JCB 803 - a little advice

[Mowgli789]

Hi Guys,

I posted on here a few months ago and everyone was super helpful, so I'm back.

I have a 30 year old JCB 803, which has been great, but when I bought it it had clearly been neglected for some time. After 2 weeks of solid digging with it, the ram seals in the dipper arm went, and I have decided this is a good time to give it some love and try and fix a couple of the issues it has whilst the cylinder and a few hoses are at the hydraulic shop.

First issue is the dead man's switch doesn't work. Someone told me it is probably the microswitch. So I took it all apart and tested the microswitch, and it appears to be working. Im guessing there is a solenoid somewhere in the dead man's switch circuit. Is this the most likely culprit, and is this a simple change?

Secondly, the fuel gauge doesn't work. Which is not the end of the world, but annoying. Im working on the assumption that it's a simple float / variable resistor setup. Again, does anyone know if there is a likely culprit so this situation, and how easy it is to get at? I've managed to get at all the wiring, but trying to follow it through the loom is a bit of a nightmare.

It might be that both are a nightmare to fix, but I thought I would ask the question whilst I had the thing in bits.

Any advice would be gladly accepted.

Thanks

Ben

 

[V8Druid]

it's possible your dead man has been 'hot wired to exclude its function?
or
yes the micro switch will ultimately control a servo circuit solenoid ... perhaps that's failed and has been 'wound in' on the shuttle, (if it has the facility, which a lot do, to manually over-ride a faulty coil)
fuel gauge could be a fuse?
or a dodgy connection/earth
could take some tracing .. try giving the fuel gauge some voltage - say 5 or 6 volts and see if you get any movent (12V might be excessive for it) .. if it moves the problem is further up the line