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I attended a local MV rally last month. My M1009 had no problem starting and getting me to the event, which was 40 miles from home. At lunch I wanted to move it under a tree for some shade. It didn’t want to start. Quadjeeper used his Polaris to pull my truck close to Rayzer’s Taj for some TLC and battery charging. THANK YOU RAYZER AND QUADJEEPER!!! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!!!! Russell Deese and Floridianson helped out. (I'm sure there were others, and I apologize for leaving out some names.) After some troubleshooting and some persuasion with my aluminum bat, we concluded that the starter Bendix was toast. I called AAA and waited for the ‘tow truck of shame’ to drag my dead truck and my sorry a$$ home. Ugh. I’m thankful for AAA, but I really don’t like using my 100 miles of insurance. I felt a bit defeated. That’s the price of playing with old OD Iron.
A bit of background: I bought my truck from Jim Henry in Albemarle NC. He converted it to straight 12 volt. He installed factory A/C out of a donor truck. It has an HR-6 compressor in place of the driver side alternator. It has 2 12 volt batteries in parallel.
Five years ago I installed a gear reduction starter from O’Reilly. I bought the lifetime warranty.
I have a couple of side notes about the gear reduction starter. They are so much lighter than the standard starters. The reduced weight and size makes them much easier to install. They spin the engine much faster, and there’s less stress and strain on the electrical system, glow plugs, batteries, and alternator.
Back to my starter. I took the dead one to O’Reilly on Friday 3/9 (a re-manufactured), dropped it on the counter, and quickly learned that I could get a new manufactured unit for an additional $3.19!!! I gladly handed the guy $4. Saturday 3/10 I picked up the replacement. I took my alternator in to get tested. It’s dead. I also brought the alternator I bought from Hilbillly Wizard. I spent $126 for that sucker. The bearings are shot and it needs to be rebuilt. I was under the impression that I got a known good alternator. Grrrr. I bought the thing about 4 years ago and never opened the box until 5 minute prior to leaving for O'Reilly. Oh well.
A bit of background: I bought my truck from Jim Henry in Albemarle NC. He converted it to straight 12 volt. He installed factory A/C out of a donor truck. It has an HR-6 compressor in place of the driver side alternator. It has 2 12 volt batteries in parallel.
Five years ago I installed a gear reduction starter from O’Reilly. I bought the lifetime warranty.
I have a couple of side notes about the gear reduction starter. They are so much lighter than the standard starters. The reduced weight and size makes them much easier to install. They spin the engine much faster, and there’s less stress and strain on the electrical system, glow plugs, batteries, and alternator.
Back to my starter. I took the dead one to O’Reilly on Friday 3/9 (a re-manufactured), dropped it on the counter, and quickly learned that I could get a new manufactured unit for an additional $3.19!!! I gladly handed the guy $4. Saturday 3/10 I picked up the replacement. I took my alternator in to get tested. It’s dead. I also brought the alternator I bought from Hilbillly Wizard. I spent $126 for that sucker. The bearings are shot and it needs to be rebuilt. I was under the impression that I got a known good alternator. Grrrr. I bought the thing about 4 years ago and never opened the box until 5 minute prior to leaving for O'Reilly. Oh well.