m1010 ambulance. 7800 miles. i just purchased at a local sale here in the austin area. after getting the truck home i checked the output of both alternators, front battery 12.5v back battery 15.5v. i said oh no!! bad duvac!!!. ive read all the posts. seems the only way to go was to replace with the aftermarket equalizer . after further checking i think my truck has had the orange wire update?? i pulled both regulators , they were both in the medium position. put the top in high, and the bottom in low, thinking i could get by. battery voltage dropped to 14.7v on the rear and raised to 12.9v on the front. i thought i could live with that as long as there was no night driving involved. i was still scratching my head when i noticed my fuel gage was not moving. figured id check the fuses, all were ok except one! the one that runs the gage cluster. replaced that and now both alternators are at 13.9-14.1v range. just FYI!!! i never read where that fuse controlled anything having to do with duvac!!-
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84 m1010 ambulance 7800 miles. duvac problem
- Thread starter markg
- Start date
m1010 ambulance. 7800 miles. i just purchased at a local sale here in the austin area. after getting the truck home i checked the output of both alternators, front battery 12.5v back battery 15.5v. i said oh no!! bad duvac!!!. ive read all the posts. seems the only way to go was to replace with the aftermarket equalizer . after further checking i think my truck has had the orange wire update?? i pulled both regulators , they were both in the medium position. put the top in high, and the bottom in low, thinking i could get by. battery voltage dropped to 14.7v on the rear and raised to 12.9v on the front. i thought i could live with that as long as there was no night driving involved. i was still scratching my head when i noticed my fuel gage was not moving. figured id check the fuses, all were ok except one! the one that runs the gage cluster. replaced that and now both alternators are at 13.9-14.1v range. just FYI!!! i never read where that fuse controlled anything having to do with duvac!!
Barrman
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Glad you got it figured out.
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Looks like a nice ride there!
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We need more pic's of your truck.
armytruck63
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...and welcome to the site!
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I know it sounds weird, but the voltage can vary if the BULBS in the dashboard are bad or weak.
I'm not kidding.
Glad you found and fixed the problem.
Nice looking truck.
How are the seats? I've always liked the wider seats in the M1010...
I'm not kidding.
Glad you found and fixed the problem.
Nice looking truck.
How are the seats? I've always liked the wider seats in the M1010...
K9Vic
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Welcome to the M1010 owners club, these are really great trucks. The duvac problems are well known with these, mine was converted to 12v before I bought it. Yours looks to be in great shape and even has the attendant seat that is usually missing. Other then the dash, looks like it is all in really good condition. If you are ever near Houston area, their junk yards will likely have all the parts you need.
Did that come from a local police auction, my M1010 was from one sold to the city originally trough the governments surplus program? The city has to keep it for something like 18 months before they are sell it to the public.
Did that come from a local police auction, my M1010 was from one sold to the city originally trough the governments surplus program? The city has to keep it for something like 18 months before they are sell it to the public.
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Glad you got that, Mark! I had been eyeballing it for a couple of months, long enough to talk myself out of buying another vehicle. Looked like a good one.
Cheers
Cheers
i was waiting for you or john to show up and ruin my day!! ha ha. ive been watching the truck since august hoping it would come up when i was in town. it still wasnt cheap. stay in touch, thanks. mark
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As K9vic said "Welcome to the 1010 club." I drove up to look at that the day they were supposed to have the auction and they wouldn't even let me look at it as it had been "pulled" by the city. After wasting $30 in diesel to drive up and back I figured they could pi*s off as far as wasting any more of my money (also didn't like the $250 cash to get a bid # rule either).
Glad someone local and a SS member got it though. Guess I need to sell mine as it's not "unique" any more.
Glad someone local and a SS member got it though. Guess I need to sell mine as it's not "unique" any more.
i had been watching the truck as well and the saturday that it was supposed to sell i was out of town. i did leave an absentee bid and i may have won it then but the city of round rock pulled it because they didnt have a title yet. i didnt know about the miles until inspection day, and it would not start because of the dead front battery. better for me and it probably kept others from running me up. i could see the truck was very nice. ive owned many of these trucks, the only nicer one ive had was a 3800 miles m1009 i bought from a drug task force in seguin,tx several years ago. it was new. thanks, mark
pdendrenos
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I'm new to this site, and am not sure how to ask a question. So here goes.
I have a 1985 M1010 ambulange that was molested by the border patrol when they owned it. I would like to keep the 24 volt electric system, but loose that "blue thing" anchored to the left fender well, and run all the 12 volt stuff off the rear battery. Has anyone done this, is it feasable?
I have a 1985 M1010 ambulange that was molested by the border patrol when they owned it. I would like to keep the 24 volt electric system, but loose that "blue thing" anchored to the left fender well, and run all the 12 volt stuff off the rear battery. Has anyone done this, is it feasable?
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Read this thread: http://www.steelsoldiers.com/electrical/37909-m1010-no-more-duvac.html
Lavarok is the Pathfinder for all things M1010. It took me about an hour following his instructions to install my battery equalizer. I haven't had any problems since (other than I tripped a breaker and didn't realize it).
Lavarok is the Pathfinder for all things M1010. It took me about an hour following his instructions to install my battery equalizer. I haven't had any problems since (other than I tripped a breaker and didn't realize it).