What do I do?

[PJSM37]

I would like to get the M37 to fire. I do think I am going to put the fuel line into a jerry can just to get it to fire up. It has been sitting for about 4 years. Ill prob shoot a little WD40 down the plug holes before startup also

But, what do I do? Switches? what is the start up procedure for one of these?

 

[Westech]

turn on power, pull choke, pump gas once and hit the starter switch.

 

[ralbelt]

If you get a plastic fuel jug and get a rubber fuel bushing and install it with a fuel shut off you can gravity feed almost any engine.
Fuel bushing (tecumseh part # 33679) can be found at most outdoor power equipment shops.

 

[PJSM37]

turn on power, pull choke, pump gas once and hit the starter switch.

Is the starter switch the clutch?

Sorry, i have no zero experience with a Military vehicle before- funny huh

 

[Westech]

no its not. The starter switch is above the clutch. you have to push in the clutch and hit the starter switch at the same time. Look under the dash and you will see what I am talking about. If you have 0 experience on the M37 I would do some reading of TM's and Google the M37 and get orientated with the truck. There not hard to work on and operate just get your ducks in order.

 

[PJSM37]

Thanks, Ill give it a look today- Is there someplace where i can read about training manuals?

 

[Westech]

cool, let us know if you need help, but reading up on the truck will help tons!

 

[M-37Bruce]

Try Here

Thanks, Ill give it a look today- Is there someplace where i can read about training manuals?

M-SERIES VEHICLES CIRCUIT NUMBERS

Should be able to navigate around & get some info, a better option might be to purchase the entire catalog on a single CD?
Home might be a working link, if not do a Google search for military media on CD, also they are always on eBay, $19.95 is usually the going rate?
Good Luck,

 

[M-37Bruce]

The other link was the wrong link, this one is it!

M37 Utility Truck WW2 Dodge 3/4-ton M37 Vehicle Manuals

Good Luck,

 

[Dodge man]

I would like to get the M37 to fire. I do think I am going to put the fuel line into a jerry can just to get it to fire up. It has been sitting for about 4 years. Ill prob shoot a little WD40 down the plug holes before startup also

But, what do I do? Switches? what is the start up procedure for one of these?

I would check the engine oil before I did anything. Also make sure it's out of gear before you try to start it.

I would dump about a tablespoon of light oil (ATF or Marvel Mystery Oil, etc) into each spark plug hole and turn the engine over a few times to loosen things up and to lubricate the piston rings. I would not use WD 40 since it could wash the oil of the cylinder walls and cause a lot of wear and tear on the cylinders and piston rings since it is not an adequate engine lubricant. If it turns over ok then install clean spark plugs and connect their leads, connect the fuel line and if your fuel pump has a hand pump lever then pump it for about ten seconds , check the glass fuel/water separator bowl if you have one and if you see water or cloudy fuel then drain it till you get clean fuel. Next, turn on the ignition switch, press and release the accelerator pedal and then hit the starter button. (It's the rod sticking up through the floor above and slightly to the right of the accelerator pedal.) Crank if for no more than about 5 seconds at a time. If it doesn't start after a few tries then pull the choke about half way out and try again but sniff for any odor of unburned fuel and be careful not to flood the engine. My M-37 starts better with the choke off and without holding down the accelerator but they're all different and you've have to experiment to see what your's prefers. Simply turn off the ignition switch and disconnect your fuel supply when you're done.

You'll probably have to crank for a while while the pump fills the fuel system and carburator with fresh fuel. Or you could take the top off the air cleaner and dump a teaspoon or two of gas directly into the carburator to save some time and battery life.

 

[Dodge man]

PSJ. This may help. It's a layout of all the controls and instruments for the M-37. <http://m37.crwdesigns.com/diagrams.htm>

 

[M-37Bruce]

Mine is, or was 1/2 choke, no accelerator. I am going to fire it up this week after a two year tear down........to be continued!

 

[pwrwagonfire]

Plus one on checking the oil first. I always do this to my powerwagons regardless of if I ran them yesterday or not!

 

[Nickathome]

I've never seen or read anywhere that says its a must to depress the clutch before starting an M37. While its the smart thing to do to ensure the tranny is disengaged from the engine, its not imperative that the clutch be depressed to start the truck, so long as its in the neutral position. One could actually start the truck from under the hood by grabbing the starter lever while the master switch is turned on, while in neutral. Again, not an ideal thing to do but it can be done. What about when hand cranking to start?. You certainly can't depress the clutch from the outside if you are alone and the starter has crapped out?

 

[Nickathome]

no its not. The starter switch is above the clutch. you have to push in the clutch and hit the starter switch at the same time. Look under the dash and you will see what I am talking about. If you have 0 experience on the M37 I would do some reading of TM's and Google the M37 and get orientated with the truck. There not hard to work on and operate just get your ducks in order.

Maybe he's looking in a mirror in his explanations. The starter pedal is above the accelerator, not the clutch. Maybe he meant the master switch, but even that is above the accelerator on the dash to the right of the steering column.


Starting an M37 is easy. As was explained, flip master switch, pull some choke(not all M37's need full choke to start) push gas pedal once and step on starter pedal. Once engine starts pus hto half choke, or completely off. Your engine will let you know. I usually leave about 1/4 choke until the engine starts to warm up. After about 15 seconds I remove the choke altogether.

 

[PJSM37]

Hey everyone, Thanks for the info. I am ashamed to admit I still havent had the time to do more than clean some stuff out of it. I have seen some great pics of the interior with layout and labels for everything. Does anyone have a similar type of layout for the engine bay? Thanks!!!

 

[nattieleather]

When I read the discription of where the starter button was I had to look to see if I was in the M151 form... On a 151 you have to push in the clutch to hit the starter, but not on a M37 where it's above the gas pedel as stated.

 

[Capt.Marion]

The engine bay is pretty explanatory just looking at it... if you're familiar with looking at engines.

Fuel pump is under the fore end of the manifold, on the passenger side of the engine. It has a little lever sticking out that you can use to prime it. Don't get confused- the bottom of the fuel pump is a separate vacuum pump for the vacuum wipers. I run my M37 off of a gas tank strapped to the front grill, with a hose hooked to the intake line on the fuel pump, so it pumps the fuel in instead of having a gravity feed (makes it harder to flood). This may not work for you if your fuel pump has problems with it. You can tell which is the "IN" line to the fuel pump. It's the one that isn't on the vacuum pump and isn't the "OUT" line that goes to the carburetor.

Dipstick is on the driver's side of the engine. It is a thin tube sticking up by the engine, but with a big cap that you twist to unlock, and then pull it out.

My starting procedure:

1. Remove air cleaner from top of carburetor (wingnut in center top of air cleaner, just unscrew the wing nut and pull the whole thing off)
2. Get somebody to stand there with ether/starting fluid
3. In the cab, ensure the transmission is in neutral
4. Flip master switch on
5. Pull out hand throttle cable (on the dash above the choke) about 1/3 of the way
6. Depress clutch
7. Press starter button with toe
8. While cranking, pull choke out some and have Soldier B spray some ether until it catches
9. Use heel to push accelerator and adjust choke as necessary to keep her running
10. At this point, if it's in neutral still, you can let the clutch out.

That may seem long-winded, but once you get used to it it's pretty simple.

 

[PJSM37]

Ive grown up with fuel injection my whole life (Old is a pushrod 350)

what is the canister on the driverside top of the engine?

 

[Capt.Marion]

Fuel filter housing. It takes the old round cartridge filters. # is Purolator L20051, NAPA 1100.

The carburetor is the funky looking thing settin' up on the top of the manifold, under the big, round, air cleaner. Air cleaner is an oil-bath cleaner; that is, it's filled with oil to catch the dust and crap. DON'T SET IT DOWN UPSIDE DOWN. Been there, done that, cleaned up the mess.

If you need to add oil, the oil filler is the tube next to the dipstick on the driver's side of the engine. It's slightly bigger than the dipstick tube.