November 2026, and where Cat publishes a size we print it, and where Cat publishes nothing we say so instead of filling the cell. Cat groups the same set the same way we do: its "often bought together" block on the 289-7789 page lists 523-4987, 590-9787, 500-0957, 509-5694 and 322-3155 alongside the hydraulic element.

1. The Eight Numbers, By Circuit

Circuit	Cat's part name	Number	What Cat publishes
Engine lube	Advanced Efficiency Lube Filter Assembly	322-3155	Advanced-efficiency cartridge element
Fuel, water separator	Separator Element	523-4987	Melt-blown media, glass-filled nylon caps, 250.3 mm long, RoHS
Fuel, secondary	Secondary Fuel Filter Element	509-5694	Melt-blown media, 169 mm (6.65 in) long, RoHS
Engine air, primary	Ultra High Efficiency Engine Air — Primary	496-9845	Non-round panel, pre-cleaner on the element, 441.6 × 301.3 × 253.6 mm
Engine air, secondary	Standard Efficiency Engine Air — Secondary	496-9846	Part name, grade and model list; no size on the product page
Hydraulic and transmission	Standard Efficiency Hydraulic/Transmission Filter	289-7789	Cartridge, Ø 4.587 in (116.5 mm) × 9.606 in (244.0 mm), metal and non-metal
Hydraulic oil	Standard Efficiency Hydraulic Oil Filter	590-9787	Part name, grade and model list; no size on the product page
Cab air	Standard Efficiency Cab Air Filter	500-0957	9.587 in (243.5 mm) long, polypropylene

Five of those eight are also the set Cat's parts pages recommend together, which is the closest thing to an official kit list Cat publishes. There is no Cat boxed kit number for the whole set that we could verify, so a buyer assembles it: eight lines on one purchase order instead of six separate shipments and four separate freight minimums.

2. Two Hydraulic Numbers, One Trade Name

Ask any supplier for "the hydraulic filter for a 330 GC" and you will be offered one of two Cat numbers, both standard efficiency, both listed for the machine. They are not the same part.

	289-7789	590-9787
Cat's part name	Standard Efficiency Hydraulic/Transmission Filter	Standard Efficiency Hydraulic Oil Filter
Published form	Cartridge	Not published
Published size	Ø 116.5 mm × 244.0 mm (4.587 × 9.606 in)	None on the product page
Material	Other mixed: metal and non-metal	Not published
Model coverage on Cat's page	320, 320 GC, 326, 326 GC, 330, 330 GC, 333 GC, 336, 336 GC, 340, 345 GC, 349, 352, 355, 395, plus 324D to 336F and a 3512B genset	312 GX to 395 — roughly sixty excavator, material handler and MHPU models, including 330 GC and 336 GC

The coverage line is the tell. A part listed against nearly every Next Gen machine from 12 to 40 tonnes is a common element, not a machine-specific one, and that is exactly the sort of line a buyer merges into "hydraulic filter" without looking. We will not pretend to settle from a web page which of the two sits in the return line and which in the pilot circuit on every serial — Cat's own naming is not consistent enough for that, and a machine that has been reworked in the field can differ from the book. What settles it is the housing: one takes a cartridge that drops into an assembly, the other does not. Photograph the filter head and the element in your hand and the ambiguity disappears in one message.

3. Why a Model List Cannot Specify the Kit

Cat compiles its compatible-model lists by component group, not by engine and not by serial. The 496-9845 primary, for instance, is listed from the 330 GC up to the 355, plus the 707 wide-body truck, the MH3040 and the 330 MHPU — machines with very different engines and one shared air box. Two consequences follow for anyone building a kit from a model name.

	330 GC	336 GC	336 (badge shared)
Engine	C7.1	C7.1	C9.3B per Cat's 2018 launch material; Cat's current 336 page quotes a C7.1 TTA at 302 hp (225 kW)
Power	150 kW / 201 hp net (ISO 9249)	205 kW / 275 hp	234 kW / 314 hp in the 2018 table
Operating weight	30,900 kg	36,500 kg	37,200 kg in the 2018 table
Engine air pair	496-9845 + 496-9846	496-9845 + 496-9846	496-9841 + 496-9842 (519 × 294 × 300 mm) on the C9.3 and C9.3B machines

The first consequence is that engine size does not move the filters as much as buyers expect: a 330 GC and a 336 GC are 5,600 kg apart on the same engine and take the same eight numbers. The second is the opposite: a machine wearing a 336 badge may carry a different engine and a different air pair, so the model name is the weakest field on the enquiry form. If a customer writes "336 filter kit", the first reply has to be a question about the engine plate, not a price.

4. What a Kit Order Should Contain

One of each of the eight is the floor, not the ceiling. How many of each a machine holds comes from the parts diagram for the serial, and the item that catches buyers out is the cheapest one: Cat's page for 500-0957 also lists 580-5439 as a further cab air filter, which means a cab with separate fresh-air and recirculation elements takes two numbers rather than one. Counting cab filters from a model list produces a kit that is short on the day of the service.

Two more items belong next to the kit without being filters: the seal under the hydraulic element housing, because a reused seal is how a clean filter turns into a leaking one, and a spare set of the plastic lock rings on the fuel separator if the machine runs in a workshop that removes them with a screwdriver. We pack the eight numbers as one kit on request, labelled by circuit, and we ship the kit against a serial rather than a model.

5. The Intervals Cat Published at Launch

Item	What Cat's 330 / 330 GC launch material states
Hydraulic return filter	3,000-hour service life, 50 percent longer than the previous design
Fuel filtration	Both fuel elements synchronised at 1,000 hours, 100 percent longer than before
Engine air	Pre-cleaner integrated into the element; twice the dirt-holding capacity of the previous design
Overall	Up to 20 percent lower maintenance cost against the previous series

Those are series-level design figures from Cat's November 2018 release, reprinted by dealers, not a schedule for a particular serial. The air element is where site conditions overrule the brochure: a machine on rock drilling in dust will not see the same element life as one on trenching in a wet climate, and no supplier number changes that.

6. What This Page Does Not Publish

No prices, because lane, quantity and whether the order is one kit or a year of kits decide them. No micron ratings or efficiency percentages beyond Cat's own grade names — Advanced, Ultra High Efficiency, Standard — because Cat does not print a beta ratio for these numbers on the pages we can read, and an invented figure in a table is worse than an empty cell. No dimensions for 496-9846 or 590-9787, for the same reason. And no claim that an aftermarket cross is a fitment: the one we found for 289-7789, a single listing pairing it with YA00013068, SH60830 and ST30174, is a lead to check against a measured element, not an authority.

What we do instead is confirm the kit against your machine before it ships. Send the model, the serial prefix, and a photograph of the two hydraulic housings, or the measurements off the elements you removed, and the eight numbers come back as one quotation with one freight cost.

FAQ

Q: How many filters does a Cat 330 GC take?
A: Eight part numbers cover the service on a C7.1 330 GC: 322-3155 engine lube element, 523-4987 fuel water separator, 509-5694 secondary fuel element, 496-9845 engine air primary with 496-9846 secondary, 289-7789 hydraulic and transmission element, 590-9787 hydraulic oil filter, and 500-0957 cab air filter. A kit is at least one of each, and the count of each item comes from the parts diagram for your serial, not from a model list. The cab is the usual shortfall: Cat's page for 500-0957 also lists 580-5439 as a further cab filter.

Q: Is Cat 289-7789 the same filter as 590-9787?
A: No. They are different parts that Cat names differently. 289-7789 is filed as a standard efficiency hydraulic and transmission filter, and Cat's page gives it as a cartridge 4.587 in (116.5 mm) across by 9.606 in (244.0 mm) long in mixed metal and non-metal. 590-9787 is filed as a standard efficiency hydraulic oil filter and its page carries no measurement block at all, but its compatible list runs from the 312 GX to the 395. Both numbers appear on the 330 GC and 336 GC listings, so the housing decides which one the machine takes.

Q: Do the Cat 330 GC and 336 GC take the same filters?
A: Yes for the C7.1 GC machines. Cat's parts pages list the same service numbers for the 330 GC and the 336 GC, including the air pair 496-9845 and 496-9846, the hydraulic numbers 289-7789 and 590-9787, and the cab filter 500-0957. The weight difference between the two machines, 30,900 kg against 36,500 kg, does not change the filters. A 336 badge is a different question: Cat's 2018 launch material printed the 336 with the C9.3B, and C9.3 and C9.3B machines take the 496-9841 and 496-9842 air pair instead.

Q: What does the Cat 289-7789 filter cross-reference to?
A: The only cross we found is a single aftermarket listing that pairs 289-7789 with YA00013068, SH60830 and ST30174. That is a lead, not a verified catalogue cross, so order on the Cat number plus the two measurements: 116.5 mm outside diameter and 244 mm length. If a supplier gives you a cross number without a diameter and a length, measure the element you take out before you commit to a container load.