1983 JCB 3CX Water Flood damage Help advice URGENT

[Munchkinman]

Hi everyone,

Hope you can all help me with some advise with my JCB 1983 3CX

Here in Brisbane we have had 1.2m of rain in 3 days, yes 120cm.
Anyway i tried to get my backhoe to higher ground but she just kept digging in and was pretty bogged, anyway lifted her as high as i could but
the flood has still gone over the engine.

As i type the rains are still coming and I'm hoping to wake in the morning with it receded a fair bit so i can inspect the damage.
Questions
1, obviously do not start
2, evaluate how high and where the water has got into the engine.
3, i would say drain gear oil, engine oil and hydraulic oils. also diesel
4, change filters
5, if water is in engine some how remove??
I am absolutely no mechanic so any advice what to do will be greatly appreciated as i assume timing is key.

Thank you in advance

[TrevorJ]

Sorry to hear about your troubles ... I had figured most people had an idea what was headed towards the south coast, but I think the news might be just a bit quieter down your way on the subject ... don't want to put tourists off.

I know it's wet down that way but news isn't exactly reporting rainfall amounts apart from areas the news thinks is important ... and same silly shots of the beach with that building which is way too close to the water.

I don't have a JCB or a backhoe, but I don't think they're that much different. I expect you'll have to drain the water out of the oils - but if you can get new oil, that's best and what I'd do, noting it's not just water from a clean running creek but water with a heavy silt load. If the oil has mixed with a lot of water you might get away with slowing heating the oil above the boiling point of water, it's a tricky job for foaming and I'm not sure how forgiving the oils you've used in the JCB would be. It is a job though, the process is made easy with an electric bucket heater but they are hard to get around these parts. I'm sort of expecting an oil shortage for a couple of weeks.

Air pockets hopefully restrict water entering the piston valve area but that's just a guess on my part.

I expect someone who knows JCB will no doubt give you a full briefing on what you'll need to do.

Again sorry for your bad misfortune to get caught out in the flood.

[essexpete]

No expert but when the area has dried out a bit why not carefully remove the drain plugs and see what the water contamination is like? Personally I would drain the engine and flush. How high did the flood go in relation to the air cleaner and exhaust?
The torque con and shuttle can be sensitive to water with damage to the clutch plates, from what I understand. That will be tricky as it is hard to get oil out of all of the system. If it has settled but not churned by starting then, perhaps, water will go to the bottom of the small sump on the shuttle.
I would do the same with the hydraulic oil. Drain a little off to see if water has got in through the breather.
Don't forget that if the main rear axle is drained you will need oil suitable for oil immersed brakes with suitable additives.

[dixie-normous]

Hi, that is some s**t luck! Regarding the engine, you will need to drain the oil and replace it, filter too, and make sure there is no water in the air filter, filter housing and pipes. Remove the injectors and flick the starter, this will get rid of any water in the cylinders (make sure the engine stop is out). Then turn the engine over on the key and check oil pressure is good, replace the injectors and it it should be ok (assuming there is no water in the fuel). You may need to change the engine oil again after it has run and warmed up, just to get rid of any remaining water. The starter motor and alternator might need a good clean out if the water was very muddy, they will still work (when they are dry) but the crud left in them won't do the bearings much good. As you say, you will have to check/drain all the other oils too, good luck, hope it's all ok
John

[essexpete]

Would it be possible to check for hydraulic problem in the engine by moving it over with a bar in the pump drive?

[dixie-normous]

You can try turning it by hand, if you don't think the water got high enough to get in the exhaust/inlet manifolds then give it a go. If it has had water in the manifolds then you will probably have to remove the injectors to clear it, they come out easy enough

[Munchkinman]

Hi All, thanks for the replies,

Ok so just manged to have a look at the motor. after wading through 1200mm of water as its up the back paddock.
water is just under the sump so cannot remove any fluids as of yet, maybe by the end of the day.
So unfortunately the water rose over the air intake so i have just pulled the air filter out and its soaked and covered in mud.
Its also about 100m away from the house/shed so even hard to run a hose up there.
i have disconnected battery that seems to still have charge.
As i said im no mechanic and kind of out of depth but ill give anything ago.
Whats best to flush engine oil and procedure?? never done this before and reluctant to start engine until replaced and removed water and probable sludge.
looks like water got into gear oil via dip stick but recently purchased oil from JCB so have a 20 l drum.
As soon as level is down i will look at hydrolic and fuel to see if water got in i will treat it like it has.
Thanks to all.

[gecko.cx]

Don't turn over the engine (even by hand) before you have drained the oil. If there is water in the sump, it'll be the first to go through the oil pump.
At the moment, the galleries and filter should not have been contaminated, so I'd just dump the oil and inspect it closely.
If there is very little water present in the oil, I wouldn't change the oil filter initially, but fill it with fresh oil (the cheapest I could get), warm it up and then change both the filter and oil. (after clearing the bores of course).

[Munchkinman]

Ok so progress today.
First thing i did was drain the Gear oil, some water in there.
Second thing was drain oil, safe to say there was a little water in there, there was around 15LT of water before oil came out.
third i also drained what i think is the axle oil, hope some one can clear this up for me (photo attached), again some water in there.
I then decided to drain the diesel as i assumed there would be some water in there. seemed to be about 10lt of fuel and maybe a little water.
I removed the injectors, first time for me, saw there were some copper washers so made sure i was carful with these. 2 injectors were a little tuff to get out. I then turned it over and yes there was a heap of water and diesel shoot out.
I have spoke to my local Mr filter and he has oil and fuel filter in stock but has to get air filter form Sydney as these were rooted when i pulled them out. Might be able to get to Mr Filter tomorrow if roads are open.
With the injectors what can i clean these with as they are very dirty??? (see photo)
Is this axel oil and is this where its filled up?? in front of controls (which none of them work by the way)(see photo)also what axel oil is recommended.

Plan of Action tomorrow and next few days is to clean injectors best i can and put them back in
Grease all nipples
If i get the filters re fit and refill oil....i will get some cheap oil and put that in first then change over again to rid of any other water as suggested.
Drain Hydraulic oil... How do i do this?? is there a sum plug anywhere??
Get some new diesel.
I will have a look at the alternator and starter once i get all oils back in as i want to do this quicker rather than later to stop any rust.

Again thanks heaps to all for your valuable info to a complete newbie i really do appreciate it.

[dixie-normous]

If your engine was running well before i would just put the injectors back in as they are, the tips are very easy to damage and without the proper kit it's easy to wreck them. Stick a bit of tape over the diesel inlet hole on each injector until you re-fit them as even a grain of dirt getting in will clog them. Take all the air inlet pipes off and make sure there is no mud/dirt inside them as it will get sucked into the engine, also the air filter housing. Also check there is no crud in the inlet manifold, if there is you may need to remove it to clean it out, it's all a bit of a ball ache but you don't want anything other than air and diesel going through your engine. Sounds like you are making progress and hopefully it'll be back and running soon