M1009 recovery and first start up after possible 10 years sitting.

[K9Vic]

So I bought another project truck this week from a local source and decided to document what I could with video. I was all setup to record towing it back and did so for the first 30 seconds until my GoPro fell down. Lucky it was inside and not damaged, but it missed the fun of towing it and getting a flat. Was not intending on buying another CUCV anytime soon, but I could not pass this one up. It is really dirty and missing some glass, but should be able to restore it. Just might have to wait for it to cool off as it was 104 when I was messing with it yesterday.

So after getting it home after a 40 mile towing adventure I looked it over and saw everything was there. No missing or damaged wires, the starter was there and all wires to it. Stock start relay and all GP hooked up and actually the resistor was bypassed. So I got two new batteries and charged them for an hour each as I was not going to deal with old batteries. They were only $125 for both from Interstate getting the refurbished ones that I have been using for years. Put them in the M1009 and and hooked the cables up and removed the pink wire on the IP to crank it over and check for fuel flow. So did that and right away I had fuel in the bottle, so it had pressure still in the system. Hooked the pink wire back up and cranked it over and in a few seconds it started and ran well for sitting for so long. My best guess is that it sat for almost 10 years as the inspection sticker is from 2003 and Carfax shows no inspections since than. Plus only about 1000 miles on the OD from when the inspection was done per Carfax. So let it run for a time and drove it up the driveway, but problem with the trans. Super loud winning noise in driver or reverse. So my guess is that the filter may be clogged or worse bad pump. So nothing is ever perfect, but it can be fixed.

Well anyways, sorry to rant some but I have anther project truck and my weekends will be busy again. Also this is why I built this Suburban to tow these CUCV I get and have a nice rig with AC. It towed well, but that 700R4 is slow compared to pulling with a TH400. Yes I was in D and not overdrive, but you could tell there was a load.

So here is the best part, I made a video with the short driving video I had and first start. Keep in mind that it was 104 outside, so was a little winded from getting it going.

http://youtu.be/d8lhEGfXNjU

A few pictures.
.

 

[Warthog]

Too bad you don't need the left rear glass. I have a gazzillion of them..

Looks good. I guess they had an issue, parked it and forgot about it.

 

[machinist75]

Good eye Gary. Wish I would have seen that one, maybe one of these days.

 

[K9Vic]

Too bad you don't need the left rear glass. I have a gazzillion of them..

Looks good. I guess they had an issue, parked it and forgot about it.

Probably, my best guess is with the service lights as the headlight switch is missing and the switch is in the off position.

Another example of these municipalities not knowing these trucks and not doing some simple research to learn about them.

I should be able to find one, there are some tops on CL and local yards. The rear glass however is near impossible to find used, so I may have to go with a new one for that.

 

[K9Vic]

Looks like I may be correct on why they may have parked it. When I got it the service light switch was off (middle position) and no headlight switch.

So I took out the dash and speedometer and sure enough, they cut the freaking wires for the headlight switch. Amazing how simple something can be and not taking the time to research something for 5 minutes.

Glad LMC truck has the plug for this and only $3.00.

 

[marchplumber]

Awesome score! Time, patience, and knowledge! Paid off!

God bless,
Tony

 

[2002ford]

I wish you were closer. I just got a 1009 that I am going to part out. I just got it in tonight so give me a week or so and I will list it in the classifieds.

 

[K9Vic]

I wish you were closer. I just got a 1009 that I am going to part out. I just got it in tonight so give me a week or so and I will list it in the classifieds.

Thanks for the offers.

I got my headlight issue taken care of from a friend and harness plug from LMC on the way. The side glass is taken care of, but still need the rear glass. I am sure something will turn up, but I still have my plexiglass rear I got one time on a M1009. Does not work well as it is too light to stay down, but at least it will keep the rain out.

 

[Recovry4x4]

That's great. The M1061A1 I just snagged came from a Sheriff's Office. They've had it since 98 and it's never left the property. In reference to pulling power with the 700R4, unless there are mechanical issues with the tranny, it should only help in pulling. The 3.06 first gear is a true asset when trying to get lots of beef rolling with the 6.2. The 400 has a reputation as a power robber.

 

[K9Vic]

That's great. The M1061A1 I just snagged came from a Sheriff's Office. They've had it since 98 and it's never left the property. In reference to pulling power with the 700R4, unless there are mechanical issues with the tranny, it should only help in pulling. The 3.06 first gear is a true asset when trying to get lots of beef rolling with the 6.2. The 400 has a reputation as a power robber.

Interestingly mine was also first titled in 1998 and came from DRMO Fort Hood. It was marked with Sheriff, star and 911 stickers that they removed before sale.

As for my 700R4 it is a Jasper rebuild at some point in time before I bought it. I am sure that the weight pulling a M1009 up a large grade hill had allot do to with the slowness. It was fine on level surface roads and shifted just fine keeping it out of overdrive.

 

[Triple C]

Did you do anything to the fuel or filter before you fired it up or did it fire up on 10year old fuel?

 

[K9Vic]

What you see in the video is all I did and the WD40 was for getting the battery terminals off and cleaned them for the new batteries. I did not want to remove the fuel cap or filter as that may have release what ever pressure was there. I will replace the filter after I run some of this old diesel off in the driveway.

I can say this is not the first time I have started a CUCV that sat for a long time, last one was about 6 years and started just like this one did in only a few seconds with fresh batteries. So it is not uncommon for a diesel like this to sit for a long time and start up doing almost nothing.

I did say that you would never do this with a gasoline engine in the video, but the next day I stopped my my mechanic and just missed him firing up his 74 K5 for the first time in 5 years. It was running when I walked in and was it's first start in 5 years. He was surprised about that, so I would think that any longer it may have not fired on gasoline.

 

[markg]

what a deal! i should have known it was you or someone from ss bidding against me. if i wouldnt have just gotton back from tfs in lufkin i might have given you a run for that truck. good luck with it! thanks, mark. the last back glass i bought was 100 new. ive been buying econo's from interstate for yrs, they work good . the six lug wheels are getting harder to find. were you missing some?

 

[K9Vic]

what a deal! i should have known it was you or someone from ss bidding against me. if i wouldnt have just gotton back from tfs in lufkin i might have given you a run for that truck. good luck with it! thanks, mark. the last back glass i bought was 100 new. ive been buying econo's from interstate for yrs, they work good . the six lug wheels are getting harder to find. were you missing some?

Yeah, I saw your bid and did not realize it was a SS member until you mentioned it here.
I have a rear glass on the way, so that will wrap up the glass issue.
Those recycled batteries are great, I can get two of them for the price of one new.
I have about eight 6-lug M1009 wheels, 5 of them are near perfect but white. I have seen them at swap meets, but they are harder to find over the incorrect K5 wheels like my good spare. One of these days I am going to swap rims, but there is no rush.

I got my headlight harness from LMC today and the colours are different, but I figured out what goes where. The other parts are from OReilly, except the bolt that holds the switch in place I got from a friend. I could not find that anywhere new, or I just did not see it in the help section. I will know later tonight if all the lights work and they just did not know to flip the service lights on.

Picture of the harness in my M1031 - stock OEM


Parts for the M1009, a few colours are different.

 

[K9Vic]

Nothing wrong with the headlight and parking lights after I installed the new plug and switch. The turn signals were also fine, just put the 552 flasher back in that was missing. So looks like they did not know about the service light switch and parked it because they could not figure it out.




I also had to fix a bad wire for the GP light.

 

[Warthog]

Oh the simple things..........................

Nice job on the splicing and shrink tubing.

 

[K9Vic]

Thanks, I always try to solder and heat shrink where I can, but I do sometimes use connectors.

I was going to start a build thread, but I guess I might as well just use this one and keep it updated. This helps to document what was done if I ever decide to sell it and shows other SS members what is involved in rebuilding one of these.

So......

Super loud winning noise in driver or reverse.

I might of had the transfer case not all the way in 2wd as last night I moved the lever around before I tried to move it again and no noise. I think the case fluid is also low, but have not checked.
Transmission fluid is low by about a quart and filter change will take care of that.

Doghead relay mod already done before I even tried to start it again after I moved it off the street. Found out my starter may be an issue as it spins without contact sometimes, so going to take it out and have it rebuilt.

Removed the steering wheel and cleaned it as it was caked in dirt. While that was off I fixed the turn signal switch as it was not activating left position. I just cleaned it, reset everything and added more lithium grease.

Got all the broken glass out, removed the seats and cleaned them, cleaned the inside out completely scrubbing out all the dirt inside and outside the dash area. Also took apart the speedometer to clean the dirt out, replaced bad bulbs and the cleaned the contacts. I had to fix the slide for the shift indicator and was happy that I did not break the needle like I did on my Suburban.

Cleaned all the Pos & Neg/ground contacts under the hood and replaced the vacuum lines. The lines were starting to go bad and the fancy one on the shift valve was shot completely. I also had to fix a broken wire that I did not see before on the 12v buss.

Along with the headlight harness from LMC I got all new plastic lights & covers, so when it is all done and painted it will look like a new truck (Hopefully). I did not go with the H4 headlights and harness to keep the OEM look, but will change out to Silver Star headlights.

I am managing to get work done even in this Texas heat, just I am taking my time and do what I can in the mornings or after dark.

I will add some pictures later tonight of some of the work I noted.

 

[markg]

Found out my starter may be an issue as it spins without contact sometimes, so going to take it out and have it rebuilt.

check the teeth on the flywheel if you remove and check the starter drive. flywheels get their teeth knocked out!. both alternators charge? i have to rev my engine a little to get the second alt to energize. thanks. mark

 

[K9Vic]

check the teeth on the flywheel if you remove and check the starter drive. flywheels get their teeth knocked out!. both alternators charge? i have to rev my engine a little to get the second alt to energize. thanks. mark

Thanks for the advise, I was planning on checking that when I was down there.

Driver side alternator is either newer or rebuilt as it has a tag on it from their mechanics, but did not see anything on passenger side. The charging is good when I checked with my volt meter and many of the CUCV I have had I had to energize it the same hitting the peddle.
I ordered rebuild kits already and if the one or both are not new or rebuilt, I will rebuild them. If they are OK, the kits will be there for future use.

 

[K9Vic]

Pictures added.

Contacts cleaned


DH realy


Fix turn signals, I think it was a ball of dirt under the lever that was not making left work.


Cleaned out all the glass & dirt.


Engine cleaned. I checked the relay and it is isolated ground.


Alternators, driver side looks new or rebuilt.