Barrman
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I got RED from McKoen in December of 2010 as a parts truck for my M1009. Soon after my son Colton convinced me it would be a great project for him to build and become his truck. He was 12 at the time. There is a thread on here somewhere about the RED build.
September of 2011 my direct drive starter solenoid on my M1009 fused on and did the usual fusable link melting. I had the Doghead relay installed, but the system failed elsewhere. I didn't have a spare starter at the time and was daily driving my M1009. So I pulled the redux starter from RED, put it on mine until my starter got fixed. Then I put the redux back on RED. Where it has stayed working until 2 days ago.
About the time Colton had RED stripped, painted, rewired and interior redone we put new batteries in it. Early 2013. 3 days ago they were just about dead and he had to slave off my M1009 to get fired up and to work. Leaving work he had a slow spinning starter, but it started. By the time I got home it fired up just like normal and the batteries checked out on voltage and load testing.
He leaves for college next week. There will be no convenient 24 volt slave source on campus. I was thinking about this last week and had convinced myself to get a new set of batteries for RED before he left. I was right in thinking about replacing them.
Tuesday afternoon I did. Once done, I went to start it and all I got was the Doghead relay thunking. I checked the new batteries which were good. He was out of town with a friend but once contacted he said it had started slow all 4 times he had had to start the truck that day, but it started fine.
I followed the steps in the TM down to "replace starter." I started collecting 24 volt 6.2 starters after I was left without a spare back in 2011. I have several. All are direct drive though. I have had him carry a spare direct drive starter with new starter bolts and the proper support bracket in the back of the truck for 5 years. I had actually had that spare starter on my M1009 at one point so I knew it was good.
Yesterday morning, I get up at 0430 and pull the redux, check the big red wire and the purple wire again and install the spare direct drive. It just went thunk on the Doghead when I got it all done. What?????
I had to get to work so I assigned him the job of verification of several things. 24 volts to the Doghead, 24 volts to the purple wire on the Doghead when the key is in start and make sure the starter big red wire on the Buss bar is clean and tight. I was thinking good starter, bad wires. It all checked out.
I got home from work yesterday and we went at it together. I rechecked all he had checked. We had voltage to the starter and through the purple wire to the solenoid. Off with the direct drive known good starter.
We ground checked the redux we pulled and it worked perfect on the ground. On with the just pulled in the morning redux. We try it and it works perfect. Nothing had been changed except removal and installation. We turn the truck off and try to start again. Nothing but a thunk under the dash. URRRRRR.
We ground checked the just pulled direct drive and it wouldn't do a darn thing. I guess riding around in a padded case for 30,000 miles made it mad. I will check it out later.
By now I am convinced it is a bad wire. Off to the "Parts Depot" of 3 M1009 trucks I got from Warthog. We pull the big red starter supply wire from Whitey and run it to the still installed redux. It works perfect. We turn it off and try again. Thunk! 20 or 30 more tries and a thunk everytime.
By now it is getting dark, still above 90° out and I haven't eating is 8 hours. Not a happy time. But, he needs to leave at 0630 the next morning to drive 60 miles for a college thing. We need it to work.
One of the other trucks from Warthog, Rusty, has a broken crankshaft, but it also has a redux starter bolted on. I had my spare direct drive in the back of my M1009 but it was the same age as the one that didn't work on RED. All the rest of my 24 volt starters are in my class so I can use them as examples for the students and use to test engines as we get them ready to fire. My M715 with a spare in its toolbox is also in my class so we can reference things while assembling the M715 for Sermis. I was out of starters at the house and it was full dark by now.
Off we go to Rusty. Sliding under a truck on 33" tires sitting on concrete is a lot different than getting under a truck on barely aired up 31" tires sitting in a field. Thankfully, the flywheel cover was already gone and someone had removed the bolt for the support bracket. It was just the two big starter bolts and the two wires. We had developed a system by now. I went under the truck behind the front tire and he went under the bumper. Once I dropped the starter, he would use long extensions and do the wires while I stabilized the balancing on the frame starter. 5 minutes and we were headed back to RED with a really dirty but AC Delco red metal tagged redux.
Oh, the people with the land next to me have 3 miniature donkeys. When you are pinned under a truck next to their fence in a field 50 yards from a stock tank that is known to have snakes. It is dark and it is the prime hunting time of day for said snakes. You might jump and hit your head on the front drive shaft when the donkeys decide to start braying and running around. Just a warning.
We pulled his old redux and slapped the new one in along with going back to the original wiring. It worked 6 times in a row so we called it good. He took off to go pick up some things he needed for this morning and then left this morning with it working everytime. He hasn't called, so I guess he made it to where he was supposed to be.
I was tired of bench pressing starter motors last night so I didn't investigate either failed starter any. Maybe tonight. My personal theory is that the redux originally on the truck is having issues with the solenoid. Since it worked exactly once after we had screwed on the wires. I am thinking the back side of the bit lug is loose inside, corroded inside or the washer like thing it contacts is corroded. I will pull the solenoid apart and see what I can see.
Why write all of this out? Because CUCV starter issues have been written about, argued about and discussed on here for at least the last 10 years. It comes up every week. We have the great TM to guide us, but when it says to contact your supervisor we are kind of on our own. Left with just the collective knowledge written out. Trust nothing, check everything, even if you already did is my contribution this week.
September of 2011 my direct drive starter solenoid on my M1009 fused on and did the usual fusable link melting. I had the Doghead relay installed, but the system failed elsewhere. I didn't have a spare starter at the time and was daily driving my M1009. So I pulled the redux starter from RED, put it on mine until my starter got fixed. Then I put the redux back on RED. Where it has stayed working until 2 days ago.
About the time Colton had RED stripped, painted, rewired and interior redone we put new batteries in it. Early 2013. 3 days ago they were just about dead and he had to slave off my M1009 to get fired up and to work. Leaving work he had a slow spinning starter, but it started. By the time I got home it fired up just like normal and the batteries checked out on voltage and load testing.
He leaves for college next week. There will be no convenient 24 volt slave source on campus. I was thinking about this last week and had convinced myself to get a new set of batteries for RED before he left. I was right in thinking about replacing them.
Tuesday afternoon I did. Once done, I went to start it and all I got was the Doghead relay thunking. I checked the new batteries which were good. He was out of town with a friend but once contacted he said it had started slow all 4 times he had had to start the truck that day, but it started fine.
I followed the steps in the TM down to "replace starter." I started collecting 24 volt 6.2 starters after I was left without a spare back in 2011. I have several. All are direct drive though. I have had him carry a spare direct drive starter with new starter bolts and the proper support bracket in the back of the truck for 5 years. I had actually had that spare starter on my M1009 at one point so I knew it was good.
Yesterday morning, I get up at 0430 and pull the redux, check the big red wire and the purple wire again and install the spare direct drive. It just went thunk on the Doghead when I got it all done. What?????
I had to get to work so I assigned him the job of verification of several things. 24 volts to the Doghead, 24 volts to the purple wire on the Doghead when the key is in start and make sure the starter big red wire on the Buss bar is clean and tight. I was thinking good starter, bad wires. It all checked out.
I got home from work yesterday and we went at it together. I rechecked all he had checked. We had voltage to the starter and through the purple wire to the solenoid. Off with the direct drive known good starter.
We ground checked the redux we pulled and it worked perfect on the ground. On with the just pulled in the morning redux. We try it and it works perfect. Nothing had been changed except removal and installation. We turn the truck off and try to start again. Nothing but a thunk under the dash. URRRRRR.
We ground checked the just pulled direct drive and it wouldn't do a darn thing. I guess riding around in a padded case for 30,000 miles made it mad. I will check it out later.
By now I am convinced it is a bad wire. Off to the "Parts Depot" of 3 M1009 trucks I got from Warthog. We pull the big red starter supply wire from Whitey and run it to the still installed redux. It works perfect. We turn it off and try again. Thunk! 20 or 30 more tries and a thunk everytime.
By now it is getting dark, still above 90° out and I haven't eating is 8 hours. Not a happy time. But, he needs to leave at 0630 the next morning to drive 60 miles for a college thing. We need it to work.
One of the other trucks from Warthog, Rusty, has a broken crankshaft, but it also has a redux starter bolted on. I had my spare direct drive in the back of my M1009 but it was the same age as the one that didn't work on RED. All the rest of my 24 volt starters are in my class so I can use them as examples for the students and use to test engines as we get them ready to fire. My M715 with a spare in its toolbox is also in my class so we can reference things while assembling the M715 for Sermis. I was out of starters at the house and it was full dark by now.
Off we go to Rusty. Sliding under a truck on 33" tires sitting on concrete is a lot different than getting under a truck on barely aired up 31" tires sitting in a field. Thankfully, the flywheel cover was already gone and someone had removed the bolt for the support bracket. It was just the two big starter bolts and the two wires. We had developed a system by now. I went under the truck behind the front tire and he went under the bumper. Once I dropped the starter, he would use long extensions and do the wires while I stabilized the balancing on the frame starter. 5 minutes and we were headed back to RED with a really dirty but AC Delco red metal tagged redux.
Oh, the people with the land next to me have 3 miniature donkeys. When you are pinned under a truck next to their fence in a field 50 yards from a stock tank that is known to have snakes. It is dark and it is the prime hunting time of day for said snakes. You might jump and hit your head on the front drive shaft when the donkeys decide to start braying and running around. Just a warning.
We pulled his old redux and slapped the new one in along with going back to the original wiring. It worked 6 times in a row so we called it good. He took off to go pick up some things he needed for this morning and then left this morning with it working everytime. He hasn't called, so I guess he made it to where he was supposed to be.
I was tired of bench pressing starter motors last night so I didn't investigate either failed starter any. Maybe tonight. My personal theory is that the redux originally on the truck is having issues with the solenoid. Since it worked exactly once after we had screwed on the wires. I am thinking the back side of the bit lug is loose inside, corroded inside or the washer like thing it contacts is corroded. I will pull the solenoid apart and see what I can see.
Why write all of this out? Because CUCV starter issues have been written about, argued about and discussed on here for at least the last 10 years. It comes up every week. We have the great TM to guide us, but when it says to contact your supervisor we are kind of on our own. Left with just the collective knowledge written out. Trust nothing, check everything, even if you already did is my contribution this week.
