• Steel Soldiers now has a few new forums, read more about it at: New Munitions Forums!

  • Microsoft MSN, Live, Hotmail, Outlook email users may not be receiving emails. We are working to resolve this issue. Please add support@steelsoldiers.com to your trusted contacts.

What to proactively replace from yermo auction truck that has been sitting?

blutow

Well-known member
357
501
63
Location
Austin, TX
I've fixed what was broken and I've changed most fluids/filters and maintenance stuff. I've installed new tires and rebuilt the rims with fresh o-rings and valve stems. My M1123 appears to have been sitting unused since a refurb in 2009, so there is some aging and sun damage but not wear from use. All the fluids and filters I changed looked new.

I know there are no guarantees on reliabilty from a 20+ year old truck, but I'd like to address any obvious/common points of failure from sitting unused for all these years. Here is what I'm currently planning to replace proactively:
-Batteries (the deka batteries it came with work and are less than a year old, but they came to me totally dead and will not stay balanced). They work for now, but I have the correct AGM's on order.
-Serpentine belt
-Thermostat (not sure if these are prone to age-related failure?)
-All cooling system hoses (they look pretty good, but concerned about them after baking in the desert for 13 years).
-All rubber fuel lines (I already did injector returns, had some cracking)
-All other low pressure rubber hoses ATF/hydraulic return lines (to cooler, transfer case, etc.)
-Fuel lift pump (I'm debating this, but I believe these old school pumps have rubber diaphragms that often fail with age). The pump is pretty cheap and I'm already replacing lines

Is there anything on that list that looks like a waste of time/$? Anything I'm missing that is prone to failure with age and not too expensive to replace?
 

SmartDrug

Well-known member
211
304
63
Location
Saint Charles, IL
Tag for interest, I have little to add aside from the fact that you're not alone.

My M1123 had 20 miles at IROAN, had 60 miles on odometer when I received it, everything on it looked basically brand new. The only issue I ran into that needed repair was a leaking heater core likely due to electrolysis, and a Time Delay Module that had failed and resulted in the fan not kicking on. I'm at 500 miles now and my HMMWV has been very solid thus far.
 

Karl kostman

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
2,308
893
113
Location
Fargo ND
Blutow it sounds to me like you have a pretty good start on this. If you haven't changed the lube in the diffs I would sure give it a look and just crack the drains and see if you get any moisture out and then look open the fill plug and check level and get and idea of condition. As far as the other stuff look it over carefully and look for cracks splits anything that doesnt look right I would go over all the cooling system and retighten clamps on all pipes and hoses and the same with and hydraulic lines etc. After the its driving time, as you are driving Keep eyes and ears open to any strange noises and stop after a few miles to go over things again looking for leaks etc. I am very much like you in that I try to be as preemptive to problems as possible but we can only do so much, then its start using and being aware and correct as you proceed! Good luck
 

TOBASH

Father, Surgeon, Cantankerous Grouch
Steel Soldiers Supporter
Supporting Vendor
3,596
3,518
113
Location
Brooklyn, NY
How’s about all the filters. Tranny, oil, air, fuel tank sock….
 

tgejesse

Well-known member
276
288
63
Location
Maryland
I have the same truck. 1123, Yermo desert 2009 IROAN rebuild. Essentially everything rubber is shot. I just replaced my fuel filter (and all rubber fuel lines). I also recently did the tires. All that’s left for me (as of now) is the coolant lines. Getting a small leak so I have all the hoses on order.


only thing I can think of is rubber connectors. Some of mine are degraded and falling apart. The headlight connectors were almost turned to dust.

question for you: Does your 1123 have an AC pump? If no, what belt did you get. I want to replace mine but not sure the length for a non AC truck.
 

blutow

Well-known member
357
501
63
Location
Austin, TX
I have the same truck. 1123, Yermo desert 2009 IROAN rebuild. Essentially everything rubber is shot. I just replaced my fuel filter (and all rubber fuel lines). I also recently did the tires. All that’s left for me (as of now) is the coolant lines. Getting a small leak so I have all the hoses on order.


only thing I can think of is rubber connectors. Some of mine are degraded and falling apart. The headlight connectors were almost turned to dust.

question for you: Does your 1123 have an AC pump? If no, what belt did you get. I want to replace mine but not sure the length for a non AC truck.
I'm not sure if mine wasn't in yermo all that time or not, most of my rubber stuff "appears" pretty good. The tires were shot and I had cracking on my fuel injection return lines, but no cracking on electrical connectors and the fuel and coolant hoses look and feel pretty good. When I disconnected the fuel lines from the filter, they were not dry or hard. I considered not messing with the hoses, but it's not that hard or expensive to just replace the fuel lines. I also considered running it with old cooling hoses for a while, but the hoses are cheap and it seemed silly to spend a bunch of $ on new coolant without replacing the hoses first.

No AC on my truck. Belt is a 12469149-3. Mine is the newer belt routing, I understand it was different originally but many trucks were updated during the IROAN process.
 

Maxjeep1

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
1,338
1,918
113
Location
Las Vegas Nevada
I have the same truck. 1123, Yermo desert 2009 IROAN rebuild. Essentially everything rubber is shot. I just replaced my fuel filter (and all rubber fuel lines). I also recently did the tires. All that’s left for me (as of now) is the coolant lines. Getting a small leak so I have all the hoses on order.


only thing I can think of is rubber connectors. Some of mine are degraded and falling apart. The headlight connectors were almost turned to dust.

question for you: Does your 1123 have an AC pump? If no, what belt did you get. I want to replace mine but not sure the length for a non AC truck.
This is the second belt I have put on. The original started squeaking so I replaced it with one from Mac Motors and it started squeaking after 120 miles so I tried another one and squeak hasn’t returned after 500 miles. When I took the Mac belt off it still had bends in it and they never straightened out. The original belt is cogged but both replacements were not. My truck is above the 196,000 serial number
D98DE64B-1DEA-4AC0-83BD-C243A1611870.jpeg
 

REF

Active member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
117
127
43
Location
Porterville Calif
Just look everything over carefully .
My M1123 had the main brake line mid way down the left frame rail spliced with a brass ferrule coupling. You could see that the brass ferrules couldn't bite into the steel line and had almost slipped apart. Battlefield fix? anything to get it rolling? someone in the motor pool that didn't know any better? who knows, But there is no way a ferrule coupling is OK for a brake system. The only way I found it before it caused a major problem was that it looked out of place.
So look everything over and if it doesn't look right dig into it and make sure.
 

Hummer Guy

Well-known member
843
807
93
Location
United States Louisiana
This is the second belt I have put on. The original started squeaking so I replaced it with one from Mac Motors and it started squeaking after 120 miles so I tried another one and squeak hasn’t returned after 500 miles. When I took the Mac belt off it still had bends in it and they never straightened out. The original belt is cogged but both replacements were not. My truck is above the 196,000 serial number
View attachment 863952
A trick that I heard works is dielectric grease on a squeaky belt, I heard it works up to a year for some people
 

INFChief

Well-known member
722
1,348
93
Location
New York
Look over hub seals and transfer / transmission seals; if leaking replace. Otherwise do regular inspections to stay ahead.

You’ve got a good plan. May I suggest that once you give it the ol once over that you don’t stray too far from home during the first 500 miles or so? That way you should get a better feel for the entire drive train.

And if your budget allows start stocking up on the next set of filters and such for the next service. Same with common use seals and gaskets. Maybe put a box of small emergency parts together. Glow plugs, set of belts (used belts are fine for an emergency), a seal or two, and maybe a small grease gun and a quart or two of oils.
 

TOBASH

Father, Surgeon, Cantankerous Grouch
Steel Soldiers Supporter
Supporting Vendor
3,596
3,518
113
Location
Brooklyn, NY
After you get the truck running, you should be prepared to change all of the axle boots and all of the seals including but not being limited to the hub seals transmission seals the transfer case seals the differential seals etc.
 

blutow

Well-known member
357
501
63
Location
Austin, TX
After you get the truck running, you should be prepared to change all of the axle boots and all of the seals including but not being limited to the hub seals transmission seals the transfer case seals the differential seals etc.
The half shaft boots are are good call out. They seem to be in good shape, but I'll add them to my list to look into. I'm guessing it's not too much $, but a pain in the butt to remove/install new boots. When a half shaft boot fails, my hope is that you could still drive 20+ miles home without damage, but I'm not sure how quick they lose lubrication.

On the seals, my plan is to keep an eye on things rather than proactively replace. My hope is that a seal failure is typically more gradual and isn't going to leave me stranded on the side of the road. My power steering pump is seeping slightly (not enough to drip yet), so I'm keeping a careful eye on that.

I put 150+ miles on the truck this week and so far so good (odometer just rolled over 200). Another 300 miles or so and the engine should be broken in.... Hopefully a bunch of new leaks or issues don't come along with the break in.

I do have one issue - I'm getting a big of rattling sound when making sharp right turns. Almost sounds like a drive shaft is slightly rubbing against some shielding and I can feel it through the drives side seat belt mount (on the tunnel). Any ideas what that might be? I tried prying the driveline back and forth to see if anything might be shifting a bit, but it all seems solid.
 

Coug

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,003
4,420
113
Location
Olympia/WA
Most boot failures aren't going to be immediate and catastrophic. They'll develop a crack and start losing grease. As long as you're paying attention and checking for grease around them regularly it isn't a big deal.

I've also heard though for an emergency fix you can wrap them in Saran type plastic to keep the grease in and water out.
 

SmartDrug

Well-known member
211
304
63
Location
Saint Charles, IL
Most boot failures aren't going to be immediate and catastrophic. They'll develop a crack and start losing grease. As long as you're paying attention and checking for grease around them regularly it isn't a big deal.

I've also heard though for an emergency fix you can wrap them in Saran type plastic to keep the grease in and water out.
I've had boot failure on other vehicles before, I would guess it took months before it was noticed (Chicago winter on a low vehicle, I'm not hanging out underneath there just for fun). Even after spotting it, it took several more weeks before I got around to replacing the shaft/boot, no discernible difference in the life of the unit - from my experience. The beauty of the HMMWV is that I can just hop on a creeper, grab a torch, and inspect the whole underside without needing to lift it, so there's little excuse for missing it on this vehicle, but I wouldn't worry about a boot the way I'd worry about something like a hub leak.
 
Top