It's BIG, Yellow and digs holes! JCB 3CX Project 8 is joining the Tractor Shed

[hermetic]

Thats a pain Andrew, you would think at the price they could put some wood packers around it, or even polystyrene! still, as you say easily rectified. The cooling fins are easily straightened with a screwdriver, and a bit of matt black makes good! I once fumbled a screwdriver whilst clearing some tools off the bonnet landing panel of a customers car I was fixing, and of course it fell into the fan of the running engine, and a little jet of water appeared. I was lucky, it was a good radiator and the hole was in the outside of a tube between the fins, took it out and soldered the pinhole with a big electric iron!
Phil

[awemawson]

So once Grand-Children, Dogs and Wives had been packed off to hunt edible chestnuts I was able to resume activities. I set myself a low target today as folks staying and cottage guests in abundance arriving today.

Once at the tractor shed I was delighted to find that the floor WASN'T awash with the expensive coolant that I put in yesterday, so I got on changing the engine air filters. There are three - air enters via a dust separator that is mounted above the bonnet then passes through an outer and then inner filter before getting to the turbo. The dust separator gathers debris by spinning the air flinging it by centrifugal force to the outer edge of the bowl, where it falls down into a gully provided for it. A good blow out with an airline followed by a wash in hot soapy water got it ready for re-installation. The Inner and Outer filters are just a case of changing the element. Usually you'd only need to change the outer one, but as I have no idea how old they are I changed both.

While doing this I noticed that the 'safety valve' (or Fart Valve as I always known them !) is missing so order placed for one. This device is just a rubber moulding designed to allow air out but not in by it's shape. So if explosive fumes were to accumulate in the filter housing and got ignited, it would blow off rather than burst the filter housing. Without it some air will circumvent the dust filter so it's needed.

Still got the hydraulic filters, fuel filters and sediment bowl (it's nasty in there !), and transmission oil and engine oil filters to go !

And when all that's done just 70 grease points to grease, four final drive planetary gear boxes and two axle / differentials to check for level !

[mc]

Just realised that's the newer version of 3CX from the one I replaced the radiator on.
At least JCB seem to be making some things easier to fix.

[awemawson]

The Postman delivered the new 'Fart Valve' today so I was able to just slip that on, but nothing else will happen for a couple of days due to family commitments.

He also delivered the replacement Oil Pressure Switch, so that's handy I can replace it when I drop the oil next week.

[howsitwork?]

very nice Andrew

always wanted one of those.

got to drive one  when our house was being built 33 years ago, now where did those years go ???

I shall watch enviously as this proceeds

[awemawson]

So no putting it off any longer - time to change the oil !

First I replaced the oil pressure switch (*) and proved that it worked, then left her warming up for a bit, then actually draining out the old oil wasn't too bad - most went in the bucket  Once it stopped dripping I attacked the oil filter - this is the bit I wasn't looking forward to as it's in an amazingly awkward place to get at - has to be from underneath.

Old diesel engine oil is remarkably good at marking anything within ten foot! The filter is pretty well horizontal, you have to be under it to undo it - well you get the picture 

Anyway it's done and so far no leaks 


(* I'd thought that there was an issue with an o/c wire in the instrument harness, but eventually a few days back proved the fault to the actual oil pressure switch)

[WeldingRod]

That reminds of my Honda!  But with more room and a bigger filter ;-)

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[awemawson]

I may have mentioned that I had had the Operators Manual printed from my PDF on nice heavy 100 GSM paper and was so impressed that I decided to have the Service Manual also printed on thicker paper.

Well it arrived the other day but WASN'T on 100 GSM paper but something considerably thinner which was easily apparent to the touch. Well they weren't having any of it until I called their bluff with a micrometer

First print run 122 micron paper, this print run 105 - they obviously didn't expect an Engineer at this end of the discussion 

Then I really made their day pointing out that they were fiddling their courier sending me a 1 kg return label for a 2.75 kg parcel.

Anyway it's off back to them tomorrow to reprint - I fully understand why they wan't the first version back . . but it ain't me fiddling !!!

[awemawson]

Today's job - replace the diesel filter and clean out the sediment bowl.

I wasn't looking forward to this expecting trouble bleeding the system of air afterwards, especially as the lift pump is on the other side of the engine from the filter and sediment bowl.

First I removed the sediment bowl - it was full of all sorts of muck - and when it came off the 'swirl funnel' detached and for the life of me I cannot see what is supposed to hold it up against the top of the fitting. Anyway I gave it a good clean out and rinse in clean diesel and started scratching my head. The swirl funnel doesn't seem to be available as an individual part, and the whole sediment bowl second hand is £75 so ingenuity was called for. Very careful examination revealed no broken edges - I suspect that it relies on the "springyness" of the plastic that it's made from to clip onto features round the inlet and outlet pipes but the plastic is 25 years old and not springy.

Obvious answer - a suitably long weak spring to push up from the bowl itself under the funnel and keep it in contact where it should be, and the collection of random springs that I keep kindly provided a suitable candidate

So putting everything back together time to do the priming. Odd set up - no bleed screws - the procedure is to turn on the ignition to open the fuel solenoid, and hand pump the lift pump lever for two minutes, and amazingly it works!

I did actually have an issue getting the new filter to seal in it's housing - significant leak first time - but a bit of jiggling the  sealing ring round a bit has (I hope) cured it.

[awemawson]

Not a lot of progress as I'm 'waiting for things' but this morning I thought that I'd knuckle down and try and trace the wiring for the cab interior light, and the warning buzzer.

Warning buzzer was EASY - it isn't sounding as it isn't there  It's the same format as the plug in relays and I bet someone unplugged it when the oil pressure switch failed. Quite clever really, all the various pressure and temperature sensors feed into a multi-input diode logic OR gate the output of which brings up a big red warning triangle on the dash, and sounds the buzzer - well it would if it was there ! Replacement on order.

I totally failed to trace the Cab interior wiring issue. The light should have ground (battery -ve) on one side (it does), and a permanent live feed via fuse A7. Measuring at fuse A7 it has no live feed but in looking into how it is fed I find on the circuit diagram it is via "Fuse Link 7" . Now nowhere is there reference to fuse links as opposed to fuses, the fuses are designated A1 though A9, B1 though B9 and C1 through C9 and have a different circuit symbol to the Fuse Links (Which are drawn as a resistor zig-zag line)

Incidentally, the (not working) radio which is fused by 'A8' is ALSO fed from 'fuse link 7' so it probably IS the problem if I can only find it!)

Trying to trace it using a Tempo tone tracer the only place it turned up was on the steering column right hand stork that controls full or dipped headlights !

. . . .so it remains a mystery 

[WeldingRod]

I'd look for a black box near the battery...  follow the hot lead!

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

[awemawson]

Morray, I'm coming to the conclusion that they are simply individual wire cores in the harness from the starter motor to the fuse box rather than an individual component. Certainly there are seven yellow cores of varying gauge crimped into a big tag on the starter motor and disappearing into the 'cab harness' and there seem to be seven of these 'Fuse Links'

Later Edit: (oops - it seems that there are 9 'Fuse Links' ! )

[awemawson]

Time for the hydraulic filter change. This had been delayed as the new gasket that seals the access port  for the filter had been supplied incorrectly. They sent the inspection port gasket by mistake. Replacement arrived by today's post so onward and upwards . .

Clean up round the port, unscrew the bolts, scrape off the old rubber gasket, remove filter, replace with new - what could be simpler. While the oil level was low I replaced the totally opaque old level gauge and fitted a new one.

There is a tank breather in the filling cap that needs replacing, but in fact I replaced the entire cap with one with a locking facility.

Topped up the 32 weight hydraulic oil to the mark - job's a good 'un

(except that that was the last of my 32 weight hydraulic oil so an order placed for a further two 20 litre drums)

[awemawson]

Yesterday I had another crack at the wiring mystery - this 'fuse link 7' business. I'm more and more convinced that the fuse links have been done away with and are merely cores in the wiring harness.

Also, thinking as the faulty cab light AND the faulty radio were both supplied by this link then it must itself be faulty. WRONG 

I took the radio out of the console and powered it up from a bench power supply, and it IS genuinely faulty. Then just to confirm it I proved a connection was getting to it's power connector using the tone tracer.

So it now turns out the cab light isn't working possibly due to a single failed core or connection splice on cable  303 in the wiring loom. This of course is hidden behind the head lining and trim but I may be able to get a bit of access where the clock mounts.

I'd thought that I could use my endoscope camera BUT plugging it all together it turns out that the 'ap' no longer works with the version 15.1 of IOS that recently upgraded on my phone and the Chinese supplier hasn't written an upgraded version Don't you hate technology.

So - now I'd like to get the radio working - far from essential but nice to have. It's a Clarion Finish Line 540 single DIN sized with an ISO connector for power and audio, mounted in a cage for it to slide in.

Easiest option is to find something physically compatible and just swap it out but I'm not sure how 'standard' the standards are in terms of the placing of aerial and ISO sockets - certainly the few I've seen on eBay seem to have the same sockets but in differing places.

So . . any suggestions welcome as always.

[awemawson]

I've spent DAYS trying to find the 'Boom Lock Master Cylinder Reservoir'. The Boom Lock is a tri-angular plate with holes in it that hinges on the kingpost, and when lowered goes round a cast knob on the boom, preventing it drooping when in transit.

The service book is little help with location other than that fore and aft it's in line with the rear axle. As it's on the 50 hour service check interval I'd expected it to be somewhere easily accessible. I've poked and prodded into all the nooks and crannies of the cab trim expecting an access hole somewhere but today I gave up that approach, and got out the crawler board and slid underneath. No problem getting on the board, it's getting up afterwards that's the issue 

Well guess what I found ! Far from being on the right hand side of the machine near the lever and where the manual implies it is, it's mounted on the extreme left hand side of the axle, with the filler cap practically touching the floor and virtually impossible to get at to unscrew or fill. Still I've found it !

Oh and I found a chap under there muttering about having lost a reservoir 

[hermetic]

No problem getting on the board, it's getting up afterwards that's the issue 
I know the feeling well Andrew, but we are driven! This afternoon I found myself wearing headtorch to fight my way through brambles in the dark, to get to the cabinet at the base of a mast, to try and get the internet back on for mum and cousin! In this weather, why do we do it? It can only be because it is there!
Phil

[tom osselton]

Looks like you took your blanket under there with you!

[awemawson]

Looks like you took your blanket under there with you!

A few weeks ago that jumper was OK for a trip to the pub for a meal, not any longer I fear !

[awemawson]

And now I'm being told that actually it's NOT a Project 8 3CX but a Project 9

According to an expert on the Facebook Vintage JCB group they were Project 8 when the console was at the front, but became Project 9's when the console was moved to the right side of the drivers seat.

I had always thought the the move from slew pots (internal rams moving a rack across a gearwheel) to swing the king post to external rams acting directly was the distinguishing feature but it seems I was wrong.

[russ57]

Does that increase the value, because it is newer, or decrease because it is 'less vintage'?

-russ

[awemawson]

Well Russ it stays the same!

The age hasn't changed, the only thing different is the name! It's a bit like the various car variants that tended to come out ready for new registrations - minor tweak - new name - must have!

I wasn't aware that there was a 'Project 9'  3CX - I was aware of Project 7, Project 8, Project 12 and Project 21 but what happened to the numbers in between ?

[awemawson]

My Oil Boiler man Mike was here today replacing a PRV, so as he's FAR more flexible than I am he kindly cleaned off and topped up the boom lock reservoir.

It was at about 1/3 full so adequate but low, now topped up to full so should be OK for the next 25 years 

[awemawson]

The radio / cassette player that was in the JCB when I got it was faulty. I've been trying to find a plug compatible one, and thought that I had.

It slides into a sleeve that has the ISO socket and aerial plug fixed in it's interior. I thought I'd found one with identical pin outs so bought it on eBay. It arrived this morning, and it turns out that it had a two bank ISO plug and the aerial was very slightly in a different place - BUT it did come with a short sleeve.

So butchering the ISO socket on my loom by sawing off the third bank, and installing the short sleeve in the console I've been able to adapt it, AND it works.

It even had a Motown CD in it so I could test both the radio AND the CD function

So that's another item ticked off the list.

I 'topped up' the front axle on Wednesday and had intended to move on to the rear one, however it took 3 litres to top it up (holds 13 litres) so I'd run out off the Castrol Transmax Universal that I'm using that blends with both GL-4 and GL-5 EP oils (front uses GL-5 and rear uses GL-4) so I ordered a further 5 litres.

Got a text to say it had been delivered 23:05 last night, and sure enough there was a soggy cardboard box by the gate soaked in rain. Who the heck delivers at 11 at night !

So that's my job for Saturday I think.

[modeng200023]

I know what you mean, wet cardboard boxes by the gate.

John

[awemawson]

At last I got the opportunity to crawl under and check the rear axle oil level.

Oil level plug is a 1-5/16" Hex and when I did the front axle I had to jump on my longest breaker bar from the 3/4" square set and even then it was a struggle to unscrew it. (Tapered BSP thread).

So I'd planned all sorts of strategies to get the rear one undone, as being between the wheels and well underneath there was certainly no room for jumping! So - Jack under far end of breaker bar, or make extended 3/4" extension to bring it to 'out from under', or . . . . well what, and to honest this 'or what' had been making me procrastinate.

In the end I thought - 'OK get get under there and try it'. Well legs braced against near side wheel, firm grip, give it your all. No not enough oomph 

So before dragging out the jacks etc, in one last effort, I got my biggest 'rubber dead blow hammer' and whacked it with all my might. Not easy lying on the floor in a cramped space . . . . but, hey hang on, was that  movement or am I about to skin my knuckles as the socket comes off the hex plug. Another try, and yes, we HAVE movement.

Now bear in mind all I'm doing is checking the level, drip bucket underneath, take it out, and . . . . . it's grossly over filled

Better over filled than empty, and the fact I'd bought oil in advance matters not a jot as it WILL be used in the future, but that at least is the rear axle and its epicyclic hub gear boxes done 

Not done the front epicylic boxes as I need a 'banksman' to tell me when the level plug is on the horizontal as I drive back and forth. I did try the other day lifting the front on the front shovel so the wheels are off the ground, and turning the wheels by hand, then lowering back to earth, but having the differential between them, as you spin one it turns the other in the opposite direction. Wedging one wheel 'almost' worked, but then the act of lowering back to earth, because of the geometry, turns the wheels. I'll have to be patient and wait for a hapless passing soul to grab