M1078 cracked block

[markgjsquires]

Am back to let everyone know what I ended up doing…. I used flux core wire going through my mig and welded the cracks as best I could. Doing little blips the whole way down from top to bottom. I’d post pictures but it isn’t pretty but it seemed to work well. I ground the crack to bare cast with a grinding stone mounted on a cordless drill. I used an oxy/acetylene torch set to a low flame to get the block warm and to maintain warmth while welding. Maybe it’s just the nature of flux core wire but it didn’t feed well when trying to lay a bead (practiced on some cast bearing blocks I had). So basically just spot welded it from top to bottom. As others have said on videos I’ve watched the maintaining of heat is crucial. Not cooling it down slowly leads to poor welds and cracks. I’m sure my welds won’t hold forever but as coach said it’ll give me the bandaid I needed for my broken leg until I find the right engine down the road. I got mt started back from being rebuilt and got it all back together this morning and she popped right off. (I was having starting issues being starter would disengage once the engine started to crack or the bendix wouldn’t hit and just spin so took it to local shop. Solenoid was bad and replaced other wear parts. I had went through all my battery cables and connections. Tried four brand new batteries with my Tesla charger on it so finally took starter off. Wish I did forever ago starts perfect with just two new batteries). So least she’s back up and running again. Will take her for a drive this afternoon see how she acts. Thanks for all the insight and tips guys.

 

[markgjsquires]

Take that back. She started up great. Went to fire it up again after and completely dead action on the starter no clicking no trying. Cross the frame solenoid nothing. Cross the starter solenoid. Nothing. 24+v at all the right spots when I check. Looks like taking the starter back off to see what’s wrong now.

 

[Mullaney]

Take that back. She started up great. Went to fire it up again after and completely dead action on the starter no clicking no trying. Cross the frame solenoid nothing. Cross the starter solenoid. Nothing. 24+v at all the right spots when I check. Looks like taking the starter back off to see what’s wrong now.

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Check your ground wires?

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[markgjsquires]

When I was checking for 24v I had checked on the positive and negative posts on the starter and got 24v there. Assume that would mean it’s getting proper voltage to start. Tried crossing frame rail solenoid. No action. Tried crossing solenoid on starter. No action. Just a little spark no clicking or anything.

 

[Mullaney]

When I was checking for 24v I had checked on the positive and negative posts on the starter and got 24v there. Assume that would mean it’s getting proper voltage to start. Tried crossing frame rail solenoid. No action. Tried crossing solenoid on starter. No action. Just a little spark no clicking or anything.

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Understood. Did you find/follow a ground wire down to the frame?

 

[markgjsquires]

Yes. One goes to the frame (coated/braided) cable. One to the rear

 

[Mullaney]

Yes. One goes to the frame (coated/braided) cable. One to the rear

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Good that it is there.
Sad that it isn't working like it should.

Going down into the pit of agony now. With the least amount of effort - do you have a set of jumper cables handy? If so, scratch around on the starter body for bare metal. Find a spot of bare metal on the frame and create another ground path. Did anything change? Are your cables long enough to possibly reach the negative post on the batteries?

What about the Polarity (PPD) box under the spare tire? Have you looked under there? Those connections are exposed to the weather. Disconnecting the batteries first - Cleaning those connections might make a difference...

 

[markgjsquires]

before I removed the starter I went through the hints and tricks I’ve read here. I bypassed the in dash relay and wired a button so I could bypass all the fun safety sensors associated with the vim. No change. Went through and cleaned all the terminals/studs on the polarity box with a grinder to get them down to clean bare metal. (They were rather corroded, thanks north east winters). Went through any ground I knew of or could find and cleaned. Only one I did not was the ground-frame cable. That I will replace just for the sake of its old. It’s covered with oil and and dirt and everything else. Tried to jump starter with cables as suggested before removing for the second time. No help. Removed the starter took the shop last night. Shop called me back stating bad solenoid (my error I believe I told them sure let’s save $100 I’ll get the Chinese solenoid not the leece Neville). So perhaps that’s where my issue is. Maybe the Chinese solenoid although states good for 24v can’t take the voltage of the alternator? So. Will have it back next week and put it back together and see what happens then….

 

[Ronmar]

Well there are I believe 12v and 24v versions of these starters, the solenoid might not have been the 24v version… Jumping across the large terminals of the aux start relay on the drivers frame should bypass everything above. If that didn't crank, and you still see 24v on the starter + and - terminals(while trying to crank) that pretty much made it a starter issue.

Some of these starters on the A0 have an added feature, a thermal cutout switch. On the front of the starter motor is a 2 pin plug. the plug that connects there is in the aux start relay coil ground circuit, so if that plug is not plugged into the starter motor, it needs to have a jumper installed in the plug for the aux start relay to energize when you push the start button…

 

[markgjsquires]

My starter does not have a plug for the thermal cutout switch. I do have the two wires that would’ve gone to it bugged together. The solenoid that was replaced did say it was 24v. Only thing I can think of is that it worked great to start the truck Initially. Then when the truck started I let it run long enough for the air compressor to build up pressure. Then turned it off to pick up tools, I lowered the cab And when I went to start it again, no go. Only thing I can think of is that when it got the engine started perhaps the excess volts from the alternator 26-27v…was enough to burn up something in the solenoid. Just very frustrating being that it’s not the easiest starter to remove and install but hopefully the better solenoid resolves the issue and people can learn from my mistake to not chance an off brand solenoid spend the few extra bucks and get the OEM one.

 

[Ronmar]

The alternator doesn't come online until after you get 15PSI of oil pressure(idiot light goes out), which it most likely does after you are done cranking.

this is the same circuit that disables the start circuit to keep you from engaging the starter/cranking a running engine

it was probably just defective…

here is all the Ao start circuit info in one place… it also shows how K11 controls the alternator excite/enable function when the oil p sw sees 15PSI and opens.

 

[aw113sgte]

The alternator doesn't come online until after you get 15PSI of oil pressure(idiot light goes out), which it most likely does after you are done cranking.

this is the same circuit that disables the start circuit to keep you from engaging the starter/cranking a running engine

it was probably just defective…

here is all the Ao start circuit info in one place… it also shows how K11 controls the alternator excite/enable function when the oil p sw sees 15PSI and opens.

I was noticing something on my a1r about alternator, while the air inlet heater was on, it was not charging (orange lights flashing on regulator). When the heater turned off it engaged the alternator.

 

[Ronmar]

I was noticing something on my a1r about alternator, while the air inlet heater was on, it was not charging (orange lights flashing on regulator). When the heater turned off it engaged the alternator.

Orange lights indicate low voltage, the heater and batts were probably overloading it. What are you running for batts?

 

[aw113sgte]

Orange lights indicate low voltage, the heater and batts were probably overloading it. What are you running for batts?

Hmm interesting, came with a 4x group 24 flooded lead acid setup

 

[Ronmar]

Hmm interesting, came with a 4x group 24 flooded lead acid setup

Ok, thats not too bad, 160-170AH maybe in a series parallel config. Thats way easier on the alt than jthe original 240AH bank… But they will still pull a bit of current when they are thirsty, 50A maybe…

 

[aw113sgte]

Ok, thats not too bad, 160-170AH maybe in a series parallel config. Thats way easier on the alt than jthe original 240AH bank… But they will still pull a bit of current when they are thirsty, 50A maybe…

Shouldn't be too thirsty as I drive the thing every couple days, battery voltage was showing what it normally does per the inaccurate gauges. So there's not some kind of interlock for the air inlet heater? I haven't looked into how much current that thing draws but since I have a 100 amp alternator, maybe it can't run that and charge the batteries at the same time?

 

[Ronmar]

The problem is, you don’t really have a 100A alternator. It is more like a 60/40A alternator. The inlet air heater is automatically controlled by the ECU,

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Shouldn't be too thirsty as I drive the thing every couple days, battery voltage was showing what it normally does per the inaccurate gauges. So there's not some kind of interlock for the air inlet heater? I haven't looked into how much current that thing draws but since I have a 100 amp alternator, maybe it can't run that and charge the batteries at the same time?

Yeah - as Ronmar eludes to - the 100A unit was a joke. The military is so fed up with the 100A failures they have changed all the engines, even the 3116, over to the 260A earlier this year going forward:

 

[coachgeo]

Did you disconnect batteries when you welded? What about Rev. Polarity Box?

separate, topic-ish..... what about your CTIS unit- you unplugged when welded, jumping truck etc?? It is known to at times not survive spikes like jumping trucks.... Welding spikes maybe too?

 

[markgjsquires]

Yes the batteries were removed completely since I had the starter removed. I needed to get new batteries for it anyways. The ctis unit has never worked since I’ve owned the truck and I have never dived into that system to get it working again. After the intial restart and when the starter went dead all my other electrics on the truck worked fine. Transmission controller lit up as it should lights turning signals, brake lights, wiper, fan, etc all operated. I’ve convinced myself that I didn’t hook anything up in error being as others have said on here when you hook something up wrong you’ll usually get a pretty good spark show. I did not removed the leads to and from the polarity box since being no batteries were connected I didn’t think it would affect that…do you think I should bypass that and hook the leads to and from that together when I get starter reinstalled to see if that helps?