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Working on the M1078 LMTV

mkcoen

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I can come up that Friday evening, then drive your LMTV up there Saturday. It's been awhile since I did the Austin vet's day parade.
You're more than welcome to come, stay, and go up on Saturday with us but like I told Rory, Juli will be driving the truck up. They give her crap all the time about not attending events so this is the chance for her to do so.

As to the cruise control, the more I think about it the less I really like the idea. It'd be fine for flat stretches of road but not sure how it would take the continuous loss of speed on the hills around here and I really don't want to spend the money just to find out it's going to kick off every time I hit a 0.05% grade.
 
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aleigh

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Took the truck to an airshow last weekend and came to the conclusion that I can't do any more events outside of town. The show was only 65 miles away (so 130 round trip) and my right leg was shot by the time I got home. I'm going to do some work on trying to loosen the pedal up but even then not sure I'll risk getting somewhere and the leg giving out so I can't get home. I did a parade back in Aug which was a total of around 80 miles there and back and had issues then but thought resting for the time frame of the airshow would give it enough rest that it shouldn't be an issue. Guess I was wrong.
We must not be talking about a LMTV, because I drive mine around all the time on the highway using the hand throttle they all have... Poor mans cruise control. My pedal is pretty weak sauce too - it's not any stiffer than a passenger car really - so if yours is, something might be wrong. Maybe the springs on the throttle linkage on the engine are too stiff or something.
 

M813rc

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...using the hand throttle they all have... Poor mans cruise control.
Don't take this personally, please, but if it's one that ratchets out like the other trucks (I'm not that familiar with the FMTVs) I have to point out that this is not really a safe option, and is illegal in Texas.

Cheers
 

mkcoen

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Don't take this personally, please, but if it's one that ratchets out like the other trucks (I'm not that familiar with the FMTVs) I have to point out that this is not really a safe option, and is illegal in Texas.
It's actually a lever instead of the pull cable but still illegal here.
 

coachgeo

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Was thinking on this..... try temporary putting a block of something in front of the pedal which what would allow you to rest your heel higher up. This should allow you to be putting the foot force you apply to the pedal higher up the pedal. Maybe even lengthen the pedal. Again a temporary something might can be duct taped to it to see if this might help.

The block on the floor your heel would ride on would change the angle of your knee and thigh potentially to something more comfortable (or worse) and the contact of foot higher up the pedal; while it will increase the range of motion necessary between "no throttle" and "full throttle", it should decrease the force needed to move thru that range when operating the pedal.
 

Levelox

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Montgomery Texas
mckoen, My name is Steve Knight, 936-648-1369 and I live in Montgomery Tx. After doing high water rescue in Kingwood I noticed a shake in my motor. After taking the fan clutch off of my LMTV M1078, I looked at the harmonic balancer and all the bolts were there, but they were all just finger tight. Three are longer than the other three by about 1/2 inch. Looks like maybe they broke the tips off. Any suggestions? Also I am not sure if I am supposed to butt in on an old thread like this but I am new to this. If I did it wrong please school me. Don't ever call a wrecker, call me. I have 4 other buddies from Tomball to Conroe that will come get you .
 

mkcoen

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Spring Branch, TX
I haven't done much with the truck for several months other than go out and move it around the driveway, however next week I'm going to be helping Adidas with a promotion at the Army All American Bowl taking place at the Alamodome in San Antonio. While moving the truck around the last several times I found the outboard front battery has always needed charging. I've been pounding on it for over a week in "repair" mode with my NOCO 7200 and it remains dead (as in about 11.8v dead). The other 3 batteries aren't that great (can only get them to about 12.6v) but they're still alive. Since a new 6T AGM is out of the question I'm just going to swap in the "house" battery I've been using while camping in my Nissan. Length and height are a match and I can make up the width with a 2x4 and still use the factory hold down.

My part in the event is to just sit there and look pretty (the truck, not me personally). They'll load the back of the truck with boxes of new shoes and pass them out to the players earlier in the week (1/2/18 ) while the game isn't until Saturday (1/6/18 ). I have no idea what type of publicity will be going on but hope to get the truck on the local news and maybe put a plug in for the hobby.
 

mkcoen

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Spring Branch, TX
Anyone have suggestions on cold starting? Forecast for next Tuesday morning is 22°. It hesitated starting for the 1st time I've had it yesterday when it was 38°. I would hate to be a no show next week because global warming ended early.
 

mkcoen

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Spring Branch, TX
Is your ether kit working ? I just started mine at 25 without ether. It was grumpy but did ok.
I'd never tried it before since I'd never needed it. I gave it a shot this morning and it's either working or the truck started without it. I'll pick up a spare bottle in case I try to start it Monday morning to prep it (still supposed to be in the 20s) and it's not working. That'll at least give me the day to work on it before crunch time. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) the weather will be warmer the next couple of days before dropping drastically Sunday night. I won't really have extreme cold to check things out until then.
 

mkcoen

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Well she started this morning. She wasn’t happy about it but started. Now just as long as she does it tomorrow morning.
 

aleigh

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I have never figured out the rhyme or reason to this. The other night at -7 it started right up first try in the morning like it had been 65 degrees. The next night at 27 it took a couple of 3-4 runs at the starter button. Shrug. It almost always starts up first time for me, just every now and again. Sometimes I wonder if it doesn't have more to do with humidity / condensation or how I shut it down.
 

Awesomeness

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I have never figured out the rhyme or reason to this. The other night at -7 it started right up first try in the morning like it had been 65 degrees. The next night at 27 it took a couple of 3-4 runs at the starter button. Shrug. It almost always starts up first time for me, just every now and again. Sometimes I wonder if it doesn't have more to do with humidity / condensation or how I shut it down.
Do you start it after different amounts of sitting without being started (e.g. 1 day, 1 week, etc.)?

Mine is pretty consistent in how terribly it starts in cold weather. At 70 degrees a few turns of the engine and it starts. Below freezing, it takes several long bursts (30 seconds) to get it to catch, and then it runs very grumbly/missy for another 30-60 seconds until it smooths out. It makes me glad the truck has 4 large batteries, because it's a few minutes of total cranking. I do suspect my ether system doesn't work, so that is just probably "natural" starting.
 

aleigh

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Phoenix, AZ & Seattle, WA
I get a spread of difficulty for just overnight in the cold. But when I let the truck sit for days or even weeks it starts right up. My record is not driving it for 4 months, and it started right up first try. "bad" for me is 2 or 3 attempts for 5 seconds before at least some of it catches and it stumbles until it warms. Good is it catches immediately. Several or even one attempt of 30 seconds would be extremely bad from my experience with my particular truck. And I am mostly talking about cold temps - above 40 or 50 it pretty much just always starts perfectly regardless of how long it has been sitting.

The missing until it warms, I feel that's pretty typical what with the lack of glow plugs.
 

snowtrac nome

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If you have the 3126 as long as the huei pump has oil its going to start right up, because the huei has more cranking injector pressure than the 3116. The 3116 will be cold blooded with out a cold starting aid.
 

mkcoen

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She started and I made it without too much traffic even. However I got word last night that I cannot take any photos or video during the vent so these are the only pics I’ll probably get. Currently I’m a private vehicle in a public place so they can’t do anything about these. F8FB2D9F-56B2-43C1-BB6C-EC68F9342B86.jpgD681C664-1EFD-4EDF-8918-F961CD1FDF99.jpg
 
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