New M1078 owner

[DHotle]

Thank you ao all, you have been very helpful indeed.

My apologies to the moderators if this thread is casuing any hardships. Yet information is few and far between. I did not go out to specifically purchase this vehicle and therefore did not have much opportunity to research as I would most other things.

My next, and hopefully last question is......

I just got back from trying to transfer the title. We have the VIN number that is on the plate in the cab. However, they need a second VIN from the vehicle to issue the title. I crawled over, under and in, yet cannot find where the second is located.

Any help?

Again, thank you

DH

 

[MIKEMEEKS]

Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507
there are lots of service kits out there onfleeBay but they list the NOS number . How too I know which service kit to buy--fuel/oil/ transmission filters. Does any one know if this will fit a 1998 M1078 Allison transmission MD3070PT?Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507

 

[Duckworthe]

You don't want one in california. You'll have to swap a 2010+ newer engine into it, which is absolutely absurd.

You may also be required to put LRR tires on it, which probably don't even exist in that size, so good luck with that.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/documents/multirule.pdf

I disagree. I have mine registered and drive it every day. Registration was easy.

 

[pkl2fly]

Concur with Duckworthe. I have an M1079 licensed as a motorhome and there is no issue with registration, insurance or emissions. The emissions regs are not DMV regs, they are environmental regs through the Ca Air Resources Board (CARB) and have exemptions for RVs. All of that aside, the M1078 as a stock vehicle may be more challenging, especially in the blue parts of the state, since it doesn't fall into the motorcoach/RV exemption. That said, install a slide-in truck camper in the bed and register it as a motorcoach...

 

[pkl2fly]

First step - download all 7 of the TM .pdfs from the TM folder.
Second step - read every table of contents
Third step - find the troubleshooting sections and go through them step-by-step

In many cases the vehicles have been sitting and corroding for many months, if not years. Start (carefully) with the simplest (and cheapest) step which is disconnect (I repeat-carefully) plugs and connectors and look at the pins to ensure they are clean, uncorroded and undamaged. Also look over the PDP and ensure that the fuses/CBs and relays are present, intact and functioning.

Short story - I went to excersize my 1079 on day and there was no response from the main power switch or the starter button. Thought the batteries were dead. Finally went to the T/S section of the book and one of the early steps was to check the warning lights CB. Sure enough a $1.29 15a fuse solved the nearly non-existent resettable CBs that are/were stock...Counterintuitive that a "warning light" fuse would prevent the vehicle from starting, but this is supposed to be a "soldier proof" piece of equipment.

I have put over 4000mi in two years of on and off road trekking and camping and have yet to have a crippling problem. Most important thing to do is service and inspect all of the soft parts - tires, hoses, belts - and make sure the fluids, all of the fluids - eng oil, trans oil, axle oil, wheel hub oil, coolant are present and correct. READ THE TMs...

Finally. I carry my laptop with the .pdf TMs on every trip, just in case.

Welcome to the group and best of luck. You are in good company.

Paul

 

[MIKEMEEKS]

Please disregard this and my apology-I'm new and very green

there are lots of service kits out there on eBay but they list the NOS number . How too I know which service kit to buy--fuel/oil/ transmission filters[/QUOTE]

 

[Duckworthe]

The only reason I didn't register the truck as "just the truck" was because of the end cost. The truck was easy to register in Ca., but it would be considered commercial vehicle and as I was already building my camper I figured the $1200.00 reg fee would be better spent on the camper. As an RV it is only $125.00 a year. I did all the paperwork through DMV with a mobile DMV lady. She filled out the paper work and went to DMV for me. It was a minimal fee. to get to the 17 digit vin status they just added zeros to get to 17 digits. Mine was easy, however I do know that some DMV personnel are **** bent on making these and other vehicles that they personally don't like almost impossible to register. I've been there done that.

 

[MIKEMEEKS]

Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507
there are lots of service kits out there on eBay but they list the NOS number . How too I know which service kit to buy--fuel/oil/ transmission filters. Does any one know if this will fit a 1998 M1078 Allison transmission MD3070PT?Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507

I know I messed up earlier and have tried to correct. Please accept sincere apologies

 

[MIKEMEEKS]

Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507
there are lots of service kits out there onfleeBay but they list the NOS number . How too I know which service kit to buy--fuel/oil/ transmission filters. Does any one know if this will fit a 1998 M1078 Allison transmission MD3070PT?Preventative Maintenance Service 2590-01-528-7507

I can see by each post there is not the number of times I screwed up. I have done that several times just today!

 

[Tom Conlon]

My 5 ton is registered in Oregon. Vintage number is short digits. DMV prefered to use the ID number, even if it was short digits. I've never had problems with it. Oregon police stopped me and asked me all about it. All friendly and made it sound like they want one. In California, CHP made me feel like a criminal for even thinking of taking it on the road. Oregon police never mentioned a class 2 license being required. CHP nailed me for not having one. I do now. I got kicked out of a weigh station in Oregon and told not to go through the weigh stations. In Calif, I got busted for not stopping at the scale and got a $475 ticket.

I am insured with Hagerty, who made it really easy, but costly at $1060 per year.

Transmission shifted horribly. A friend who saw service with one in Iraq told me rough shifting was common because they use engine oil in everything in the service. I replaced the Allison filters, there are two and replaced the trany fluid - yep, it was motor oil - with Allison fluid. It drains from the transfer case - not the transmission on a 6x6! The Allison shifted fine after changing the fluid.

The 3116 used a special cat oil filter. Not the one in the dealer book. The cat oil filter that came with it is a high quality filter and the one that the cat dealer recommends is not as good. Try to replace it with the one that the military uses. I'll post the number soon.

I've driven mine all over the Western states, from Northern Washington to the deserts of Southern Calif and eastward to Moab Utah. Only problem has been a wire terminal broke on the governor that immediately stopped the engine. Wouldn't have been so bad if it was during the day and it was anywhere else than the freeway! Keep good tires on it and make the CTIS work properly and keep it well greased and they are alot of fun, provide great service and really will go anywhere.

 

[Another Ahab]

I've driven mine all over the Western states, from Northern Washington to the deserts of Southern Calif and eastward to Moab Utah. Only problem has been a wire terminal broke on the governor that immediately stopped the engine. Wouldn't have been so bad if it was during the day and it was anywhere else than the freeway! Keep good tires on it and make the CTIS work properly and keep it well greased and they are alot of fun, provide great service and really will go anywhere.

Bummer. What a bummer.

Simple little fix (I'm guessing)...IF you can find the problem...AND you got the part.

How long did it take you to diagnose the "patient's illness"?

 

[themeec]

First step - download all 7 of the TM .pdfs from the TM folder.
Second step - read every table of contents
Third step - find the troubleshooting sections and go through them step-by-step
In many cases the vehicles have been sitting and corroding for many months, if not years. Start (carefully) with the simplest (and cheapest) step which is disconnect (I repeat-carefully) plugs and connectors and look at the pins to ensure they are clean, uncorroded and undamaged. Also look over the PDP and ensure that the fuses/CBs and relays are present, intact and functioning.
Short story - I went to excersize my 1079 on day and there was no response from the main power switch or the starter button. Thought the batteries were dead. Finally went to the T/S section of the book and one of the early steps was to check the warning lights CB. Sure enough a $1.29 15a fuse solved the nearly non-existent resettable CBs that are/were stock...Counterintuitive that a "warning light" fuse would prevent the vehicle from starting, but this is supposed to be a "soldier proof" piece of equipment.
I have put over 4000mi in two years of on and off road trekking and camping and have yet to have a crippling problem. Most important thing to do is service and inspect all of the soft parts - tires, hoses, belts - and make sure the fluids, all of the fluids - eng oil, trans oil, axle oil, wheel hub oil, coolant are present and correct. READ THE TMs...
Paul

Forum noobie, piggy-backing off the original post here, as I'm working on being in the same boat before too long. This is probably one of the best bits I've seen in the thread so far. Hats off to pkl2fly for the details. Very helpful starting checklist for working over a recent truck acquisition.

One quick question however, is there a trick to "reading" GovPlanet inspections? I have noticed most are pretty homogeneous at this point (e.g. "cab could not be lifted", "could not be started" etc). I'm guessing since most of these are drained of all fluids, batteries removed, and what have you, before storage, that simply finding out if one is a runner isn't exactly a cakewalk. Any notable red flags, or any clear indications of a good buy vs. a total hooptie?

Another thing I've learned from this thread, is perhaps I need to start hunting for door handles ahead of time...

 

[Another Ahab]

One quick question however, is there a trick to "reading" GovPlanet inspections? I have noticed most are pretty homogeneous at this point (e.g. "cab could not be lifted", "could not be started" etc). I'm guessing since most of these are drained of all fluids, batteries removed, and what have you, before storage, that simply finding out if one is a runner isn't exactly a cakewalk. Any notable red flags, or any clear indications of a good buy vs. a total hooptie?

A first post. New blood! Great.

Welcome, themeec.

There might be a stand-alone thread (or more) that address your GovPlanet question, and maybe somebody who knows here might point you in the right direction.

 

[themeec]

A first post. New blood! Great.
Welcome, themeec.
There might be a stand-alone thread (or more) that address your GovPlanet question, and maybe somebody who knows here might point you in the right direction.

Appreciated. Thanks for the welcome. I gotta say, in the few months I've been lurking here prior to creating an account, I haven't been able to locate a thread of that particular nature. Might be looking for the wrong keywords perhaps? Mostly seem to find threads regarding EUC and purchasing details.

 

[coachgeo]

...guessing since most of these are drained of all fluids, batteries removed, and what have you, before storage,....

could be wrong but get the feeling from what have read this is in incorrect assumption. If a truck is a non runner it basically got a stop order (whatever military name is for it) due to whatever reason by the maintenance depot. So things not reassembled, thus it is a non runner... cause it is not put back together. May be missing oil..... if they were working on something that dictated draining oil before stop order....... may have oil... but missing starter cause they were working on a starter issue when got the stop order.

After stop order some things in addition might get robbed off of it to fix other trucks.

 

[themeec]

could be wrong but get the feeling from what have read this is in incorrect assumption. If a truck is a non runner it basically got a stop order (whatever military name is for it) due to whatever reason by the maintenance depot. So things not reassembled, thus it is a non runner... cause it is not put back together. May be missing oil..... if they were working on something that dictated draining oil before stop order....... may have oil... but missing starter cause they were working on a starter issue when got the stop order.
After stop order some things in addition might get robbed off of it to fix other trucks.

Good point, I suppose "all fluids" was a broader choice of phrase than I should have chosen. Either way, with a redundant manual system to back up the usual cab lift, you'd think this would not be a common problem. Unless 27 gallons of hydraulic fluid (according to our friendly forum neighborhood parts sheet) is possibly a storage issue? Beats me. Always happy to know more!

 

[Awesomeness]

One quick question however, is there a trick to "reading" GovPlanet inspections? I have noticed most are pretty homogeneous at this point (e.g. "cab could not be lifted", "could not be started" etc). I'm guessing since most of these are drained of all fluids, batteries removed, and what have you, before storage, that simply finding out if one is a runner isn't exactly a cakewalk. Any notable red flags, or any clear indications of a good buy vs. a total hooptie?

It seems like these trucks have more issues when auctioned than other series. I think it's due to the fact that previous generations of trucks are being auctioned because they are being replaced with this newer generation/style, while if these current generation trucks are being auctioned it's because they are broken. So when a unit gets the word that they need to get rid of an FMTV, they aren't picking a nice one... they are picking that crappy one that always gives them problems, then stealing any parts off it that they can before sending it to auction. With that it mind, I would approach it that you expect to have to double check everything, put it back together, fix it, etc. before it's good to go.

 

[themeec]

It seems like these trucks have more issues when auctioned than other series. I think it's due to the fact that previous generations of trucks are being auctioned because they are being replaced with this newer generation/style, while if these current generation trucks are being auctioned it's because they are broken. So when a unit gets the word that they need to get rid of an FMTV, they aren't picking a nice one... they are picking that crappy one that always gives them problems, then stealing any parts off it that they can before sending it to auction. With that it mind, I would approach it that you expect to have to double check everything, put it back together, fix it, etc. before it's good to go.

Yeah, no real surprise given the workhorse status of these trucks when on duty. I've noticed a very large percentage of bent drive axles and other signs of being beat like a rented mule. I'll have to keep that in mind. Fortunately, it seems major parts for these aren't too hard to come by surplus, from what I can see.

 

[Reidspacer]

I JUST BOUGHT SOME ON EBAY FOR 60.00 7" led. they work great

 

[Reidspacer]

mine did the same thing, it was low on tranny fluid.