JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

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ged
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JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

Post #1 by ged » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:16 pm

Hi Can anyone help please. I have a 1988 JCB 3CX turbo grey cab. some time ago it ran out of hydraulic fluid to the point where nothing worked. I brought some universal fluid which I now no was the wrong stuff but It did seem to work ok and I was able to finish the work I was doing at the time. yesterday I brought new hydraulic fluid iso 32 and a new filter. the worrying thing is when I took the old filter out there was a lot of metal filings on the magnet which I cleaned off. Now when I start the machine it leaks from nearly all the valve block spools front and back. also the engine seems to be under a bit of load all of the time. and another strange thing is when driving if you lift the front bucket the power steering tries to turn right. apart from that all the other hydraulics seem to work fine. Could the metal fillings have come from the pump because it seems to be working ok? If its just a case of replacing the pump and all the o rings to the spools it would be worth fixing but I don't want to do this if there are lots of other problems. any advice please


essexpete
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Re: JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

Post #2 by essexpete » Sat Mar 28, 2015 12:33 pm

I am not a hydraulic expert but it sounds like you have some damage to more than just the pump but the damage may have been caused by lack of oil causing the pumps/s to shed some metal into the system. You might have swarf in relief valves and priority valves. It could be very tricky and expensive to sort out.


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Re: JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

Post #3 by Hugh Jaleak » Sun Mar 29, 2015 11:18 am

I'm with Pete, the damage is probably terminal I'm afraid. The spools are machined to such exact tolerances, the slightest bit of muck can wreck them. Had a problem with a Cat, where a small piece of rogue metal had got into the hydraulic system, the entire spool block had to be replaced. Cost a fortune from what I could gather.

If you've got metal in the hydraulics, then I would think the whole system needs draining, cleaning and reassembling, with all parts checked for damage and /or any stray bits of swarf, before reassembly and refilling with fresh, clean fluid. On a machine of that age, really not viable I wouldn't think..... :cry:


Topic author
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Re: JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

Post #4 by ged » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:19 pm

Thanks for your reply's
Would the filter not stop any metal getting into the system?


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Re: JCB 3CX hydraulic problems

Post #5 by essexpete » Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:30 pm

I don't know where the filter is positioned in your JCB. If on the suction side then too late for pump and if on the pressure side it may have blocked and bi-passed. Like Hugh has said it could be a right barsteward getting rid of the metal crap all over the sytem.


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