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While installing a radio in my 1984 M1009 CUCV, I was using a small pneumatic reciprocating saw to cut out the plastic panel. Apparently the vibration caused the starter relay under the dash to go into the "CUCV phantom start" mode and the motor started cranking. I got to the battery wires as soon as I could and yanked them off the terminals to interrupt power to the starter motor.
I got on here and read about the starter relay fix and that rang a bell with my memory when I was in the Army from 1984-88. I wasn't a 63B but drank a lot of beer with a couple of them and as I remember it the PM shop's fix was to replace the stock relay with another (defective) one from inventory when one encountered a self cranking CUCV.
Anyhow, I replaced mine with the Heavy Duty Wheel Horse relay just like the DogHead tech article specifies. I had to snip off an inch or two of the fuseable link wire from the rear battery to the Engine Wiring Harness Block on the firewall which had burned away from the terminal connector.
I reconnected the battery cables and the thing has worked like a champ since. That was until a couple of weeks ago. I started her up to head into town about 12 miles away and got to my destination with no indication of any problem. I shut it off to go to the hardware store and was inside for 10 minutes or so. After I returned to the parking lot, I started it up and was on the way out when I remembered an item I had forgotten, so I parked the truck again, shut it off and went inside. When I returned in 5 minutes and tried to start it, the starter relay would engage but the starter motor was a no go.
After getting it hauled back to the farm on a rollback. I pulled the starter and the solenoid was cracked and shorted. I figured it had gotten fried from the Phantom Start episode earlier and the motor probably wasn't too far behind so I decided to replace both of them. I installed the new starter/solenoid and reconnected the battery cables. When I turned on the ignition, no lights illuminated on the dash and the starter relay was a no go. I looked down at the radio face plate and it was illuminated. Apparently I had left the radio on for the past week and had ran down both batteries.
I charged the batteries over night, then reconnected the cables. I turned on the ignition and all the normal lights came on. The glow plugs cycled, I cranked it over and it fired right up. Both generator lights went out so I assumed the alternator was working properly. I drove into town (about 20 minutes away) had lunch and returned with no problems and parked the truck. About 3 hours later, I went to start it and the batteries were dead again.
I charged the batteries again. This time when I turned the ignition on I saw a puff of smoke coming from the Engine Wiring Harness Block location, so I turned the switch back off. The fuseable link was hot to the touch. I took a voltage reading at the terminal and there was about 2 volts. I disconnected the fuseable link and when I did, the connector came off of the wire which had burned in two. So, I replaced the fuseable link with a fuse block and a 30 amp fuse. When I reconnected the now fused wire from the rear battery negative terminal to the engine wiring harness block, the connector sparked pretty good like there was a pretty heavy load on it or a short to ground.
When I turned on the ignition, all the normal dash lights came on and then went out. I checked the fuse and it was blown. So I jumped across the fuse block with a 10ga wire. When I turned on the ignition all the normal lights came on. The glow plugs cycled, I cranked it over and it fired right up.
I shut it off and then disconnected all of the wires from both sides of the engine wiring harness block and checked them for continuity to ground in both directions in case there was a diode in line anywhere. Lo and behold there was a dead short to ground on the 3 red 2A wire which I believe runs to the ignition switch and also the under dash fuse panel. Also, I get 24 volts from the only blue wire which connects to the engine wiring harness block, which I believe runs from the negative power bus for the alternator charging circuit.
My question is has anyone experienced this problem and or have any idea where to look for the short to ground on the 3 red 2A wire which is obviously draining the batteries when the engine is not running? Thanks in advance
I got on here and read about the starter relay fix and that rang a bell with my memory when I was in the Army from 1984-88. I wasn't a 63B but drank a lot of beer with a couple of them and as I remember it the PM shop's fix was to replace the stock relay with another (defective) one from inventory when one encountered a self cranking CUCV.
Anyhow, I replaced mine with the Heavy Duty Wheel Horse relay just like the DogHead tech article specifies. I had to snip off an inch or two of the fuseable link wire from the rear battery to the Engine Wiring Harness Block on the firewall which had burned away from the terminal connector.
I reconnected the battery cables and the thing has worked like a champ since. That was until a couple of weeks ago. I started her up to head into town about 12 miles away and got to my destination with no indication of any problem. I shut it off to go to the hardware store and was inside for 10 minutes or so. After I returned to the parking lot, I started it up and was on the way out when I remembered an item I had forgotten, so I parked the truck again, shut it off and went inside. When I returned in 5 minutes and tried to start it, the starter relay would engage but the starter motor was a no go.
After getting it hauled back to the farm on a rollback. I pulled the starter and the solenoid was cracked and shorted. I figured it had gotten fried from the Phantom Start episode earlier and the motor probably wasn't too far behind so I decided to replace both of them. I installed the new starter/solenoid and reconnected the battery cables. When I turned on the ignition, no lights illuminated on the dash and the starter relay was a no go. I looked down at the radio face plate and it was illuminated. Apparently I had left the radio on for the past week and had ran down both batteries.
I charged the batteries over night, then reconnected the cables. I turned on the ignition and all the normal lights came on. The glow plugs cycled, I cranked it over and it fired right up. Both generator lights went out so I assumed the alternator was working properly. I drove into town (about 20 minutes away) had lunch and returned with no problems and parked the truck. About 3 hours later, I went to start it and the batteries were dead again.
I charged the batteries again. This time when I turned the ignition on I saw a puff of smoke coming from the Engine Wiring Harness Block location, so I turned the switch back off. The fuseable link was hot to the touch. I took a voltage reading at the terminal and there was about 2 volts. I disconnected the fuseable link and when I did, the connector came off of the wire which had burned in two. So, I replaced the fuseable link with a fuse block and a 30 amp fuse. When I reconnected the now fused wire from the rear battery negative terminal to the engine wiring harness block, the connector sparked pretty good like there was a pretty heavy load on it or a short to ground.
When I turned on the ignition, all the normal dash lights came on and then went out. I checked the fuse and it was blown. So I jumped across the fuse block with a 10ga wire. When I turned on the ignition all the normal lights came on. The glow plugs cycled, I cranked it over and it fired right up.
I shut it off and then disconnected all of the wires from both sides of the engine wiring harness block and checked them for continuity to ground in both directions in case there was a diode in line anywhere. Lo and behold there was a dead short to ground on the 3 red 2A wire which I believe runs to the ignition switch and also the under dash fuse panel. Also, I get 24 volts from the only blue wire which connects to the engine wiring harness block, which I believe runs from the negative power bus for the alternator charging circuit.
My question is has anyone experienced this problem and or have any idea where to look for the short to ground on the 3 red 2A wire which is obviously draining the batteries when the engine is not running? Thanks in advance