The Craftmans Shop > New from Old
It's BIG, Yellow and digs holes! JCB 3CX Project 8 is joining the Tractor Shed
awemawson:
I finally finished fitting the face level fan :thumbup:
(how alliterative was that :lol:)
I'd sourced a neat little die cast box off eBay (though actually Rapid Electronics) and fitted it to the cab a few days ago, and was waiting for a 'curly cable' - again from eBay. The fan can be moved to point at you whether you are in the front or back seat, so I decided that the extra movement of the curly cable was well worth while - anyway it was only £2 ! Obviously surplus from some nice equipment as it is super fine strands with reinforcing cotton or polyester up the middle. Mind you this meant that it had to be terminated with crimps and ferrules.
The original connection at the fan end was by 1/8" miniature push on 'mini lucar' connectors which amazingly I had in stock from some long forgotten project so I was able to do a pretty neat job of it.
All connected up and working on both speeds (knob Off - Slow - Fast co-axial with fan motor) it's another 'little job' put to bed.
awemawson:
At long last I've got round to a job I've been putting off for months. The engine was being over cooled, the temperature guage only just came off the base line, and I strongly suspected that the thermostat had failed or maybe wasn't even fitted.
Well today has been a bit warmer and I had a free morning - so get on with it.
One part of this job I'd really not looked forward to was draining the coolant - drain plug isn't ideally placed - so I used a trick a plumber friend of mine showed me some time ago. Slacken a hose clip, ease open the joint slowly and use a Wet & Dry vac to suck the fluid as it comes out. Worked splendidly with barely a drop lost on the floor.
Once the top hose was off the thermostat housing there were six M8 bolts to undo - the usual five easy ones, and one who's flats had previously been rounded off. My Irwin bolt remover worked splendidly and the housing was mine to clean up. Scraped with a razor blade paint scraper, tickled with a rotary wire bush and the cast iron housing and flat on the block cleaned up nicely.
There WAS a stat in there, and it was closed so all very odd so why over cooling?
Anyway it all went back together - new stat, new gasket, smear of HiLoMar, and bolts torqued down. I've temporarily replaced the rounded off one with a standard hex head - originals are flange bolts. I'll order a new one when next I place an order but not worth doing as a one off as postage swamps the goods.
I was able to re-use the coolant - I had cleaned the bucket of the Wet & Dry vac carefully so I could do this as I coolant was changed when i got the machine and is beautifully clean.
Machine set for a fast idle while I cleared up and then monitored it with the IR meter. Stat started to open at about 85 degrees and now for the first time in my ownership the temperature gauge shows sensible readings nicely at midle travel of the needle.
. . job's a good 'un :thumbup:
awemawson:
This really has me puzzled, I tested the old thermostat in a pan of boiling water - it resolutely stayed SHUT. So why was the engine over cooled and not overheating :scratch:
The over cooling was cured by installing a new thermostat so this defies logic - can anyone give me a logical explanation of what's happening here ?
ddmckee54:
The bypass hole in the old thermostat looks huge, was the hole the same size in the new stat? If that was bypassing too much coolant into the radiator that would keep the engine temp low. I haven't changed THAT many thermostats, but I don't ever remember seeing one with a hole that bit.
awemawson:
if you mean the second hole in the cast housing, it is blanked off by a flat face on the engine block.
(I imagine it's a part also used on bigger engines that use a pair of thermostats - my Dorman 110kva generator is like that with two stats to give adequate coolant flow)
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