Glow plug burnout possible?

[msoumas]

I recently took a week off, and left my M1009 in the trust of my dad, parked at the shop. Apparently, the day before I got back he decided to move it, and in the cold weather thought it would be prudent to use what he called an "old army trick" to get it to start in the cold: a little gasoline in the intake. Unaware of this, I came back a few days ago, started her up just fine, and went along my business. Started up the next day just fine. Today, we got 28 degree weather and I could not get the truck to start. I cycled the plugs three times, put the pedal all the way down, and cranked and cranked and cranked my week-old new starter, but it was a no-go. Could the "old army trick" have blown out my plugs, and if so, could it have failed to manifest until now?

 

[LanceRobson]

The "old Army Trick" could have done in lots of things but I doubt it hurt the glow plugs. I'd lean more towards ignorance maybe having led to starting the truck without waiting for the glow plugs to cycle and frying them that way.

A resistance check will tell the tale.

BTW, I often point out to folks that the starting directions are on the sun visor for good reason and, until they make more of these than Chevy or buy more of them than the DOD, they need to do it "by the book"

Gasoline can lead to serious early detonation issues and cause piston, head or connecting rod damage.

There's always the chance that some of the plugs have been shot for a while and the last few just gave up the ghost. Once one goes the others will die faster due to their getting all the juice intended for 8 plugs.

Good luck

Lance

 

[msoumas]

The plugs were good as of a couple weeks ago, and if I test them and they're still good I'm at a loss. This is the third time in as many weeks that I've had a problem like this, and I don't know what's causing it anymore. It will start off as the truck cranking and cranking and not going. I'll kill the batteries eventually trying to start it to no avail. I'll recharge the batteries, bring them back out, put them on again, and try it again. It will crank for a bit, finally sound like it's going over, kick to life for a second, maybe two, and cut back out in a little cloud of smoke. I'll repeat that process two or three times and it will eventually start, and then I'll have no starting issues for the next few days, maybe even remark at how well it's starting even in the cold, before it does this all over again. I am about at the end of my rope with this truck. I wonder who wants a 009 with a solid frame and a finicky engine.

 

[mangus580]

Thats not a glow plug issue, its air in your fuel lines.

 

[LanceRobson]

"I wonder who wants a 009 with a solid frame and a finicky engine"

I might, but first, I'd agree with Mike.

Have you put a new fuel filter on it lately? Check the bleeder screw in the filter base. Get a helper, crank the engine with the screw open until you get a good stream of fuel, close the screw. When it starts, it will run rough for 15-20 seconds and then smooth out. shut it off as soon as it amooths out.

After it's been shut off for a few minutes, It'll still be cold so try too start it again and see if it starts easier. If so, you'll need to troubleshoot where you are loosing prime. (which could have been a bleed screw that wasn't closed or had a bit of crud on the seat)

Eyeball every inch of the fuel lines and, as a cheap way to head off any possible porosity issues, replace any rubber sections. Check the back of the filter and the filter base for any cracked or nicked gaskets or O rings and make sure the filer is clamping down square to the base.

At the risk of "preaching to the choir", be extra careful around the fuel in cold temps. The super cooled fuel will cool even more due to evaporation and can cause frostbite in seconds.

It might also be worth doing a fuel pressure check if nothing else shows up.

Lance

 

[msoumas]

I just put a new filter on last week, the last time it did this. It has purred like a kitten since, until this. I'll have to try the fuel screw thing, and hope that will work until some of this snow goes away and I can take a good look at the lines.

 

[LanceRobson]

The screw is a black plastic critter, probably 1/2-5/8" across with a cross shaped indent in it for the screwdriver. It's on the fuel filter base. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it.

Lance

 

[msoumas]

The screw is a black plastic critter, probably 1/2-5/8" across with a cross shaped indent in it for the screwdriver. It's on the fuel filter base. You shouldn't have any trouble finding it.

Lance

Yup, I know exactly where it is, just not really familiar with how to work the thing. So, opening that up and cranking it should bleed out any air in the system?

 

[msoumas]

It worked, barely. I cranked the batteries nearly dead, but it worked. Now I have to find the fuel line trouble spot. Any particularly common "trouble areas" where I'm most likely to find the smoking gun?