Working on the M1078 LMTV

[mkcoen]

Well its kind of working on the truck (it was work any way). I sold all of my Michelin tires to Fuzzytoaster and loaded them up today to head to his place on Wed. There's no way I could have man handled them by myself so I just rolled them to the back of the trailer, laid them over, then used my utility cart to drag them up onto the deck. I had to use the engine hoist and a track bar to reposition a couple of them to fit but managed to get it accomplished.

 

[mkcoen]

Ok here's an odd problem, ever since I picked up my truck the tail lights wouldn't work if the cover was on the fuse panel. I'm assuming something is shorting out when it's on but have no idea what it might be or even how to test for it. As for now I just drive around with the cover off.

 

[mkcoen]

Never a good sign when coming home from an event.

 

[Another Ahab]

Never a good sign when coming home from an event.

Do you mean because pic shows the cab up, like there's engine trouble or something; that it?

 

[mkcoen]

Do you mean because pic shows the cab up, like there's engine trouble or something; that it?

Good guess. Fan was not kicking on so the truck was overheating. Stop light came on but I was on a section of 8 lane highway with no shoulder so had to keep going. By the time I could get off the road the tranny and transfer case lights had come on as well. The temp was sitting just under 240° when I got pulled into that parking lot. I tilted the cab to help alleviate the heat and sat there for about an hour. At that point I thought I'd try to make 5 or 10 miles at a time and just stop and let things cool off until I could limp it home. For some reason after it cooled down and I headed out again the fan started kicking on. It had worked fine on the trip down and after stopping for the overheat worked fine again for the last 30 miles. I am going to have to try and figure out what went wrong before I try taking it on a 800 mile round trip to Big Bend though.

 

[tennmogger]

Good guess. Fan was not kicking on so the truck was overheating. Stop light came on but I was on a section of 8 lane highway with no shoulder so had to keep going. By the time I could get off the road the tranny and transfer case lights had come on as well. The temp was sitting just under 240° when I got pulled into that parking lot. I tilted the cab to help alleviate the heat and sat there for about an hour. At that point I thought I'd try to make 5 or 10 miles at a time and just stop and let things cool off until I could limp it home. For some reason after it cooled down and I headed out again the fan started kicking on. It had worked fine on the trip down and after stopping for the overheat worked fine again for the last 30 miles. I am going to have to try and figure out what went wrong before I try taking it on a 800 mile round trip to Big Bend though.

Mine was intermittent like that until I replaced the solenoid in the upper right of the passenger kick panel area. The 'slug' in the solenoid, which has little valves on each end, had extruded into the plastic valve seat and would sometimes stick there, not allowing the fan to come on. You might try leaving the kick panel/cover off and whack that solenoid if it sticks. Maybe you need to take along a trained helper with a hammer LOL.

 

[mkcoen]

Mine was intermittent like that until I replaced the solenoid in the upper right of the passenger kick panel area. The 'slug' in the solenoid, which has little valves on each end, had extruded into the plastic valve seat and would sometimes stick there, not allowing the fan to come on. You might try leaving the kick panel/cover off and whack that solenoid if it sticks. Maybe you need to take along a trained helper with a hammer LOL.

I've put about 1000 miles on the truck since I got it and this is the 1st time this has happened. Obviously I've had fan problems before I half expected to see the air line had come loose when I tilted the cab but it was fine. The other thing I think might be a factor is this is the 1st trip I've made since I got the CTIS working again. Just wondering if that might not have had something to do with it.

 

[tennmogger]

Since the fan system is sorta fail-safe, if you got an air leak the fan clutch would lock. So, you could stimulate the fan to come on by loosening it's air hose, and drive home.

CTIS related? IMHO no.

 

[TNriverjet]

Wouldn't unplugging the solenoid behind the kick panel also cause the fan to come on? Of course you would have to have your nut driver and correct socket along for the cover bolts.

Mark, I'm glad it snapped to life and started working once you lowered the cab and got underway.

 

[mkcoen]

Keith_J was by this afternoon and may have figured the issue on the fan. His hypothesis is that the coolant was too low causing an air pocket at the sensor so the fan didn't know to come on. After it had cooled and I added distilled water everything started working again. Now the question is why was the coolant low when I had just checked it that morning and there was no signs of leaks? It may have been a cumulative effect or I might have misread the sight bubble. We did find that the vent line coming off the expansion tank was completely clogged though. It took several minutes with the air hose to get a big glob of insect residue to blow out. Keith rigged up a "rednecked engineer" design to prevent future bug cohabitation as well as tell me if I have any coolant coming out of the vent line.

 

[Pointman0853]

Mine came out of Ft. Polk as well. Better check that hose for bugs..

 

[mkcoen]

Well had another mechanical failure of sorts just not on the truck. I took a tumble coming off the edge of the driveway about an hour ago. I'm hoping it's only an ankle sprain but I can't walk on it and it's swollen up about the size of a softball. I'm guessing there's no climbing in or out of the truck for a couple of days at least.

 

[Suprman]

Hope you feel better.

 

[agazza2]

Hope you recover well Mark. Now it gives you more time to think what you want to do next.

 

[Another Ahab]

Well had another mechanical failure of sorts just not on the truck. I took a tumble coming off the edge of the driveway about an hour ago. I'm hoping it's only an ankle sprain but I can't walk on it and it's swollen up about the size of a softball. I'm guessing there's no climbing in or out of the truck for a couple of days at least.

It's easy enough to do something like that, and happens to the best of us. Sorry though that it happened to you today.

Follow the recommend procedures, and if it's minor enough you should be up and about in a day or two:

- Alternating cold and warm packs (cold to keep the swelling minimized, warm to keep the circulation active).

- Lie down and keep the ankle slightly raised (to prevent fluids collecting in that one spot).

- Think positive (might not help, but it sure CAN't hurt).
Hoping your next post reports "all better".

PS I flunked out of Medical School.

 

[mkcoen]

We actually have a nurse coming over for supper (which I'm hobbling around trying to cook - testing different Dutch Oven recipes for our Big Bend trip). She said to elevate until she got here and I said I can't do hand stands while cooking so it'll need to wait for a bit. It's my right ankle so it better be healed before the 26th as I've got 9 hours in the LMTV scheduled for that day.

 

[Another Ahab]

We actually have a nurse coming over for supper (which I'm hobbling around trying to cook - testing different Dutch Oven recipes for our Big Bend trip). She said to elevate until she got here and I said I can't do hand stands while cooking so it'll need to wait for a bit. It's my right ankle so it better be healed before the 26th as I've got 9 hours in the LMTV scheduled for that day.

I hope that nurse kicks your a** for hobbling around like that:

- You're not doing your ankle any favors.

Cut some slack for that ankle bone of yours, or I'll come right over there and kick your a** myself!

(PS The reason I failed Medical School? They said my bedside manner needed work...)

 

[mkcoen]

I do have a cane I use mostly for balance but, amazingly, it works good in this situation too. Still I have to make sure the Chili Verde gets done right.

 

[Another Ahab]

 

[coachgeo]

These days they say do not heat until little to no inflammation exist. Heat increases the inflammation.