M1152/M1123 Startability

[ssgtcampbell77]

I need some help. Im in St Louis and the last couple weeks the temps dropped into the single digits. WIth in 4 days, I had 6 of my HMMWVs go down. Went through the basic troubleshooting and came up with nothing. Broke out the 20 manual and came down to bad fuel injection pumps. On 6 trucks. At the same time. Today, temps in the high 50s, all but 2 trucks fire right up, no problems. Im lost and nobody can give me a straight answer. Thanks in advance.

 

[emmado22]

What fuel is in them? Summer Diesel?

 

[Westech]

Is the glow plug light on? we had a HUGE problem with the controllers not working on our 1116's. Give a tap to the controller before starting and power on, also make sure the driver has his foot to the floor if below 32 and 1/2 way if above. Another trick is to plug the exhaust pipe with a clip board while starting. You can cycle the glow plugs like 4 times too and see it that helps. Happy hunting, but I would NOT think the pumps are out.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

Using regular Diesel from the local Cirlce K. Glow plugs and controller are fine, put my foot through the floorboard. Nothing. When the trucks didnt start, i traced the fuel lines. All was good going into the pump but nothing coming out. Then for ****s and kicks, tried to start them again yesterday and 4 of them fired right up.

 

[jwaller]

sounds to me like to had water in the IP that froze and would not let fuel thru. either that or your fuel gel'd up and would not flow.

you can open the fuel filter drain while cranking and see if the lift pump is giving proper feed to the IP.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

I thought the same thing about the bad fuel / gelled fuel but I have 28 trucks and only 6 had the problem.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

And I did open the fuel filter drain and had plenty of fuel. Im at a loss!!

 

[Stan Leschert]

I do wish that I had your problem.
The M135 starts, but I wish that I had the problem of 6 non-starting Hmmvs, Heck I'd put up with just 1 to swear at!

 

[Hauling4you]

I will give you the suggestion we used on all of our HMMWV in the army. After the trucks sit for a little bit they never wanted to start, ever. when I say sit I mean for a whole 5 days at a time before we started them for "maintenance". Take a sturdy book and hold it over the exhaust while attemping to start it, the back pressure always did the trick to get them started no matter how long they had set.

Dave

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

I tried the back pressure trick but that didn't work either. Im at a loss because now that the weather warmed up, I have no way of troubleshooting the system. Thank you gentlemen for all the suggestions.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

Stan - Do not be misled, These are not my personal vehicles. They are my work and work is good!!! All I have is an M1008.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

Update - Stiil haven't found an answer to this problem. Temps are due to drop down again next week, I guess that will give me more time to figure it out!!

 

[ClarkeF]

Do you get any smoke out the exhaust when your cranking? If so, what color? Is the speed at which it turns over fast or slow? If slow, use a slave cable from a running truck to help spin it fast enough to get it to catch. I assume the "wait to start light" is operating normally? Have you tried cycling the wait lamp several times before cranking? After the wait light goes out, push the throttle to the floor and release while cranking - that helps the cold advance solenoid take hold over a weak spring (which as a new truck you shouldn't have these problems...)

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

Got grey smoke from the exhaust, truck was slaved, starter is fast, cycled the plugs 3 times. I will try the throttle thing when it gets cold again. Thanks.

 

[alpm3]

we use 911 it comes in red jug work great on jelled fuel

 

[Varyag]

Tell one to hold his Kevlar against the exhaust and the other to floor it and hit the starter. Usually does the trick. This is how we got the ones we had in Bosnia to start on the cold days.

 

[ClarkeF]

Got grey smoke from the exhaust, truck was slaved, starter is fast, cycled the plugs 3 times. I will try the throttle thing when it gets cold again. Thanks.

White smoke is unburned fuel. You have a failure in your glow plugs, gp circuits or your control box. Try swapping the control box from a truck that starts with one that doesn't. Use the TM for troubleshooting starting problems.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

I tested all glow plugs and gp circuits...controller.....PCB....ran all trouble shooting diagrams in the manual. Nothing. I had a 3rd echelon mechanic fly up from Texas and he confirmed that the pumps were all bad. Is it possible for cold weather to jack up a IP?

 

[TedG]

Have you used a fuel additive lubricant, like Stanadyne, to keep the ip's lubed when using ultra low sulpher fuel. Also, check the fuel return lines for fuel/blockage.

 

[ssgtcampbell77]

Fuel returns good. Didnt try an additive but the weather is warm now so I won't be able to test till next year.