M1009 Heavy Maintenance Visit

[Mg84648]

Hopefully in early October I'll be shooting it with 383 in preperation for an eventual 3 tone woodland camo job using Gillespie "CARC". The body work is pretty much set, just need to knock down any old paint with 400 grit and wipe with acetone and tape it. Hopefully, I can find some reasonable 31/10.5/15 tires for it so I can lose the 33 inch "mudders". (If anyone in Atlanta wants to trade, let me know)

 

[cucvrus]

WOW 400 grit. I never went any further down then 220. And that was only when I was painting it with a solid paint job. I do the 80 and then jump to 180. I put a good epoxy sealer on it. Paint the whole truck green and do the brown and black within the same day and time period. Makes a nice job and no dry edges on the colors. WOW 400 grit that is getting it smooth. I found that the life expectancy on 80 grit sanding disk against any CARC paint is less then a minute I always get the jobs that perfection is not the end goal. Just good coverage and good looks. Most of the pictures I have are 35 MM. I would share them if I could.

 

[Mg84648]

WOW 400 grit. I never went any further down then 220. And that was only when I was painting it with a solid paint job. I do the 80 and then jump to 180. I put a good epoxy sealer on it. Paint the whole truck green and do the brown and black within the same day and time period. Makes a nice job and no dry edges on the colors. WOW 400 grit that is getting it smooth. I found that the life expectancy on 80 grit sanding disk against any CARC paint is less then a minute I always get the jobs that perfection is not the end goal. Just good coverage and good looks. Most of the pictures I have are 35 MM. I would share them if I could.

Ya I guess you may be right. I want something the paint can bite onto so I'll start with 80 and then finish with 180 like suggested. Certainly I'm open to suggestions as this is my first project of this sort.
Thanks for the input for sure!

 

[MarcusOReallyus]

Most of the pictures I have are 35 MM. I would share them if I could.

35mm? cucvrus, you are an old bugger!

 

[Mg84648]

Just finished putting two coats of Gillespie 383 green down and added tire pressure, rear window, bumper stars and fuel door stencils from Militarystencils.com Everything went as planned and it looks great.
I also added some interior placards, new side markers and tail lenses and managed to break my glove box at the hinge. I guess thats the next thing on the list along with the tail gate lock cylinder.
Enjoy.

 

[ThunderCracker]

Looks great! Good job.

 

[Mg84648]

Looks great! Good job.

Thanks Thunder. For a second there I thought you stole my avatar
Nice looking rig yourself. What size tires are those? I want to ditch these Dune Grapplers in size 33/12.5. Yours look about right. Again thanks for the compliment.

 

[Mg84648]

Well, got it registered today and went to top off the tank at the gas station around the corner! Drove like a champ. I put $42 of diesel in and the gas guage never moved off half a tank I visually traced the red wire coming off the sending unit( not even sure if that is even the correct wire) and it has several splices and kinks but I'm off to work now. I'll have to glance at a print and shoot it tomorrow. Either way a very successful day non the less.

 

[Skinny]

I thought you stole my avatar

I just did a double take too. Thought to myself, how did the concrete driveway appear so quickly???

Nice rig!!!

 

[Mg84648]

So this is the fuel guage outcome. I trouble shot per the TM and the needle never moved (cleaned/pollished terminals while there) still no joy. Found a kink on pink wire in engine compartment and repaired, still no joy. Pulled the cluster and cleaned/polished three contacts on guage and cluster, no joy. Put 9 volt battery on guage contacts and needle swings full travel both way so guage is good. So obviously I'm not getting power but the 20 amp IGN fuse is good(cleaned the contacts also) Pulled main rectangle connector off cluster printed circuit cleaned and reseated, no joy.
So now I'm stumped. I go to start the truck and the previous owner installed a manual glow button. Push the glow button and wait for wait light to extinguish and I see the fuel guage rising to full. Then stops when I release glow button. Push to glow and the needle begins to rise again then stops when I release glow button.
Im off to work now so I thought I'd mention that and see what you guys think.

 

[Skinny]

Weird.

I've never tested a gauge with a 9v battery, not sure what that would do inside the cluster. You should be able to take the signal wire going from the gauge to the sender and test it. Disconnect and the gauge will read either max full or empty (forget which way it swings), then touch the wire to ground and it will swing Tue other way. Plain and simple. If it doesn't gauge or cluster has issue. If it does, then your wiring further downstream of the test point is bad or sender is bad.

 

[cucvrus]

I know this is not an easy task. But if it were mine. IF. I would eliminate all the hoopla extra wires and return the truck back to stock as much as possible. It sounds like a grounding issue with the gauge. Pulling a ground through another source then it was designed to. But that is difficult to tell on the internet. As I said in the past I am not in favor of cutting into and changing any wiring in these trucks. They seem to work fine indefinetly with the OEM design. Take a look at where they cut and spliced into the OEM harness and see if you can eliminate the issue by eliminating the cuts and splices. Also check the fuel tank sending unit grounding wire on the top of the left frame flange at the rear of the truck. It has a 5/16" self tapping bolt and star washer in that location. Can't be of much more help. But you did a very nice job on the paint and body work. Good luck. I am a huge fan of these vehicles and run several of them every day of the week. On and off the job.

 

[Mg84648]

So while I was at work I found a clear picture of the fuse bank since the labeling on mine is faded and or smudged significantly. I don't remember who took it or where I found it but I noticed there are TWO not one 20 amp ignition fuse. IGN ENG CONT I believe is how the second one was labeled just above the other IGN 20 amp fuse.
So this morning when I got home I checked mine and there was a blown 15 amp fuse in its place. That's why I never saw it, I was looking for a 20 amp fuse since my labeling is unreadable. I popped in a new fuse and everything works as advertised.
As far as the needle moving while glowing, I tried it several times and it was rock solid so I really can't explain that phenomenon. Maybe stray voltage, I have absolutely no idea. All I know is it works now.
The fast idle toggle switch mod seems to be wired into the lower IGN socket on the fuse block. Runs through the firewall to the fast idle solenoid on the IP. The glow plug button is grounded at the panel then ran to the upper post on the glow plug relay. The same post that the light blue wire is attached. So it seems like both mods are independent of one another and not tapped into the fuel qty circuit like previously suspected.
I certainly would like to eliminate these mods and return the vehicle to original specs like Cucvrus had suggested. I'll be contacting you with questions when I'm ready to do it for sure.

 

[Skinny]

Normal backfeeding when you lose a fuse. Sometimes you just can't explain the logic behind electricity flow in that situation.

I agree, would certainly take time to clean up any grounds on the gas tank. Mine had a few splices in the sender wire. I replaced it with one new wire, solderless butt connector with built in heat shrink, then installed a nice spaded terminal lead which will make removing the tank easier since I can disconnect it. That wire is very sensative to corrosion or poor connections.

 

[Mg84648]

Leaving for work now. Going to take the "Beast" for her first long test hop. Highway all the way to Hartsfield-Jackson. Wish me luck!

 

[Another Ahab]

Late to the party, but I'm ALL over this:

- Subscribed.

 

[Mg84648]

Mission accomplished! Here she is sitting in the employee lot.
Now we'll see how she starts in the morning when its 38 degrees!

 

[Mg84648]

After a successful trip to and fro work I learned of several issues with the truck.
1) the heater fan blows but only Luke warm air flows.
2) the washer fluid squirts continuously whenever the wipers are on,
3) the passenger high beam is inop
4) the fuel guage is stuck at half a tank again.
5) there are holes in the mufflers, I knew this prior but driving on the highway magnified the issue.
I have mufflers on order from rock auto so that will be fixed but that darn fuel guage is eating my lunch!
Just need to keep grinding and work the problem. Also need that heater for sure.

 

[Mg84648]

Second day driving the 09 to work. Not good. Just barely got it home.
Pulling out of the employee lot it lost torque. Wouldn't accelerate up the hill. The engine revved high but it just wouldn't pull. Pulled over and checked transmission fluid, vacuum lines, no signs of a leak( as much as i could see at 4:30 am) Was the same in all gears. Limped it home, threw the keys on the counter. I'm going to bed.
Pretty frustrating.

 

[cucvrus]

After a successful trip to and fro work I learned of several issues with the truck.
1) the heater fan blows but only Luke warm air flows.
2) the washer fluid squirts continuously whenever the wipers are on,
3) the passenger high beam is inop
4) the fuel guage is stuck at half a tank again.
5) there are holes in the mufflers, I knew this prior but driving on the highway magnified the issue.
I have mufflers on order from rock auto so that will be fixed but that darn fuel guage is eating my lunch!
Just need to keep grinding and work the problem. Also need that heater for sure.

Hey I am writing this after reading your 2nd day at work entry.
Lets start at the top of your 1 st day.
1.) The heater.
Make sure the radiator is full and the water is circulating thru the heater core.
Remove the heater hose from the radiator and the engine. See if you can flush clear water through the heater core.
Use a garden hose.
If that is clear reattache the hoses, refill the radiator and run the truck till it is at operating temperature. Do you have a thermometer? Check engine temp. Should be at 190.
If not check themostat and change it. It is like most it has the original one in it.
Refill the cooling system and test it. It should have heat. It is not a bad idea to pressure test the cooling system at this point or before you do anything to make sure you have a tight system. That was just an after thought. Sight unseen diagnostics.
2.) Remain Calm. The wiper motor needs replaced. It is a common issue with this vintage vehicle. Autozone has the 1984 motor with pump less the $50. American. Lifetime warranty AZ PN 40-180. Pay the $10. core and keep the old motor. You can use it for parts or take it apart and fix it. Either way it has a few parts on it that don't come with the new motor. You can take it back for the $10. after you remove the needed parts.
3.) Now the nasty part. The fuel gauge. That can be one of 3 things. Worst case senario the sending unit in the fuel tank. That is a job but also an oppurtunity for you to change the 30 year old rubber fuel lines and cleanup and paint the fuel tank, body and frame up under there. It is all part of the journey to rebuild your fine CUCV.
Next it could be the in dash fuel gauge.
I would drop the tank and manually move the float and see if the gauge goes from empty when down and full when up.
Check the wire for continuity and check the grounds. Pace yourself a little at a time.
The mufflers you got handled. GOOD LUCK. I would help if I was closer.