How to get my 6.2 to run more smoothly?

[wired1000]

My M1009 has been doing pretty well lately, but sometimes it runs with that sound as though something is slightly off-center. Not the full-on "beater" sound, but a rhythmic "wum-wum-wum-wum-wum", especially evident when accelerating and at lower engine speeds. At faster speeds it may just be happening too fast to be noticeable.

Anyway, the real question is: What sorts of repairs have the most bang per buck, as far as getting the ol' 6.2 to run more smoothly? Here's what I've found so far with my searches on SS


0) Read the Technical Manuals.

1) Run a few tanks of Diesel Kleen through the engine. Working on this now.

2) Replace Crankcase Breather Element / PCV valve. I read a previous post which said this part was available at Rock Auto or the stealership, but I was unable to find it on Rock Auto (the thread was a few years old). Anybody got a source for this?

3) I read something about a Harmonic Balancer. Is this easy to replace? How would I know if this was the problem?

4) Injection Pump: Obviously this is a bigger project. From what I've read on here about IP issues, my IP is doing fine for now.


I appreciate your advise! Thanks in advance!

 

[Warthog]

The CDR/PCV valve is no longer available at the dealer or RockAuto. You will find them on fleabay every once in awhile. Many have used WD-40 to clean the old one with success.

A cheap check is to check your flexplate bolts. They are known to back out and cause a "strange" sound. Also check the flexplate itself for cracking.

The balancer is not that hard to change. You just need to make sure you have a puller and a installation tool. Most guys use a Metric M16x100 bolt to install the new balancer. You can order the bolt from Fastenal. The balancer will also need to be ordered as they don't stock it on the shelf at most parts houses.

Save your pennys for an IP rebuild. It's day is coming.

 

[Barrman]

Yep, check your balancer, replace if the rubber is coming off or missing.

Now, going down the road. Especially in town or on roads with walls, the single exhaust echo on the drivers side only gives you half the exhaust note and it sounds kind of off.

After that, you are down to injectors, injector pump and timing. You can do a compression check to insure the cylinders are all balanced, but my guess is IP.

 

[Stonepicker1]

You may have water in your fuel system also. Water could of went into the Injector Pump and then to the Injectors. Happen on one of my M1028's.

 

[txmytx_catahoula]

It's a PITA to check, but with checking the condition of the rubber on the hamonic balancer, make sure the balancer hasn't broken the key on the crank. I'm pretty sure the front pully on the crank will have to come off, then you'll have to find a way to look down the "key way". My key broke allowing the balancer to slip around the crank.......end result, snapped crank.

 

[chicagodiesel]

I'm wondering the same thing! To date since getting my m1009 I've:

1. replaced CDR valve
2. replaced engine and trans mounts
3. replaced fuel return lines
4. replaced flex plate
5. replaced harmonic balancer
6. replaced all belts
7. replaced fuel filter/oil filter
8. replaced trans fluid
9. replaced glow plugs
10. replaced starter

need to:

check injectors and clean or replace if needed
replace lift pump
get oil cooler lines to stop leaking
replace mufflers

but mostly I want to figure out why I have this really tight vibration from the engine. It's visible, you can watch it shake. It's not a big shake, just constant. There are no leaks from the IP but I haven't checked the what's it called valve on top yet...this weekend. Any thoughts.

I recently put on a stock fan with clutch. I've heard the clutch can cause vibration...should I replace with a heavy duty hayden clutch? Each one of these improvements has definitely bettered the vehicle, but I would like some real pay off for my efforts here!!!

Harmonic balancer wasn't too difficult to replace, you just have to get creative with getting that bolt off. I used a 5 foot 3/4 inch galvanized pipe with a large allen wrench in the back of the balancer and butted against the frame...pretty simple and didn't have to flex too much. All else considered the biggest pain is undoing and redoing all of the belts. Also pays off to remove the fan shroud and fan to get really good access and clearance. My kit had the right bolt so I didn't have to fab my own puller. Napa stocks the balancer and it comes with a new bolt and washer. Good luck.

 

[WARWAG]

First change your oil and oil filter. It always sounds better after the oil has been changed. Then check your hamonic balancer.

 

[Dave Kay]

Lotta' good info here!

Not sure it qualifies as repair bit I did the doghead mods first thing because lotta' bad/fatal electrical things can result without. Also, have a REAL good look at all your starter/ignition related wiring and your starter mounting to boot. So many guys here have had starter/wiring problems that you could write a book.

Wouldn't worry too much about the injection pump until it really gives problems. It can be 'timed' and pimped to keep your truck running even as it becomes worn. But DO heed that "save for it" advice, because it will eventually go south for good.

Meanwhile... if you want a real good book on your 6.2 go to TheDieselPage and check this out. Not getting a commision here, it's just that there is so much valuable info in that book that it's MORE than worth it's weight in gold. Good luck!

 

[wired1000]

Great ideas, thanks everybody. I have changed the engine oil / filter about a month ago. Have all the stuff to do Tranny, T-Case, and Front Diff. It's got a brand new rear axle assembly in it... see other threads for that debacle.

I put in a new (Onio Generator) starter and I bought the new relay to do the Doghead mod. I'll get to that asap.

How does one go about "timing" an IP? Wait, wait... before you say anything I'll go read the TM. I think getting the injectors tested / cleaned is on my priority list. the previous owner had replaced the fuel tank and a lot of the fuel lines, filter assembly, etc due to it being clogged with crap through and through. Obviously that may have gunked up my injectors somewhat as well but I don't believe he touched those.

 

[wired1000]

@chicagodiesel: where are you located? I'm in Humboldt Park.

 

[chicagodiesel]

No kidding. Me too. I'm on Mozart right at California and Augusta behind the Clipper. Where you at exactly? Not that it's more than a mile away.

We should get together and work on our pieces of crap!

 

[chicagodiesel]

You aren't running the all black m1009 with RNUOVER plates I always see down at UIC are you? If so, I covet your tow hitch.

 

[wired1000]

nope, mine's a sanded-down green CARC (previous owner had a lot of weird ideas, like painting the seats with vinyl paint that's now all flaking off). I'm at Spaulding and Beach (headquarters of the Latin Kings I'm told).

Anyway, YES! Let's get together and get these things fixed up! I took mine up to Michigan this weekend, 5 hours each way and as luck would have it I made it back without incident. However, the "beater" sound has gotten much worse, and much louder, which leads me to believe it's an exhaust issue. Gonna take it to an exhaust place out by my parents in La Grange that I trust (Fair Muffler) to see what's up with it tomorrow.

Maybe we can collaborate on the fuel injectors. Do you know how to test them? Is that something the pros have to do? Do you know a pro?

Also I've been meaning to do my front wheel bearings. Do you have the tool? Done yours? Wanna go halfsies on the tool?

I've seen a couple other CUCV's around the city... a tan M1009 in Ukrainian Village and a tan M1008 in Lakeview. Haven't seen the black one... what's so special about the tow hitch?

 

[chicagodiesel]

Good old Latin Kings...it's the Insane Dragons in my neighborhood. They love my truck too. Try and buy it every day. Waiting to wake up and see it gone one morning. I'll sleep well in the winter knowing that they won't know how to start a diesel in the cold!

Hitch: It's just a regular square receiver mounted in the same place as the pintle but its done extremely clean and looks great. He can actually tow normal things!

Fuel injectors: I've been checking around to see who tests them. I keep meaning to stop into the place at Western right over the Belmont bridge heading north. I'm just going to pull mine and clean them for the moment as the glow plugs were pretty fouled when I pulled them. There are ways to rig it up, but you need to have a vac/pressure pump...I think they pop somewhere between 1600-1900 (don't write that down I'm just remembering at this point). There are other ways to test if they are working properly before pulling them though. The old loosen one injector at a time while the engine is running and see if the engine runs better or worse. But I think just pulling them, cleaning them, and replacing the copper washers first is necessary.

Mufflers: I need them too, let me know what you get quoted as mine are swiss cheese

Front Bearings: I started to do them myself but was in Florida (picking up the truck) at the time without tools. You can pack them by hand without the tool but need some c pin pullers to get into the four wheel drive lock hub to get them out. Mine was missing a few parts in their so I'm glad I had someone do them who knew what was going on considering I had to drive 1200 miles.

I just put in a new lift pump this weekend and noticed coolant leaking off of my harmonic balancer so I'll need to be doing the water pump in a few days which means changing out the timing chain or at least checking its play and replacing all gaskets in the timing cover. Fun pulling both alternators and the power steering pump for the third time in four weeks! I'm starting to get good at this.

I'll send you a PM with my phone number. Not sure what my up coming weekend looks like but I may try to get out of town too as it looks like its going to be rather nice. Do you have a shop/garage? I work in the street. Let me know.

 

[idM1028]

Another great book to pick up is the Haynes Diesel Manual. Its got all of the info on the 6.2 and 6.5 engines as well as some other ones. If you get the book, just keep in mind a J-code CUCV 6.2 is the same thing as an LL4.

 

[wired1000]

A cheap check is to check your flexplate bolts. They are known to back out and cause a "strange" sound. Also check the flexplate itself for cracking.

I am experiencing a sound something like a BB rattling around in a clothes dryer. Could this be the flex plate? Is this a problem urgent enough to stop driving altogether?

 

[wired1000]

Fuel injectors: I've been checking around to see who tests them. I keep meaning to stop into the place at Western right over the Belmont bridge heading north. I'm just going to pull mine and clean them for the moment as the glow plugs were pretty fouled when I pulled them. There are ways to rig it up, but you need to have a vac/pressure pump...I think they pop somewhere between 1600-1900 (don't write that down I'm just remembering at this point). There are other ways to test if they are working properly before pulling them though. The old loosen one injector at a time while the engine is running and see if the engine runs better or worse. But I think just pulling them, cleaning them, and replacing the copper washers first is necessary.

Mufflers: I need them too, let me know what you get quoted as mine are swiss cheese

Front Bearings: I started to do them myself but was in Florida (picking up the truck) at the time without tools. You can pack them by hand without the tool but need some c pin pullers to get into the four wheel drive lock hub to get them out. Mine was missing a few parts in their so I'm glad I had someone do them who knew what was going on considering I had to drive 1200 miles.

I'll send you a PM with my phone number. Not sure what my up coming weekend looks like but I may try to get out of town too as it looks like its going to be rather nice. Do you have a shop/garage? I work in the street. Let me know.

I have wondered about that place on Western just north of Belmont. I feel like an expert diesel mechanic driving my M1009 around for 10 minutes could probably save me a heck of a lot of time trying to figure this stuff out on my own.

I'll probably re-pack my front wheel bearings in the next couple days. Hopefully they look OK and then I won't worry about it much.

I looked at the exhaust pretty thoroughly and it seems to be intact (though rusty), so I'm reevaluating my diagnosis of the off-center / beater sound.

My apartment came with a garage space, but after the LK's had a fist-fight in the street, dented up my girlfriend's 1992 Saab 900 Turbo Coupe and got blood all over it, she has commandeered the space. Luckily there is still a bit of space for my motorcycle. I don't think my truck would fit in there anyway. So I too am working in the street. It'd be great to tackle some of these problems as a team though. I have a neighbor across the street who's a mechanic and so we're always getting into arguments because I've read things in detail in this forum and in TM's, but he's a mechanic so he's so sure he "knows" what's going on. I am in between jobs so I'm taking this time to get a lot of work done on the '09 and get some other projects done.

 

[nk14zp]

The best thing to do to a 6.2 is replace it with a 12v 5.9 6bt.

 

[hilber]

Did you ever find out the problem. I was leanign toward it being the harmonic balancer.

 

[wired1000]

Not really. I've gotten used to it. The "bb in a clothes dryer" sound stopped once I figured out that I was in 4-Hi and switched into 2-Hi. Not sure if I should be concerned about that... I'll probably only rarely use the 4WD so since the noise isn't there in 2-Hi I'm not gonna worry about it too much. There's some rotational play (about 1/8 - 1/4") in the front driveshaft (not at the U-joints... somewhere in the front diff or the T-Case) so that might be it, but no one ever answered if this is normal or not.

One of these days I'll get around to replacing the Harmonic Balancer. For now, I'm glad I can drive around without worrying about breaking down somewhere. Nice to have a break from feeling like "I shouldn't drive the truck until I fix ________", which has been a pretty constant feeling for the last few weeks.

Any ideas about the front driveshaft having play in it like that?