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Bringing back to life a 2009 HMMWV M1165A1 from GovPlanet - total newbie, please help...

Coug

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And pardon the sand, I hosed it 3-4 times and still the amount of sand left inside and everywhere else is huge. I will eventually get it all out :)
No, no you won't.
Once you do so much as show one of these a picture of sand, you'll keep finding it coming out of nooks and crannies you didn't know existed for the rest of it's life. Clean what you can, and just accept the fact that you'll find more later.
 

T9000

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No, no you won't.
Once you do so much as show one of these a picture of sand, you'll keep finding it coming out of nooks and crannies you didn't know existed for the rest of it's life. Clean what you can, and just accept the fact that you'll find more later.
Thank you for saying that, I feel better now...thought it was just me....even after so many washes, everytime I move a cable, hose or something...boom there is sand pouring out, so yeah, I somewhat accepted it...but secretly I still hope to make it look very clean, like Actions's, his seems immaculate compared to mine from the few pictures I saw :)
 

T9000

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I drove it again late last night to test the new LED headlights I installed and the battery charging voltage was higher around 14.45V-14.5V per battery.
Didn't spend time to investigate, but it's possible that there may be a thermal compensation circuit because it was much colder around 1:30AM than during the day, and if that's the case it would make sense, because at lower temperature the lead acid batteries require higher voltage/ current to get to the same state of charge and lower voltage at higher temperatures...I would be surprised if the charge regulator is that sophisticated and will look into it.
If that's the case the only thing I would need to change is the thermistor value (I presume that's how the temperature is being measured) to increase/ decrease the voltage so I don't need to add a voltage booster, just a balancer.
 

Milcommoguy

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Batteries / charging system do behave exactly the way you describe. Temperature compensation was designed into the 20 / 30 year old alternator / regulator components and the compensation curve was based on popular lead acid wet cells at the time. Newer battery technologies may play not nice with this compensation curve.

IMO a two cent response, all is fine... just keep and eye on it. Two hundred Amp system are fixed, so what can one do? Good luck with the jack hammer getting down to the component level parts in the potted regulator. What batteries are you running?

It's Southern Ca. It will heat up soon ☀. CAMO, more worried about an earthquake. 😎
 
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Coug

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Get a good battery charger designed for AGM and top the batteries off once a month or so. That's about all that can be done without a complete redesign.
 

T9000

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Get a good battery charger designed for AGM and top the batteries off once a month or so. That's about all that can be done without a complete redesign.
Yes, I did buy four CTEK chargers with AGM support, tested them and kept two that are closely matched (the serial numbers were very close, most likely were built with components from the same batch).

I am not planning to change anything about the alternator or regulator, this was just a discovery phase understanding what's going on and published the details because I hear a lot of battery problems and just wanted to point out to those with AGM batteries issues to look into both, the charging voltage and balancing, which is not ideal for those type of batteries, but like Milcommguy says, there is not much to do about it, yet.

I am working to test a circuitry (not complicated) that should charge the AGM batteries equally at higher voltage and will provide details once the concept is proven.
 
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T9000

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Batteries / charging system do behave exactly the way you describe. Temperature compensation was designed into the 20 / 30 year old alternator / regulator components and the compensation curve was based on popular lead acid wet cells at the time. Newer battery technologies may play not nice with this compensation curve.

IMO a two cent response, all is fine... just keep and eye on it. Two hundred Amp system are fixed, so what can one do? Good luck with the jack hammer getting down to the component level parts in the potted regulator. What batteries are you running?

It's Southern Ca. It will heat up soon ☀. CAMO, more worried about an earthquake. 😎
Yes, you are right, the 200A alternator is fixed and not much it can be done about it, but because the voltage increase to work better for AGM batteries is only 300-500mV I think it can be done in a simpler way than the jack hammer :) I am still ordering some parts, like 20A diodes with nano-amp reverse leakage current so I don't have to add disconnects and will see how well it works.

BTW, I am sure is a dumb question on this forum, what does CAMO stand for? I presume is an acronym like IMO?
 

T9000

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Since I installed the battery monitoring next to the shifter and look at that area more often than before, I now noticed that the Transmission LED comes on when I engage the Parking Brake. To make things more interesting, it is also intermittent, where about 90% of times the Transmission LED does come on, but not always.
I pulled the parking brake very slowly, and the Transmission LED comes on somewhere about half way thru, if I go very slow, it turns OFF and comes back on again when the parking brake is fully engaged.
Sometimes if I wiggle the shifter in P position with the Parking Brake engaged, the Transmission LED goes OFF or goes OFF and comes back ON.
Also, the Transmission LED turn-on sequence appears to work correctly, where it does come ON in Run mode and goes OFF after the engine starts, even if the Parking Brake it is engaged, but it does come ON when I engage the Parking Brake after driving.

Questions:

1. Is the Transmission LED supposed to come ON when the Parking Brake is engaged?

2. Is there is a switch that gets activated by the Parking Brake midway? The Red Brake LED comes on much earlier on, right about when
starting to pull the lever.

3. If the Transmission LED should not come ON when pulling the Parking Brake, what could be wrong?

4. Is there a message in the fact that wiggling the shifter in P position makes the Transmission LED going OFF and ON or is maybe just an intermittent wire connection?
 
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T9000

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Any feedback on the Transmission LED coming ON when the Parking Brake is engaged?

Also, I keep seeing notes on the forum about the backup lights wiring and saw some saying that the USMC trucks are factory wired for it. I got under the truck to see if any wiring was removed, but didn't find anything.
Are all USMC trucks with serial number over 300,000 already wired for back-up lights with the back-up switch installed in the shifter?

Thanks!
 
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T9000

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I did some more wire checking and the shifter has only three wires coming out: 14A, 14B and 40F.

14A & B are for the neutral switch and 40F for the LED indicator inside (I think?). No reverse lights wires.

Is it a big deal to remove the shifter and add the reverse lights switch? I read something about having to re-calibrate the shifter and TC levers?
Could be all done from the top (from above the tunnel?) just to get enough space to add the reverse switch?

Thanks!
 

Retiredwarhorses

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I did some more wire checking and the shifter has only three wires coming out: 14A, 14B and 40F.

14A & B are for the neutral switch and 40F for the LED indicator inside (I think?). No reverse lights wires.

Is it a big deal to remove the shifter and add the reverse lights switch? I read something about having to re-calibrate the shifter and TC levers?
Could be all done from the top (from above the tunnel?) just to get enough space to add the reverse switch?

Thanks!
there are no reverse lights in shifters unless it’s an ambulance version. Adding the pieces to make it have the switch is easy enough, it’s just a tad pricey if going OEM.
 

Mogman

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I did some more wire checking and the shifter has only three wires coming out: 14A, 14B and 40F.

14A & B are for the neutral switch and 40F for the LED indicator inside (I think?). No reverse lights wires.

Is it a big deal to remove the shifter and add the reverse lights switch? I read something about having to re-calibrate the shifter and TC levers?
Could be all done from the top (from above the tunnel?) just to get enough space to add the reverse switch?

Thanks!
Get the bracket kit only on Fleabay and a regular neutral switch, it is the easiest and cheapest way to go, did it with both of my 4 speed shifters.
No calibration needed.

 
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T9000

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Get the bracket kit only on Fleabay and a regular neutral switch, it is the easiest and cheapest way to go, did it with both of my 4 speed shifters.
No calibration needed.

Excellent! Thanks so much!
 

Maxjeep1

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I installed a blackdog customs switch and harness. It fit perfectly and the harness is good quality with the proper ends. It was like 69.00
I removed and cleaned and lubed my shifter and I couldn’t believe the amount of sand that was in it. It shifted so smoothly after. I didn’t want to piece something together and make a harness lol.
 

Mogman

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I installed a blackdog customs switch and harness. It fit perfectly and the harness is good quality with the proper ends. It was like 69.00
I removed and cleaned and lubed my shifter and I couldn’t believe the amount of sand that was in it. It shifted so smoothly after. I didn’t want to piece something together and make a harness lol.
That kit is $119 with shipping now, for the difference I can hook up some wire.
I did say it was the cheapest LOL.
 
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