EMP Ready M1009 question

[Hightechken]

I think most everyone can agree that the diesel CUCV and similar vehicles are very unlikely to be damaged by an EMP. IF they are, I expect you would have much larger problems than just the truck not running.
However as already pointed out by ZRacer and others, The U.S. power grid most likely WILL be disabled.
And when the grid goes down, Gas stations will not have power to pump gas or diesel fuel....
I would not lose any sleep over the slim chance of your truck not running. But DO make plans to live for an extended period (Possibly YEARS) Without grid power. Plus, The potential problem with nuclear power plants going in to meltdown when their stand by generators run out of fuel.......
If you plan to store some fuel, Be sure to put something like PRI in it to make it last:
Fuel Treatments for Long Term Fuel Storage!

 

[deuceaid]

a emp is only going to take out something with a microchip,
modern cars, communication, computers, sensitive equipment, is all,
anything in your truck would be safe, other then maybe the gages, but even those
i am pretty sure are analogue, however a TOYOTA prius, would be dead on the side of the road@

I hope everyone here spends the time to read ALL of the results of these tests, and keep in mind this is 1962 Russia,,,,, vacuum tube radios ( most people say vac tubes wont be harmed,, yeah right) read paragraph 28 and 39.

Electromagnetic Pulse - Soviet Test 184 - EMP

And for those that think being disconected from the "grid" will keep you safe, read paragragh 21 of the same link, the military generator windings suffered damage that was found later.....windings, you know like in a starter or alternator,. and these tests were not High EMP yield type stuff...

also
Electromagnetic Pulse Protection - EMP - Futurescience.com

and

Electromagnetic Pulse - Nuclear EMP - futurescience.com

so why not get mechanical starters etc?

 

[Hightechken]

A direct quote from one of the links provided: "
The most difficult part of operating a car after an EMP event (or even a solar superstorm) is likely to be obtaining gasoline. It is very foolish to ever let the level of gasoline in your tank get below half full. In a wide range of emergencies, one of the most valuable things to have is a full tank of gasoline. A solar superstorm will NOT damage your automobile; but by knocking out the power grid, it can make fuel almost impossible to find. "

The odds of an EMP doing damage to the starting circuit on a vehicle like a CUCV is really pretty low.

There seems to be some misconception about telephone systems. The old copper circuit "land line" telephones with long overhead lines would most certainly be damaged along with the power grid.
The cellular systems are actually becoming much more robust as time goes by. A number of the towers here are being switched to all fiberoptic (A non conductor) backbone routes.
Two seperate plastic conduits are being run underground next to each other. One contains the non conductor fiber, The other contains the #12 gauge copper wire that is used as a "tracer" to be able to locate those lines in case anyone digs in the area. So a large EMP event may very well melt the tracer wires in the second conduit, There will be no damage to the fiber itself that is carrying the data and phone calls.
More and more these same fibers are carrying the internet service for over the air high speed internet access.
Most all of the "failures" of cellular (AND landline) Telephone systems is simply due to overload of too many people trying to make calls all at the same time. All telephone systems are designed to only handle a certain percentage of all subscribers at any one time. Voice calls take a fair amount of bandwidth and are harder to get through than text calls (A good reason to ask kids to show us all how to text) Text messages being much narrower bandwidth get through much better.
So in the end, In the event of a major EMP event, I expect that at least parts of the internet and cellphone service will still be operational, But the cellphone system may very well be overloaded and difficult to get through on.

 

[cliffyp]

A direct quote from one of the links provided: "
The most difficult part of operating a car after an EMP event (or even a solar superstorm) is likely to be obtaining gasoline. It is very foolish to ever let the level of gasoline in your tank get below half full. In a wide range of emergencies, one of the most valuable things to have is a full tank of gasoline. A solar superstorm will NOT damage your automobile; but by knocking out the power grid, it can make fuel almost impossible to find. "

The odds of an EMP doing damage to the starting circuit on a vehicle like a CUCV is really pretty low.

There seems to be some misconception about telephone systems. The old copper circuit "land line" telephones with long overhead lines would most certainly be damaged along with the power grid.
The cellular systems are actually becoming much more robust as time goes by. A number of the towers here are being switched to all fiberoptic (A non conductor) backbone routes.
Two seperate plastic conduits are being run underground next to each other. One contains the non conductor fiber, The other contains the #12 gauge copper wire that is used as a "tracer" to be able to locate those lines in case anyone digs in the area. So a large EMP event may very well melt the tracer wires in the second conduit, There will be no damage to the fiber itself that is carrying the data and phone calls.
More and more these same fibers are carrying the internet service for over the air high speed internet access.
Most all of the "failures" of cellular (AND landline) Telephone systems is simply due to overload of too many people trying to make calls all at the same time. All telephone systems are designed to only handle a certain percentage of all subscribers at any one time. Voice calls take a fair amount of bandwidth and are harder to get through than text calls (A good reason to ask kids to show us all how to text) Text messages being much narrower bandwidth get through much better.
So in the end, In the event of a major EMP event, I expect that at least parts of the internet and cellphone service will still be operational, But the cellphone system may very well be overloaded and difficult to get through on.

Doest this kind of get back go the issue of, "your vehicle may run but there's no power grid to pump gas"? If the power grid is down then equipment that shoots the optics (technical term?) down the fiber lines isn't functioning, power for internet modems and computers and charging cell phones isn't happening. So even if the lines are technically undamaged, it doesn't do much good. As long as power grid is down, they are down.

 

[Disciple]

Step 1: buy a horse.
Step 2: stockpile used motor oil and learn how to filter it really well. I have over 300 gallons in my garage (don't tell the EPA or Fire Dept.) and a filter rack with hand pumps.

 

[readyman]

When considering a 'manual' fuel pump, usually the 55gal drum to fuel tank type, consider the depth that you might have to pump out from at the gas station underground storage tanks. Extra length hoses and a pump that can lift from 'a good depth' might be something to think about.

I think most everyone can agree that the diesel
CUCV and similar vehicles are very unlikely to be damaged by an EMP. IF they are, I expect you would have much larger problems than just the truck not running.
However as already pointed out by ZRacer and others, The U.S. power grid most likely WILL be disabled.
And when the grid goes down, Gas stations will not have power to pump gas or diesel fuel....

 

[Disciple]

I don't understand why so many people are concerned with getting fuel out of the underground storage tanks at gas stations. For one, every yahoo for miles will be trying that trick and it sounds very labor intensive. I only plan on needing to pump from about 12" down. Think about it, if there were a massive EMP or solar event, or whatever, how many people do you think will be working? Not many. That includes truck drivers. If semi's aren't running, there's probably about 100 gallons average per truck sitting in easily accessible tanks all around you. I would load up the back of my truck (assuming its running an no one else's vehicles are) with every 50 gallon drum and 5 gallon bucket I could find and crash the gate at my local Caterpillar repair shop. One right down the block with a huge yard of heavy machinery with mostly full fuel tanks. I don't think too many people would be concerned with whether not the diesel you're running is off-road only. .

 

[Disciple]

One more thing. If you're really serious about this you might as well get yourself an EMP-proof (printed on paper) edition of the TM's. I had my wife, she's in printing, run me off a copy front and back and bind it with a cover in two big books. Most of the pages have grease smears on them by now, but MAN is it easier than running back and forth between the garage and computer or printing off one or two pages at a time only to realize you need more later.

 

[Hightechken]

Quote: "Doest this kind of get back go the issue of, "your vehicle may run but there's no power grid to pump gas"? If the power grid is down then equipment that shoots the optics (technical term?) down the fiber lines isn't functioning, power for internet modems and computers and charging cell phones isn't happening. So even if the lines are technically undamaged, it doesn't do much good. As long as power grid is down, they are down."

No, All telephone systems run on batteries, Plus all are required to have backup generators to keep the system going.
That is a moot point with the old landline system because odds are very high it will go down anyhow because of the long copper wires, But many if not most cellular systems will keep going as long as the diesel fuel they have holds out.

 

[Hightechken]

I don't understand why so many people are concerned with getting fuel out of the underground storage tanks at gas stations. For one, every yahoo for miles will be trying that trick and it sounds very labor intensive. I only plan on needing to pump from about 12" down. Think about it, if there were a massive EMP or solar event, or whatever, how many people do you think will be working? Not many. That includes truck drivers. If semi's aren't running, there's probably about 100 gallons average per truck sitting in easily accessible tanks all around you. I would load up the back of my truck (assuming its running an no one else's vehicles are) with every 50 gallon drum and 5 gallon bucket I could find and crash the gate at my local Caterpillar repair shop. One right down the block with a huge yard of heavy machinery with mostly full fuel tanks. I don't think too many people would be concerned with whether not the diesel you're running is off-road only. .

Um, That would be what I call THEFT, And under such conditions I would expect you could be greeted by gunfire.
NOT a good plan.

 

[Disciple]

Um, That would be what I call THEFT, And under such conditions I would expect you could be greeted by gunfire.
NOT a good plan.

So, what I suggested would be theft, but syphoning fuel from a gas station's underground tank isn't? That's why I have 300+ gallons of free fuel in my garage. I know you didn't recommend the gas station thing, but that's what I was responding to. As for the gunfire thing, in a scenario that's been described here, I wouldn't leave the house without body armor, assault rifles, and a couple of close friends with quick trigger fingers. Again though, how many people do you think would show up for work at the Caterpillar shop, and then defend it with guns??? Come on...

 

[readyman]

Disiple, yeah you're right.

But after a couple weeks when you've used your tank of fuel.
And after a few more when your garage stash is used up. Whoa, 300 gallons? May take longer then.
And after a few more when you've drained every last derelict vehicle tank for miles in every direction(along with all the other yahoos).

Then the easy fruit will all have been picked, and the fuel in the ground tanks will probably still be there. Because only a few have a way to retrieve it without electric.

I don't understand why so many people are concerned with getting fuel out of the underground storage tanks at gas stations. For one, every yahoo for miles will be trying that trick and it sounds very labor intensive. I only plan on needing to pump from about 12" down. Think about it, if there were a massive EMP or solar event, or whatever, how many people do you think will be working? Not many. That includes truck drivers. If semi's aren't running, there's probably about 100 gallons average per truck sitting in easily accessible tanks all around you. I would load up the back of my truck (assuming its running an no one else's vehicles are) with every 50 gallon drum and 5 gallon bucket I could find and crash the gate at my local Caterpillar repair shop. One right down the block with a huge yard of heavy machinery with mostly full fuel tanks. I don't think too many people would be concerned with whether not the diesel you're running is off-road only. .

 

[Disciple]

Then the easy fruit will all have been picked, and the fuel in the ground tanks will probably still be there. Because only a few have a way to retrieve it without electric.

You are absolutely correct. THAT is when you refer to post #85, Step 1.

 

[Hightechken]

Quote: "So, what I suggested would be theft, but syphoning fuel from a gas station's underground tank isn't? That's why I have 300+ gallons of free fuel in my garage. I know you didn't recommend the gas station thing, but that's what I was responding to. As for the gunfire thing, in a scenario that's been described here, I wouldn't leave the house without body armor, assault rifles, and a couple of close friends with quick trigger fingers. Again though, how many people do you think would show up for work at the Caterpillar shop, and then defend it with guns??? Come on... "

Well, I guess if YOU owned the gas station or heavy equipment shop, YOU might be there with a high power rifle defending it from people who intend to steal from you.
So now you plan to be an armed felon stealing fuel? Society is breaking down pretty fast here isn't it.
Let us know how that body armor works out against high power rifles

 

[islandguydon]

Faraday cage, Grounding is your best friend. Ground,Ground,Ground,..!

 

[Disciple]

Faraday cage, Grounding is your best friend. Ground,Ground,Ground,..!

I'm done with the fuel thing. Agreed, I've thought about keeping a couple of lengths of copper wire with big alligator clips on one end and a long metal stake at the other in my truck. The problem is that you can't predict an event like this and it would take incredible discipline to ground your truck every time you parked it. Not to mention that you'd look like a complete lunatic out there pounding stakes into the mall parking lot.

Not being a pessimist, grounding is the best route, I just know I wouldn't keep up with it and the one time I didn't... Lights out.

 

[Hightechken]

Faraday cage, Grounding is your best friend. Ground,Ground,Ground,..!

Remember the gasoline trucks in the olden days dragging a chain on the ground bolted to the center or rear of the truck frame to prevent static discharge?
They have not done that for years now. I have heard modern day tires contain lots more carbon or something and the chain is no longer needed?

In those days little rubber straps were sold for automobiles to prevent static shocks that were installed the same way, Under the car to drag on the ground.

All just food for thought. I still don't think even a fairly strong EMP is going to damage the electronics on a CUCV........

 

[Hightechken]

Here is a recent post with some good links about how low in priority damage to vehicles really is.
Letter Re: Motor Vehicles and the EMP Threat - SurvivalBlog.com

As pointed out before, When the main power grid goes down, Getting fuel will be the main problem, Among others......

 

[gigabelly]

How does one go about swapping glow plug system to a manual switch?

 

[Disciple]

How does one go about swapping glow plug system to a manual switch?

There are many good posts on this topic already if you do a search, but you need to find the purple wire coming off the Glow Plug Controller card under the dash by the steering column. It's a black plastic rectangular box with wires in a straight row coming off one side. If you put a switch spliced into the purple wire (not cutting the wire, just peeling back the casing and tagging onto it), run that to one side of your switch and the other side of the switch to a good ground, that will make the Glow Plug Relay cycle with the switch, but when the switch is off, the system will work normally as stock. So, in normal circumstances the controller card will still be working, but if, for some reason you're out stranded somewhere and your controller card goes bad (quite common), you can still manually activate the relay with your switch. I hid mine up inside of the dash. Also, make sure it's a momentary, not constant switch. You don't want this getting bumped or accidentally activated and draining your batteries and possibly frying your glow plugs or relay.