FLU419 SEE HMMH HME Owners group

[The FLU farm]

- You'll be able to live forever...

Hmm. If so I might be able to finish about 2/3 of my projects. If I don't come up with any new ones, which I have a bad habit of doing.

 

[General Hood]

Not quite. It's a truck bed I'm busily cutting more and more off of, and changing in other ways. Really should've started from scratch instead of modifying a factory made bed.
And I wouldn't call the (formerly) a runner quite yet. Would be nice if that turns out to be the case, and one thing is for sure; It will be a perfect runner before you get here.
If I live that long.

Actually, you should make a trip out here. I'll take you for a tour of the Texarkana Flu Farm, it's less than an hour down the road

 

[The FLU farm]

That's tempting. If you can arrange to turn the temperature down a few notches. Remember, I don't do well in much over 70 degrees.
Being able to dig up your wife's flower beds, using your SEE...yeah, that is tempting. Except, yours doesn't run now, does it?

 

[Another Ahab]

Hmm. If so I might be able to finish about 2/3 of my projects. If I don't come up with any new ones, which I have a bad habit of doing.

 

[General Hood]

That's tempting. If you can arrange to turn the temperature down a few notches. Remember, I don't do well in much over 70 degrees.
Being able to dig up your wife's flower beds, using your SEE...yeah, that is tempting. Except, yours doesn't run now, does it?

It runs like it was your SEE's twin sister

 

[The FLU farm]

It runs like it was your SEE's twin sister

Well, that explains it. A she can't be expected to run right.

 

[Migginsbros]

Necessary preparation for todays visit at the gravel pit.
First Crew take the SEE,second will follow later with a scary brother equipped with double 6 t winches
Hey, lets go.

Edit: nearly 70°F scattered showers, perhaps a mud fight.

 

[General Hood]

Necessary preparation for todays visit at the gravel pit.View attachment 680159View attachment 680161View attachment 680165
First Crew take the SEE,second will follow later with a scary brother equipped with double 6 t winches
View attachment 680162Hey, lets go.View attachment 680164View attachment 680163

Edit: nearly 70°F scattered showers, perhaps a mud fight.

I see you have your helper with you. Have a great day sir

 

[Another Ahab]

Necessary preparation for todays visit at the gravel pit.
View attachment 680162

Great pics. Thanks!

I'm loving that cab-forward hauler.

What's the story on the dual axles, the wheels aren't matching. Are those singles on the rear axle?

 

[Migginsbros]

Great pics. Thanks!

I'm loving that cab-forward hauler.

What's the story on the dual axles, the wheels aren't matching. Are those singles on the rear axle?

Singles on the rear axel,same size 315x22,5 as dual. It deludes on the pic.
Its a lift axel. You can decide if you want to use or it will be automatically lowered with over 11 tons on the rear axel.

 

[peakbagger]

Spring Startup- Living up north, the SEE gets parked over the winter and then through mud season before running it spring summer and fall. I can start it earlier but its parking spot requires driving along a shared right of way with a neighbor and it really doesn't dry out until June. The SEE will gladly motor through it but the resulting 12" ruts sure aren't the neighborly thing to do. Our town also posts a "road ban" on the local road while the frost clears out of the ground and things dry out a bit so even if I did get it running I don't have anywhere to go.

First project is to check the fluids and then bleed the fuel system. I loosen the first bleed screw, push the bleed pump about 2 strokes and fuel comes out of the bleed screw. Repeat with the other one and same thing happens. This is good!. Now hop in the drivers seat and hit the starter, not so good. Engine just cranks and cranks and eventually catches but doesn't run, repeat multiple times and finally it starts to run. Once it gets running everythings fine. This happened prior years, but I attributed to poor priming. While talking a bit to the Unimog expert while buying my 1300 he mentioned that in addition to the low pressure fuel system loosing prime, the fuel injectors will also loose prime. He didn't give me a solution but I do plan to discuss if there is way around it next time I talk to him. He described that each injector builds up pressure closed aganst a spring and then releases a spray once the pressure builds, apparently when the injector leaks down and is full of air, the injector just doesn't build up enough pressure and fuel just dribbles out.

Once the SEE is up and running, I notice its not building air pressure. I can hear an air leak and find the main tank drain is leaking, I jiggle it a bit and it seals up and the pressure starts slowly building up. While I was waiting for the pressure to come up I noticed the emergency trailer brake was pushed in, it may have been that way since I bought it. I decide to open it and see the air pressure start dropping. At that point I decided not to mess with finding a leak so I pushed it back in. I expect its leaky gladhand. It does bring up a suggestion for new SEE owners that are chasing air leaks to start out diagnosing the air system with the trailer brake emergency valve pushed in. This will cut down on potential leak points. I will run an air line to a gladhand one of these days and chase what is leaking on that side of the air system.

While letting it run for awhile I went through greasing the backhoe. I had missed one fitting previously on the backhoe bucket pivot and found a smashed grease fitting, I switched it out and thought I was set but when I hooked up the grease gun and tried to pump, it still wouldn't pump. I pulled the fitting and stuck a screwdriver down the bore and what came up was ancient gritty grease. I got it as clean as I could and hooked the grease gun back and same story. Looks like I have an excuse to buy a grease fitting cleaner https://www.zerkzapper.com/. I hope it works when I get it.

Its now parked next to the 1300 and boy it looks small.

 

[alpine44]

Spring Startup- Living up north, the SEE gets parked over the winter and then through mud season before running it spring summer and fall. I can start it earlier but its parking spot requires driving along a shared right of way with a neighbor and it really doesn't dry out until June. The SEE will gladly motor through it but the resulting 12" ruts sure aren't the neighborly thing to do. Our town also posts a "road ban" on the local road while the frost clears out of the ground and things dry out a bit so even if I did get it running I don't have anywhere to go.
First project is to check the fluids and then bleed the fuel system. I loosen the first bleed screw, push the bleed pump about 2 strokes and fuel comes out of the bleed screw. Repeat with the other one and same thing happens. This is good!. Now hop in the drivers seat and hit the starter, not so good. Engine just cranks and cranks and eventually catches but doesn't run, repeat multiple times and finally it starts to run. Once it gets running everythings fine. This happened prior years, but I attributed to poor priming. While talking a bit to the Unimog expert while buying my 1300 he mentioned that in addition to the low pressure fuel system loosing prime, the fuel injectors will also loose prime. He didn't give me a solution but I do plan to discuss if there is way around it next time I talk to him. He described that each injector builds up pressure closed aganst a spring and then releases a spray once the pressure builds, apparently when the injector leaks down and is full of air, the injector just doesn't build up enough pressure and fuel just dribbles out.

Dribbling injectors need to be rebuild. Not only do they cause hard starts but also the blue smoke you often see in FLU419 videos. It would be nice to know a diesel injector shop that ships out overhauled nozzles for the OM-352 in exchange for sending the old ones in later. If anyone has a lead, please let us know (I will make some calls tomorrow).

Another thing to keep in mind about the injection system is the ultra low sulfur diesel we are now using that the system was never designed for. Some lubricant/additive in the diesel could not hurt. I plan to use the old, filtered hydraulic fluid (aka motor oil) for this after changing to real hydraulic fluid.

Once the SEE is up and running, I notice its not building air pressure. I can hear an air leak and find the main tank drain is leaking, I jiggle it a bit and it seals up and the pressure starts slowly building up. While I was waiting for the pressure to come up I noticed the emergency trailer brake was pushed in, it may have been that way since I bought it. I decide to open it and see the air pressure start dropping. At that point I decided not to mess with finding a leak so I pushed it back in. I expect its leaky gladhand. It does bring up a suggestion for new SEE owners that are chasing air leaks to start out diagnosing the air system with the trailer brake emergency valve pushed in. This will cut down on potential leak points. I will run an air line to a gladhand one of these days and chase what is leaking on that side of the air system.

Isolating systems as much as possible is always a good way to trouble shoot.

While letting it run for awhile I went through greasing the backhoe. I had missed one fitting previously on the backhoe bucket pivot and found a smashed grease fitting, I switched it out and thought I was set but when I hooked up the grease gun and tried to pump, it still wouldn't pump. I pulled the fitting and stuck a screwdriver down the bore and what came up was ancient gritty grease. I got it as clean as I could and hooked the grease gun back and same story. Looks like I have an excuse to buy a grease fitting cleaner https://www.zerkzapper.com/. I hope it works when I get it.

While recently doing a spring cleanup on my CASE 1840, I was amazed how hard old grease can get.

 

[peakbagger]

Not sure its dribbling injectors as once the unit is first started in the spring after a long winter, it starts and runs fine even if it sits for a couple of weeks, no significant smoking.

 

[alpine44]

Not sure its dribbling injectors as once the unit is first started in the spring after a long winter, it starts and runs fine even if it sits for a couple of weeks, no significant smoking.

Maybe not dribbling but seeping over the course of month? If the pop-off valves in the injectors are tight and the IP barrels are not totally worn out, I have seen the 'classic' Mercedes diesel engines with inline Bosch pumps fire at the first turn even after sitting for several years. If one lost prime on the supply side (tank to IP), they will fire, then die, and then come back after a whole lot more cranking (or air bleeding). The FLU419 may act a little different as it lacks glow plugs. Since MB added an ether system, I would not hesitate to use ether for the first start after a long rest, especially if the outside temperatures are still on the chilly side.

Block heaters also do wonders on diesel engines. I plug my diesels in anytime I wear more than a shirt in the morning. The Cummins 4B in my skidloader will start without it even down into the teens but only after a lot of cranking and then with belching, hunting, and billowing smoke. Same story with the 6.2L in my M1009. The only engine I can be lazy with the extension cord is the 7.3L Powerstroke in my boxtruck. But that one has a bunch of electronics to keep it motivated on cold days.

 

[The FLU farm]

While I was waiting for the pressure to come up I noticed the emergency trailer brake was pushed in, it may have been that way since I bought it. I decide to open it and see the air pressure start dropping.

Good point, peakbagger. The trailer brake may very well have contributed to some head scratching when dealing with FLU air leaks. If the cover is properly installed over the gladhand it won't leak (much), but everything in that part of the system being needlessly pressurized can add a few extra small leaks. It all adds up.

And thanks for the idea to get rid of the 10W. Old diesels do need extra lubrication, and can handle a fair amount of it. Up to 7% is deemed perfectly safe with used (filtered, of course) engine oil, so the relatively pure used 10W should easily be usable up to 10%.
I've experimented with over 40% used engine oil in an M1009 (6.2 diesel), but at those levels it was getting hard to start and smoked quite a bit. At 10 to 15% it ran noticeably smoother and better (more energy in the oil than in the diesel fuel).

But for that Zerk that won't take grease, why not disassemble that bucket pivot and clean out the passages in the pin rather than forcing the old crud deeper into it?
I had to drill mine out last week. Couldn't dislodge the crud with a pick or screwdriver. On yours, is it the right side, by any chance?

 

[Another Ahab]

I pulled the fitting and stuck a screwdriver down the bore and what came up was ancient gritty grease. I got it as clean as I could and hooked the grease gun back and same story. Looks like I have an excuse to buy a grease fitting cleaner https://www.zerkzapper.com/. I hope it works when I get it.

Another sweet toy for the toy box!

You already had it picked out, but just needed the reason to pull the trigger, was that it?

 

[peakbagger]

You were correctly on the grease fitting. The plugged fitting is on the right side bucket pivot If I am standing behind the SEE. I assume that there is grease hole cross drilled perpendicular to the main bore hole? The stuff that came out of the hole with screwdriver was decidedly "chunky". It looks like a pretty loose joint (maybe because it hasn't gotten greased for many years), so I will give the Zerk Zapper a shot. Its odd how this grease fitting got damaged, its in deep recessed hole and was bent over and smashed. I just don't see how a foreign object could have gotten to it.

I am not the one who suggested burning up used engine oil but am considering it. I think it may have come up in the discussion when I had raised the concept of putting in a removable off road tank diesel with appropriate fittings on the supply and return lines. The property I plan to be doing the most work on is a couple of miles down a public road so in theory I should be running road diesel to get there but once I am there I expect I will be running most of my fuel. I believe the concept was that the engine oil addition to the road fuel would potentially mask any traces of the red dye used for off road after I switched the system back to road diesel and let it run for awhile?

 

[peakbagger]

Another sweet toy for the toy box!

You already had it picked out, but just needed the reason to pull the trigger, was that it?

I am long term listener to the Magliozzi brothers, Click and Clack (may Tom rest in peace), a new vehicle is always an excuse for a new tool! So far its pile of jumbo metric wrenches, a breaker bar and set of 1" metric sockets.

I didnt mind buying this new tool as much as I did buying a supplied air respirator setup to use the toxic paint I bought to do the rust work on my new 1300.

Speaking of Click and Clack, NPR has announced that the show is going off the air at the end of the summer as its no longer going to be available. Since Tom died they have been running Classic Car talk but it was definitely getting dated.

 

[Migginsbros]

Some pics from the visit in the gravel pit.
Not only the kids also the friends had fun with the big toys
The Pirelli tires work good in sand and on "autobahn"
Now its time to get a seal kit for the stabilizerand we must find out a scrary noise while using the wipers.
Look how we can get any grease to the bushings or the rods.

 

[General Hood]

Some pics from the visit in the gravel pit.View attachment 680439View attachment 680441View attachment 680440
Not only the kids also the friends had fun with the big toysView attachment 680442View attachment 680443View attachment 680444
The Pirelli tires work good in sand and on "autobahn"View attachment 680445View attachment 680446
Now its time to get a seal kit for the stabilizerView attachment 680447and we must find out a scrary noise while using the wipers.
Look how we can get any grease to the bushings or the rods.

Very cool, it almost looks like you could eventually charge admission