Trying to rescue another one.

Ok, the story. Saw this one on marketplace. Short story, gentleman had it for a while, bought a winch for it, put the correct bumper and spacers for it, after a drive he parked it and the starter would not run. He and his brother tried to replace the starter and had issues that spooked them, so he did not work on it for a while. Then he had some medical issues. Now he can not drive it due to his issues and decided to sell it. Enter me. It is 1.5 hours from my house to it. He said bring some batteries so I bought some cheapies at wallyworld and went to see it. I like it because it is complete, little rust. Over the next two weekends I got the starter mounted, wired and we spun the motor with it. Sounded normal. After much reading here and YT I knew to check the engine stop lever for ease of movement. Glad I did, stuck in the 7:00 position. Got it freed up but no flow from lift pump although it does spin. Pump is locked up tight but motor will spin due to magnetic coupling. I am going back this weekend to attempt a start. My thought is to hook up a fuel can to the fuel booster pump inlet and try from there. If it will start and run, I have a friend with a towing company standing by to haul it for me. After all I have read this is the safest way to get it home. Hard to work on it so far away. Any thoughts on my plans, good or bad, will be greatly appreciated. Did I mention it has been sitting for 8 years? It is listed as a '71 MY.
Thanks,
Lane

Check the primary (water seperator) filter and probably change the two 'secondary' fuel filters. A deuce will run without the in tank pump working if there is no air in the fuel lines. Fuel in the tank may be 'bad' if the truck has been parked where the main tank gets afternoon sunshine and cool evenings. How full is the tank? Anything less than 3/4 full allows plenty of air pressure changes bringing water/moisture into the tank.

Update: Drove the 1.5 hours to have another go at her. The pump had been removed and soaked to try to free it up. We drilled the rivets and removed the bottom cover. the impeller turned freely. Placed the bearing in the center of the magnetic disk and placed both halves together. hooked it up at tank before insertion and it ran like I thought it should. Placed in tank and no flow. Removed and repeated three more times before admitting failure. Daingit! We wanted to hear something, so we decided to give it a small shot of ether. I sprayed a shot in after the engine started and it snorted and sprayed me with all kind of crud! On the third shot it was actually running! It was running fast but not WOT or runaway. I quickly looked in cab and saw 1700 rpm. I wondered if I had set the fuel stop wrong or something like that. I spied the culprit. My buddy with the bad knee was doing the honors but when he stretched his right leg out his heel was resting on the accelerator just enough. I asked he move his foot and the idle went to normal for about 3 minutes till it ran of fuel in the filters. we were pleased. Gonna order a lift pump and be done with it. Gonna get home and then clean fuel system. Love these forums and the willingness of its members to share their knowledge of these machines. Updates will come.

Subscribed for updates!

Good work! Im also subscribing! Good heads up Mike, never know what is in an old system! Easier to clean now before bein pulled into more restrictive areas.... Congrats on her running for ya, theyre tough trucks!!

Congrats and well done for saving another old steel soldier!

Update:
After disappointment from last weekend I decided to call in the big guns to get truck home so I could work on it leisurely without worrying about clock. The people I chose have towed for me several times over the years. I have known the patriarch since high school. I trust them. I attached some pix of the behemoth he brought to tow the truck. Major bucks in that rig. We got the truck loose from its confines and it was connected to tow vehicle. They went ahead and left as they knew where I live. After about 30 minutes he called with an update on progress. He was on I-16, cruise set at 70, truck pulling fine with no hiccups. He also noted that was probably the fastest it had ever gone, to which I added, yeah in reverse. I finally got to work on it this morning and began with the lift pump. At Bob's house I had drilled the rivets out of the bottom of the pump but couldn't tell much due to the crap in it. I pulled it apart again and placed it in my ultrasonic cleaner loaded with purple power cleaner. After several hours, time with wire brushes it finally looked clean. After close examination I saw rub marks from the impeller on the bottom cover. I also noted a lot of space between top of impeller and the pump casting. I gently tapped the impeller down on the shaft, using a socket just bigger than the shaft, until clearance was minimal. I put it all back together and p ut it into the tank. When I energized the pump it sounded like it was pumping for just a few seconds then sounded bad like before. I removed the pump and immediately saw the problem. The bottom plate fell off! HMMM now what. I came up with putting the cover back on drilling a whole thru the cover by the drilled out rivet and put a cotter pin in. Two places. Put it back in tank, energized it and could immediately tell it was pumping. WooHoo! I went to fuel filters and bled the air from them. I asked my wife to do the honors cranking it up while I was on standby with emergency cutoff plate (a piece of plywood). A few seconds the engine came to life, turbo singing! Wife smiled, I smiled everything good! Truck running a little rough, probably due to 8 year old fuel. I have read that ATF is good to use to help clean things up but at what ratio? I did move truck around house to check brakes, tranny, transfer case etc. All working fine. Gonna do oil change and change to spin on filters, Same at next fuel filter change, belts and brake reservoir to start. Let the fun begin!





As a side note a wasp nest with wasps survived the trip on I-16 front wheel well, 70 mph backwards. However they did not survive wash down with eviction spray!

Great rescue! Those of us who work in the towing industry have rescued Deuces and 5 tons plenty of times. Glad you got it home. Somewhere I have pix of the time my M929A2 was rescued by one after a steer tire let go.

Put as much ATF as you want in it, it is a thin oil so no need to dilute it if there is already diesel in the tank. I'm sure it would run on 100% ATF. I add some to every tank in my deuce.