I bought a non-running winch deuce from Ft. Knox just to transfer the winch onto my existing deuce. The lot manager told me the only reason it was not running was because it had no slave receptacle and therefore could not be jumped. From previewing I also knew it had a sticking accelerator pedal. These trucks had been slated for FMS and had been sitting for 2-3 years.
Went to recover today, had no issues getting on base and into the DRMO lot. The GL rep was a little late and therefore in hurry when he got there, I think this helped us. Went down and found that the accelerator DID have a return spring, it was just weak and sticking. I cut down the spring I had brought even shorter and installed it. This helped but was not perfect. Found she was good on coolant, oil, and had a slightly soft but functional brake pedal. Also about 2/3 tank of diesel. Put new batteries in, cranked her over with the stop-handle pulled, sounded good. Went to start and she fired right up. Oil pressure came right up but the air filled very slowly. Drove her a couple laps around the DRMO lot and headed out.
We were only going about 50 miles and stayed on surface streets. As soon as off-base I pulled into a gas station and aired up the front tires. The rest were fine. The spare, by the way, looks like it has never touched the ground (although the rim is rusty).
We stuck to surface streets and avoided the highway. Top speed rarely over 40, more usually 35. Kept a long distance in front of me although the brakes always felt good. A stale green light showed me that I could stop quickly when it turned yellow and my chase truck wasn't close enough to make it.
I did notice 2 things: she does have a slow air leak somewhere. At a red light at idle, the air pressure would drop--a couple times enough that the warning buzzer sounded. But get the RPM's up and she would build pressure again. The other thing I noticed was the gearshift and transmission were iffy. Hard to get into 2nd always, and a lot of chatter and gear noise. The engine sounded good although the oil pressure was just about pegged the whole ride.
Made it 99.9% of the way and at the LAST stoplight, about a 1/4 mile from our destination, suddenly every gear is reverse. Not only that, Neutral is also reverse. I mean every time I let out the clutch, no matter where I put the gearshift, I'm going backwards. The engine is not running backwards (but just to be sure I shut it off and re-started...a couple times!)
Realizing I can't be towed, I decided to just drive backwards the final 1/4 mile. Found an empty parking lot to loop around and hit the road in R. Big line of lunch-hour cars following me, looking me in the face. That was fun.
I talked to Gimpy a couple times today and he suggests that it's likely a linkage issue. I think that is likely as well, but I'll have to pop open the floor and see.
No matter what, though, this truck is destined for the scrapper. BAD rust through the body in many places. The hood is one part I thought I might keep but it's badly dented and deformed. I will get the winch off, snag a few key parts and either drive it (if I can fix the R issue) or flat-tow it with mine to the scrapyard.
Now the best part: I opened up the tool box AFTER the drive and found 15' of the heaviest chain I've ever handled, a 3-ton bottle jack and a killer huge snatch block! This is on top of the stuff in the cab, a fire extinguisher, wrench, tool satchel and a new bouncy-stop thing (pictured).
Went to recover today, had no issues getting on base and into the DRMO lot. The GL rep was a little late and therefore in hurry when he got there, I think this helped us. Went down and found that the accelerator DID have a return spring, it was just weak and sticking. I cut down the spring I had brought even shorter and installed it. This helped but was not perfect. Found she was good on coolant, oil, and had a slightly soft but functional brake pedal. Also about 2/3 tank of diesel. Put new batteries in, cranked her over with the stop-handle pulled, sounded good. Went to start and she fired right up. Oil pressure came right up but the air filled very slowly. Drove her a couple laps around the DRMO lot and headed out.
We were only going about 50 miles and stayed on surface streets. As soon as off-base I pulled into a gas station and aired up the front tires. The rest were fine. The spare, by the way, looks like it has never touched the ground (although the rim is rusty).
We stuck to surface streets and avoided the highway. Top speed rarely over 40, more usually 35. Kept a long distance in front of me although the brakes always felt good. A stale green light showed me that I could stop quickly when it turned yellow and my chase truck wasn't close enough to make it.
I did notice 2 things: she does have a slow air leak somewhere. At a red light at idle, the air pressure would drop--a couple times enough that the warning buzzer sounded. But get the RPM's up and she would build pressure again. The other thing I noticed was the gearshift and transmission were iffy. Hard to get into 2nd always, and a lot of chatter and gear noise. The engine sounded good although the oil pressure was just about pegged the whole ride.
Made it 99.9% of the way and at the LAST stoplight, about a 1/4 mile from our destination, suddenly every gear is reverse. Not only that, Neutral is also reverse. I mean every time I let out the clutch, no matter where I put the gearshift, I'm going backwards. The engine is not running backwards (but just to be sure I shut it off and re-started...a couple times!)
Realizing I can't be towed, I decided to just drive backwards the final 1/4 mile. Found an empty parking lot to loop around and hit the road in R. Big line of lunch-hour cars following me, looking me in the face. That was fun.
I talked to Gimpy a couple times today and he suggests that it's likely a linkage issue. I think that is likely as well, but I'll have to pop open the floor and see.
No matter what, though, this truck is destined for the scrapper. BAD rust through the body in many places. The hood is one part I thought I might keep but it's badly dented and deformed. I will get the winch off, snag a few key parts and either drive it (if I can fix the R issue) or flat-tow it with mine to the scrapyard.
Now the best part: I opened up the tool box AFTER the drive and found 15' of the heaviest chain I've ever handled, a 3-ton bottle jack and a killer huge snatch block! This is on top of the stuff in the cab, a fire extinguisher, wrench, tool satchel and a new bouncy-stop thing (pictured).
Attachments
Last edited:
