Jcb 3c mk111 oil leaking from lower chassis

[Steward123]

hey everyone ... 1st time post . I have a jcb 3c that I’ve just acquired from my dad , it’s been sitting for a while but got it started the other day and sounds quite healthy ... ( I don’t know anything about these machines at all but do know my way round an engine so please go easy on me ) so I’ve been looking and researching to find out about more about them and how they work but can’t find my problem anywhere ...

My problem is when the engine is running it starts spitting a yellow oil out from the lower chassis on left hand side . But it looks as if there is a plate missing and 4 bolts ? My dad says it’s never had one

I would be very grateful if someone could help .

[Jeremy Rowland]

Hi Glenn and welcome I suspect that a yellow oil is emulsified hydraulic oil, I may stand to be corrected here but there is in the back of my mind that part of the machines chassis may serve as a hydraulic oil reservoir, let's wait and see what others have to say about this.

Jeremy

[Tillywolves]

Very difficult to see whats going on from those pictures... If the oil looks like yellow mayonnaise, irs going to be an oil/water mix....

[Steward123]

Hi both thanks for your reply’s ... In the pics you can see the oil leaking through a hole , do you think there was a metal plate There that might of rattled off at some point ? I know the machine is very low on Hydraulic oil but don’t want to waste money on putting it in if it gonna come back out if you know what I mean . Thanks again . Also I will try upload some better pictures tomorrow

[Jeremy Rowland]

Glenn I would advise against running your machine with low hydraulic oil you could damage the hydraulic pump by doing that; what does the hydraulic oil look like is it creamy looking? If so its as I stated in my first post and as Tilly said, contaminated with water which can happen on old machines specially where they have stood for a time.
Are there any hose/pipe connections close to where it is leaking? I'm no JCB expert so I'm just firing off some questions and ideas at the moment, does the oil run out of the hole or just drip out of there?

Jeremy

[essexpete]

I can't really see either. The hydra chassis which is a reservoir for hydraulic oil and part of the load bearing chassis can crack. We had trouble with a build 5 power train at the front axle end of the chassis. The only thing I would say is that it leaked whether or not it was running.

[Steward123]

Hi all , managed to get up to my dads today as the weather was nice . I’ve taken a couple more pictures if you can make any sense from them . The four holes in the pics that the oil is leaking from also has four holes on the Opposite side of the chassis that also seem to be dripping . These holes have a thread inside them as if something used to be there but is now not .
I’ve also done a video on you tube of the oil coming out when running . I Would be really grateful to hear your views on it .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2qylBo2uMA

My dads not moved the jcb for at least 7 years as the steering was really notchy . Thanks again

[agrimax]

I might be wrong,but I've a notion that the brackets that carried the optional hand held hydraulic breakers may have been bolted on to the chassis where those holes are.
Just get 8 bolts and washers and screw them in to plug the holes. That oil is just pure gunge but I doubt you'll be able to get it flushed out properly. If that's all that's running out,the hydrachassis is about empty and continued running without refilling with oil will destroy the pump......if it's not already gone.........

[Steward123]

Hi Agrimax , thanks for your reply much appreciated ! I’ve been looking at some manuals from this site and I think your right ... I spoke to my dad and he said it’s lost oil ever since he had (15 years ago ) it so he gave up on it in the end and parked it up , but there was Definitely something there in the past !
Quick question .. why do you think the Hydraulic oil has gone that colour ? Like I said it has been parked up for years exposed to the elements , so is there a good chance that’s the reason or something else . Thanks again ..

[agrimax]

Probably just years of condensation have built up and then when you start the engine the pump is mixing it up.But it's not just water that's got in there as it would be almost white/grey rather than the dirty colour that I see. Who knows what has been added,perhaps before your dad got it. The inside of the chassis will be rusted too,particularly as it's got to be low on oil(oil would be coming out of the higher bolt holes as well otherwise).Maybe a mixture of oil,water and rust.Filters can't be good either.That's the suction,return and steering filters.