Towing a dead M1083 with M1079

[chucky]

You might try taping on the starter and bendix with a hammer while someone else trys to start it . And if possible load test the batteries you took out and individualy 12 charge the 2 best ones over night then wire them in 24 volt series and jumper cable from them to your back 24 volt on the truck for some extra hump and see if that might get the starter to engage

 

[JRKJeeper]

You might try taping on the starter and bendix with a hammer while someone else trys to start it . And if possible load test the batteries you took out and individualy 12 charge the 2 best ones over night then wire them in 24 volt series and jumper cable from them to your back 24 volt on the truck for some extra hump and see if that might get the starter to engage

That does sound like a good plan. I’ll hook them up and try that out in the morning thanks!

 

[chucky]

If it was working before you took the starter off then retrace your remounting procedure

 

[chucky]

I had a wire going to the starter bendix that was broken in the crimp of the eyelet that had me having to use a mechanics remote starter button till i found the broke wire in the crimp you might try one of those on yours in the morning and remember you have to have the master switch flipped on when useing the remote starter button

 

[Ronmar]

Maybe i an not understanding how he is describing wiring in extra batteries, but it does not sound like agood idea... You do not need any "extra hump". If it cant spin the engine, thats one thing, but untill you get the bendix to engage you got nothing regardless of how many batteries you hook to it...

Sounds like your original was sticking(Intermittent) and the new one perhaps has a disconnected linkage. Solenoid pulls in and closes electrical contacts, but does not pull on the link/lever that slides the bendix to engage the ring gear...

 

[aw113sgte]

Nearly all of the ECU/ECM manufacturers require them to be disconnected when welding.
HETs actually have a chart listing it on their door.
Hopefully it's not an electrical issue, but if I have to do welding on my truck again I'm going to make sure to disconnect all the ECUs and ECMs as they are hard to find an expensive typically.

 

[Ronmar]

Nearly all of the ECU/ECM manufacturers require them to be disconnected when welding.
HETs actually have a chart listing it on their door.
Hopefully it's not an electrical issue, but if I have to do welding on my truck again I'm going to make sure to disconnect all the ECUs and ECMs as they are hard to find an expensive typically.

Well that would be a no start, and possibly a no crank(nothing happens). If I read correctly, His is trying to crank, and starter spins, but the bendix is not connecting the starter motor to the ring gear…

 

[aw113sgte]

Well that would be a no start, and possibly a no crank(nothing happens). If I read correctly, His is trying to crank, and starter spins, but the bendix is not connecting the starter motor to the ring gear…

Agreed, not as likely but he did mention welding so I figured I'd throw it out there

 

[Ronmar]

Agreed, not as likely but he did mention welding so I figured I'd throw it out there

Really a non concern. I have been welding on vehicles all my adult life, never seen it happen. Heard people chatting about it but never anyone who could personally confirm that welding damaged any module… Vehicle ECU systems are quite robust, If welding were likely to damage one, our hundred year old alternator and charging system designs would be far more likely to do so…

 

[coachgeo]

...I had bought a quick find Chinese replacement starter and it just spins and doesn’t engage. I bought he exact one that came out of it today to see if it’s an issue of not matching up right. Otherwise I’ll be up a creek.

check all your Ground and Pos. attachments are clean. Maybe your getting a juice drop?

Also once you got that going. Drop to two battery. The alternator will function way way way better and batts will last longer... esp. if you install an aftermarket balancer in the mix

 

[Ronmar]

check all your Ground and Pos. attachments are clean. Maybe your getting a juice drop?

Also once you got that going. Drop to two battery. The alternator will function way way way better and batts will last longer... esp. if you install an aftermarket balancer in the mix

There is only one solenoid. One end of the operable core that moves when power is applied to its coil, has a contactor disc on it, the other end pulls a lever that pulls the small gear into contact with the ring gear. Pretty hard to have motor spin without engagement unless something is wrong with parts inside the solenoid...

 

[JRKJeeper]

There is only one solenoid. One end of the operable core that moves when power is applied to its coil, has a contactor disc on it, the other end pulls a lever that pulls the small gear into contact with the ring gear. Pretty hard to have motor spin without engagement unless something is wrong with parts inside the solenoid...

Thats what I was thinking. Ive just not had time to dig into it anymore since yesterday.

 

[aw113sgte]

That doesn't jive with my experience, same situation mine will roll down my driveway in neutral and engine running. I do have some drag but I think it's from a sticky brake.

So I have more info on mine...when cold (32 deg today, idled for 15 min before driving off) and I had pretty significant drag. In neutral it would stop the truck on my driveway hill. Feels a lot like brake drag, however after a drive, all brakes were within a few degrees. I did notice I needed quite a bit more throttle to maintain 60mph when cold, was in 5th with ECO hubs to maintain speed. That cold gear, tranny, and engine oil likely being the source of that. After the truck warmed up, it no longer had the drag and braking effect and cruised at 60mph in 6th easily.
Cold fluids would slow a roll down a hill but I wouldn't think there would brake to zero unless the thicker (15w40) tranny oil somehow causes this locking effect?
It still could be brake drag that works itself out quickly though.

 

[GeneralDisorder]

So I have more info on mine...when cold (32 deg today, idled for 15 min before driving off) and I had pretty significant drag. In neutral it would stop the truck on my driveway hill. Feels a lot like brake drag, however after a drive, all brakes were within a few degrees. I did notice I needed quite a bit more throttle to maintain 60mph when cold, was in 5th with ECO hubs to maintain speed. That cold gear, tranny, and engine oil likely being the source of that. After the truck warmed up, it no longer had the drag and braking effect and cruised at 60mph in 6th easily.
Cold fluids would slow a roll down a hill but I wouldn't think there would brake to zero unless the thicker (15w40) tranny oil somehow causes this locking effect?
It still could be brake drag that works itself out quickly though.

I daily my truck and while there is a slight but noticeable increase in power as it warms up (it doesn't take long - especially with the block heater), I don't have any resistance to rolling down my slightly inclined driveway. I could go out there right now and release my parking brake (running or not) and it would roll out of my driveway.

I am running all synthetic fluids including synthetic Dexron VI in my transmission. But with the weight of these vehicles I can't imagine fluid viscosity due to temperature being a significant factor. If you have resistance to rolling something is mechanically dragging or in the case of TFT's truck there's clearly something in the transmission that's activated since he can toggle the effect with ignition power. No other explanation I can think of could account for that sequence of symptoms.

I will say that before I put ~10k miles of daily and weekend trip driving on my truck it would "pop" as the brakes broke free sometimes in the morning pulling out of the driveway. Hasn't done that for a long time now. Whatever was going on in the parking brake system has resolved itself from use is the assumption I have made. I replaced all my air canister service diaphragms and all the of the canister plungers moved easily by hand.

 

[JRKJeeper]

Tomorrow is the day! My 1078 is back up and running just in time. One last question. I know when I flat tow behind my motorhome you aren’t supposed to reverse. But those tow bars are wimpy. Has anyone done much pushing in reverse with a 1078? I’m just going to push it backwards into a parking spot tomorrow but when it warms up a bit I’d like to push it backwards around my property and into a pole barn.

 

[aw113sgte]

I daily my truck and while there is a slight but noticeable increase in power as it warms up (it doesn't take long - especially with the block heater), I don't have any resistance to rolling down my slightly inclined driveway. I could go out there right now and release my parking brake (running or not) and it would roll out of my driveway.

I am running all synthetic fluids including synthetic Dexron VI in my transmission. But with the weight of these vehicles I can't imagine fluid viscosity due to temperature being a significant factor. If you have resistance to rolling something is mechanically dragging or in the case of TFT's truck there's clearly something in the transmission that's activated since he can toggle the effect with ignition power. No other explanation I can think of could account for that sequence of symptoms.

I will say that before I put ~10k miles of daily and weekend trip driving on my truck it would "pop" as the brakes broke free sometimes in the morning pulling out of the driveway. Hasn't done that for a long time now. Whatever was going on in the parking brake system has resolved itself from use is the assumption I have made. I replaced all my air canister service diaphragms and all the of the canister plungers moved easily by hand.

Yeah no brake pop, I'm used to that feeling from other trucks. Sure feels like a brake drag. I plan to go with a less viscous fluid, 0w20 motor oil shows same temp requirements as transend(per Allison). I may just go the motor oil route due to the few trans issues people have had swapping to a different type of fluid. Not sure what happened to them but replacing a transmission isn't something I want to have to deal with!
My trans works perfectly except for that drag but in my climate, I have do a long warm up for 15w40 (per Allison).

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah no brake pop, I'm used to that feeling from other trucks. Sure feels like a brake drag. I plan to go with a less viscous fluid, 0w20 motor oil shows same temp requirements as transend(per Allison). I may just go the motor oil route due to the few trans issues people have had swapping to a different type of fluid. Not sure what happened to them but replacing a transmission isn't something I want to have to deal with!
My trans works perfectly except for that drag but in my climate, I have do a long warm up for 15w40 (per Allison).

Most of the failures are due to both over-filling (common problem in the Army - aerated fluid compromises lubrication properties) and the tendency for people to change the fluid in response to transmission behavioral issues that turn out to be transmission failures in progress - they then falsely correlate that failure or perceived increase failure rate - with the fluid change when in actuality the transmission was on borrowed time and failure had little or nothing to do with the fluid change - indeed the *lack* of fluid change may have been the underlying problem. Running inferior fluid long past it's life, etc.

My WTEC-IV worked great on 15w40 and the fluid and filters looked absolutely perfect. The performance with synthetic DEX VI is just as good or better and the fluid is still clean and crystal clear looking. I used plenty of additional fluid to ensure it was completely flushed and virtually all of the motor oil was removed...... YMMV, Batteries Not Included, Guarantied to provide complete satisfaction (this is not a guarantee), etc, etc.

 

[Mullaney]

Tomorrow is the day! My 1078 is back up and running just in time. One last question. I know when I flat tow behind my motorhome you aren’t supposed to reverse. But those tow bars are wimpy. Has anyone done much pushing in reverse with a 1078? I’m just going to push it backwards into a parking spot tomorrow but when it warms up a bit I’d like to push it backwards around my property and into a pole barn.

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@JRKJeeper , you should be able to push back on the tow bar. Just have to remember that if it "gets out of sort" you may need to pull up, then push back again...

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[JRKJeeper]

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@JRKJeeper , you should be able to push back on the tow bar. Just have to remember that if it "gets out of sort" you may need to pull up, then push back again...

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It did end up working just fine. I did need someone in the tow vehicle during backing up to turn or hold the wheel to keep the towed M1083s wheels in check.

 

[Mullaney]

It did end up working just fine. I did need someone in the tow vehicle during backing up to turn or hold the wheel to keep the towed M1083s wheels in check.

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Good Deal! Glad to hear that it worked out for you.

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