Found a gas powered wrecker

[5tonpuller]

Went from home to Ft. Drum with the club once. 3/4 the way there had to get fuel to get there. Topped off to come home made it home on a tank. About 160-170 miles one way. Going north to get there? up hill? (lol) Going south to come home down hill? Was a great ride.

 

[msgjd]

Went from home to Ft. Drum with the club once. 3/4 the way there had to get fuel to get there. Topped off to come home made it home on a tank. About 160-170 miles one way. Going north to get there? up hill? (lol) Going south to come home down hill? Was a great ride.

that's about right for a multifuel .. when "my" NG armor BN with the 86th BDE did its regulated convoy moves to Ft Drum it was an uphill climb all the way from the Champlain valley.. There was always a mandatory fuel laager at Mount VanHoevenburg just short of Lake Placid, which was roughly a halfway point.. .. Most of the trucks took at least a half tank of fuel to top off , the gassers could be down as far as a third of a tank depending on their load ... On the way back it was a non-stop run , and for us in the Transportation platoon it was a non-convoy free-for-all complete with races and general mayhem , especially with fire extinguishers, gooey pears, and mushy bananas involved

 

[71DeuceAK]

Rescue her!

 

[turnerman]

Got her running off an aux gas tank. Brakes need new lines and bad fuel pump also rusted fuel tank. Slowing getting there

 

[71DeuceAK]

Glad to hear you're making progress!

 

[WillWagner]

Got her running off an aux gas tank. Brakes need new lines and bad fuel pump also rusted fuel tank. Slowing getting there

Pump rebuild kits are still available. I use a place in Weymouth Ma. Then and now automotive. Call them with the numbers off of the pump and they will fix you up.

Then and Now Automotive

And, if it still has the Holley on it, if you can, find a Zenith for it, the engine runs much better with the Zenith

 

[turnerman]

It actually has a double barrel modern Holley with a homemade adapter. I found a pump on a modern fleabay site. It it doesn’t work I’ll try them thanks.

 

[turnerman]

Well the rotochamber leaks. Any one ever rebuild one? I see diaphragms but no instructions or verification of fitment?

 

[turnerman]

Got her going off a boat fuel tank. Man does it use gas! Took 3 gallons just idling 10 minutes. New brake lines and hoses, new fuel pump, new radiator hoses. The dirt Dobbers causes a lot of confusion why the new pump wouldn’t suck fuel but got that figured out. Carb is way too rich but it will idle at 500 rpm. Got to play with the adjustments on that holly carb.

 

[turnerman]

Fixed that front winch cable too but I see the cable was broken because the locking plate on the lever was out of adjustment

 

[jimmr]

If anyone has an interest in what I believe is a m543 wrecker maybe from Korean era. It is a gasoline model. No pictures yet but if there is any interest I’ll get some

all vehicles I believe had to be able to travel a certain distance in convoy. maybe wreckers were exempt but I doubt it. I also can't see wreckers getting a ''special'' enlarged fuel tank! I'd say 3 gallons for a 10 mint idle .......... something is amiss?

 

[turnerman]

Oh yes pulled plugs and black soot so way over rich. It’s got a Holley on it so I’ve got to play with the adjustments

 

[jeffhuey1n]

Got her going off a boat fuel tank. Man does it use gas! Took 3 gallons just idling 10 minutes. New brake lines and hoses, new fuel pump, new radiator hoses. The dirt Dobbers causes a lot of confusion why the new pump wouldn’t suck fuel but got that figured out. Carb is way too rich but it will idle at 500 rpm. Got to play with the adjustments on that holly carb.

I used an old tractor gas tank to get my M37 going. The truck’s tank is going to require some serious cleaning.

 

[WillWagner]

The 6602 in the M62 had HORRIBLE fuel consumption. No kidding, 4 gallons of fuel used in a 30 min operation of the upper. It always had black smoke, kept dropping holes after cleaning the plugs. It was much worse before the Zenith install.

Last week I put some civilian NGK plugs in it with some adapters from Brent Mullins. I was able to start it, let it warm up, finally get the carb adjusted properly, do an Austin Powers 90 point turn in the shop area, drive it out into the display area, make a couple of laps, shifting to 3rd in low range, park it, remove the fuel supply from it and let it idle almost 5 mins before it ran out of juice. It would normally run maybe 2 mins idling before the fuel ran out. It used only maybe 2 gallons and ran with elevated RPM and actually driving in a 40 minute time frame

My advice, buy the NGK plugs and the adapters form Brent, put the proper Zenith on it, I am guessing that the retrofitted holley is NOT a governor type, which is helpful when using the upper, it will keep the RPM at 1500 no matter the load. IF you can't find the Zenith, I have the original Holley, I am sure I can persuade Craig into getting rid of it, it is of no use to us now.

Go check out the thread on the Wrecker. It is picture heavy, but you'll see the hoops I went through to bring it back to operational.

The next Project an ASMH

The next item we need to pay some attention to is something that we can use to pick a load of 8800 lbs....hopefully not, but, it would be nice to have it up and operating. IIRC, I will give the data plates a gander and some pictures, is an M62 wrecker. I know it ran when parked, was ran out of...

www.steelsoldiers.com

I have some TMs out at another members place to convert to PDF and put in the library here. One is a -10 that is different than the one here and the TM dealing with the wrecker body.

 

[turnerman]

I definitely need the Tms. This thing hasn’t seen a wrench or grease in 40 years.

 

[WillWagner]

I definitely need the Tms. This thing hasn’t seen a wrench or grease in 40 years.

Most are here in the library/TM section,

M39 Series Manuals

This thread covers the M39 family of Trucks. TRUCK, 5-TON, 6X6, M39, M40, M41, M51, M52, M54, M55, M61, M62, M63, M139, M246, M291, M328, M543 and M748 SERIES TRUCKS (Multifuel) The Following Steel Soldiers Members contributed to this thread. @sigo, Unnamed Administrator, @Guyfang, @simp5782...

www.steelsoldiers.com

 

[msgjd]

Got her going off a boat fuel tank. Man does it use gas! Took 3 gallons just idling 10 minutes. Carb is way too rich but it will idle at 500 rpm. Got to play with the adjustments on that holly carb.

I see you said your truck has a different Holley on it than its original, and I'm not surprised that it still sucks a lot of gas and runs too rich, as does the Holley that came on that truck. As others mentioned, the Zenith supercede is way better and there will be noticeable fuel economy with it, especially during starting and long-term idling .

It's amazing how much fuel is consumed at an idle , and this is true with many old non-emissions carb engines .. I used to "camp" in my 318ci truck overnight during bad snowstorms to save fuel and 3 hours of commute. Would idle a couple hours to keep me warm before bedtime, and an hour in the morning upon waking.. Surprisingly, it went through almost as much fuel as it did driving those hours. Yep, I had a Holley on it.

As for your fuel math, let's say your R6602 is going 50mph, that's 0.83333333333 miles per minute.. In 10 minutes time you have gone 8.3333333333 miles.. If you consumed 3 gallons in 10 minutes it's just a fraction shy of 3 miles per gallon .. That's an honest ballpark for a holley-equipped R6602 .. Even the TM estimates 4MPG .. I realize you're at an idle, but it's super-rich and that engine is creating 602 cubic inches of hot firey breath regardless whether it's hauling or not

But yes, it seems an idle should bring an equivalent of 4 to 5MPG and i feel your pain.. To give a baseline, my M51 (w/holley) eats 5 gallons in 20 minutes while doing my walkaround, and that's at its leanest adjustment capable of keeping a smooth idle.. That "economy" is not much better than yours...

It's the nature of these powerful beasts, they are way-better haulers OTR than a M39A2-series multifuel and faster than the M39A1/M809 diesels.. But of course, the multifuels and the diesels are more fuel-efficient, although time-sucks OTR ..

My M62(A2) was remotored in the late-80's or early-90's. Whenever I'm doing stationary wrecker work I am glad it has a multifuel instead of a R6602. But when I have to hit the highway, I wish it still had the R6602