Fisrt Deuce

[lrjet23]

Howdy All,

Finally found one, got her at the house this A.M.. Anyway, after going over everything, I have a few questions. First of all, I have been reading here for awhile, downloaded any publications on the M35 I could find. Even talked to a few in the San Antonio area. Thanks all, for the advice, tips, and everything else.

Ok now down to the first day of getting my hands dirty. She starts and runs, no problems there. However, when I go to drain the fuel filters (all 3) nothing comes out. Clogged? Also, all three were rusted closed, Think I broke the secondary draincock. There is a gizmo behind, and under what I think is the IP. Just curious what that is. PIC 1

Second, the right air tank had mabey half gallon of water in it, let it fill, and drain. Now seems to be oil, (lots), still coming out after five cycles. PIC 2

BRAKES

Pedal goes to the floor with very little resistance near the end. put 11 ozs. in the MC. Bleed the brakes, no air in the lines. (I put purple fluid in, and tan fluid came out of the wc? Hope it is DOT 5.) That didn't help the pedal much. There is a little fluid on the bottom of the MC. PIC 3

Well, thats day 1. Thanks again for all the help and support.

 

[number9]

Congrats on the truck. I just have to do this...........

 

[lrjet23]

Mabey the pics are here

 

[lrjet23]

ok cool gor em up. the first is looking forward on the left side.. Hard to see, but the "brahe shoe" loking gizmo below the IP?

Thanks all

 

[Westex]

Well, for starters, the symptoms you describe say the truck sat for a lonnnnnng time. I can only answer toward the fuel filters issue. You can replace them using wix filters (can find doing a search on this site), or you could order some really neat spin ons from a fellow member aka "Jatonka" which replaces the metal canisters. I'd do that first before running it more.

 

[runk]

It took a fair number of miles and 10+ tank drains to get all the foamy gray-black oily crud out of my air system, now it is mostly a reasonable amount water and just a little black crud once in a while. Cleaning the air compressor intake filter (inside a little housing on the side on the air compressor, the housing unbolts and comes apart), may have helped, mine was pretty clogged. I believe the compressor sucks up more engine oil if the compressor filter is plugged.

Welcome to the fold !

 

[runk]

Also, looks like a pretty new air pack, did you bleed the air pack bleed valve as well as the wheel cylinders ?

 

[Keith_J]

You probably have rust/slime clogs in the fuel filters. Or have an inop tank pump. With master switch on, you should hear it running in the tank. If not, fix that first. Yes, it will run without a tank pump as long as the system is primed. Changing the fuel filters would be a good idea.

Now, for the brakes. Seems like the military got a batch of wheel cylinders without expanders on the springs. This causes the cups to weep, then the drop in pressure in the system causes the cups to "suck in". The volume of the master cylinder stroke isn't enough to displace all the wheel cylinders. The fix to this is easy, just pressurize the master cylinder (full of DOT 5) with about 15 PSI of air through the 1/8" NPT hole in the top of the master cylinder cap. This will force fluid through the system with no volume limitation. A pressure bleeder does this too.

You should look at the backing plates of all 6 wheels and find the leaking ones. There is a slot at the 6:00 position and if this is wet/damp with fluid, that is a leaker. If the inner wheel is wet, that is probably inner seal leakage, there is a weep hole in the drum which drains from the inner wheel seal. These wheels need to come off too to replace the outer wheel seal at the bare minimum. Yes, the military also got inferior outer seals which cause gear oil to leak into the hub. This washes the grease out of the outer bearing and then it flows to the inner bearing. Pressure then forces it out of the inner seal.

Yes, DOT 5 loses its color, don't know why. The DOT 5 we had back in the 1980s was purple.

Brake shoe looking thing? Confused.

Oil in the air tanks? Certainly. It wets the tank surfaces, taking a long time to fully drain. Air tanks drain better just barely cracked open as vortexing under high flow with the drain wide open limits the flow.

 

[lrjet23]

I did not bleed the air pack. I have looked in the TM's, but do not see where to bleed the bugger. Also read posts about the pack but do not see where to do it.

Another post said about draining the MC, and there are little holes. Again, I do not see that either

 

[Keith_J]

I did not bleed the air pack. I have looked in the TM's, but do not see where to bleed the bugger. Also read posts about the pack but do not see where to do it.

Another post said about draining the MC, and there are little holes. Again, I do not see that either

The bleeder on the airpack is mid-body in the hydraulic section, the smaller diameter portion forward of the air section. It looks like a wheel cylinder bleeder.

I bet you have the wheel cylinder cups sucked back off the pistons. Like I stated above, this is due to weeping cups which are due to an improper spring in the wheel cylinders. OD Iron has correct rebuild kits and I can show you how to do this. You have to pull the cylinders anyhow, rebuilding takes minutes.

Do not drain the MC! It isn't needed.

 

[lrjet23]

Thanks Keith
On the brakes, I'll try that. The left front has what appears to be lubricant at the 6:00 position; not brake fluid. Also, I mixed new purple fluid in the jar with the bleed fluid. As of now it is still in a constant state.

Thanks Runk I'll try that in the morning

You guys are great!!!!

 

[Keith_J]

Most welcome!

There is a different "taste" to DOT 3. DOT 5 is like olive oil. You don't swallow it, just a bit on the tip of your tongue will tell the difference...SPIT IT OUT!!!

But your method is much better.

Now, as far as the brake fluid level...it has to go somewhere. Since the front axle cannot leak gear oil into the hubs (it will stop at the seal before the knuckle boot), that is a brake fluid leak.

 

[lrjet23]

Can't wait til the sun comes up to get going.. Tkanks guys

 

[Keith_J]

You need some help?

 

[lrjet23]

Get going working on the machine, making her feel 110%, better than new!!

 

[nk14zp]

Congrats on your deuce and welcome to the site.

 

[lrjet23]

Update:

I pressurized the system, and that worked wonderfuly. Now the pedal stops 2" to 3" from the floor, and I can't push it further. Have not road tested it yet, mabey later.

I do hear the fuel pump in the tank turn on with power. Guess a filter change is next.

Thanks all

 

[Keith_J]

Now is the time to fix that leaky left front. If the shoes are slimed, make sure to clean out the rivet holes first, these collect slime. Then use paint thinner to clean the shoes, finishing off with brake cleaner.

 

[lrjet23]

Update 2:

Well the test drive went well, just went around the bolck. Brakes were great (better than my other two cars). No pulling to the side, nothing. BTW parking brake is vert tight, and I was very careful. After the drive, I did not notice any w/c leaking, and the m/c was still full.
(I drove one of these many years ago, and I am still very nerveous)

Drained the tanks last night, and the oil/slime was only about the size of a silver dollar.

Put the cab cover bows on, they need cleaning and a little paint, but she's lookin better.

Today started out good, Sunny, about 70, nice day to play. So, I changed the first secondary filter. Wow, the rust, I couldn't believe it. No problem there, the second on, however, no so good. I thought I broke the draincock, which I did. Bent the turn handle to get a closed wrench in it. Well, stripped it. Next comes the chanel locks! Nothing, getting a little bent by now, grrrr. So, the easy out comes out. got the inner valve to move, and got that out, but the outter 1/4 holder is not moving. Well, drills, and torches later nothing. I'll try to tap it tomorrow, hope that works, if no Alfaheven has a can for 10 Bucks.

(Rembember reading that it isn't what you pay for the machine, it's how much you put into it!) HA,HA, now I know!

So, I guess I'm down for a few days if the tap doesn't work, and wait on a "new" can.

Also ordered a cab cover, OD green, 150 shipped!

 

[lrjet23]

Couple other items:

1. Cleaning out the exit port on the wiper motor got them going full blast.

I read about putting tool oil in the air pack. I am not sure which line to remove. I looked in the TM, and found the bleeder on the pack, (looks like a grese port) but cannot locate the line to remove to add oil. Guess tomorrow, while I figure out the fuel filter can situation, I take puctures of the pack and M/C.