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M813 Wake Up Thread

Scrounger

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To run air tools or to air up tires use the rear emergency line. The rear service line only gets air when the brakes are applied. The front emergency line is only for supplying the vehicle with air from another source and will not work to supply air for tool use.

The front emergency air line comes in handy for checking for air leaks. One can supply air from a shop air compressor to the emergency line. With the engine off and the air system charged with shop air, air leaks are much easier to locate.
 

Ajax MD

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This weekend, I managed to get under the truck with a grease gun and attack nearly everything with a zerc fitting. This stuff is the low hanging fruit, easy to get caught up on.

Per the LO, I missed the trunnion bearings and the drive shaft for the rear axles, clutch and brake pedal shaft bracket, clutch cross shaft grease cups and the pintle hitch, so I need to go back and hit those. I had to look at the LO on a real computer so I could flip back and forth to the "local views" to find the zercs.

I don't think I like the grease I bought. Even though it claims to be NLGI #2, "Super Duty" it seemed rather runny, even in 50F degree temperatures. At 3,000 miles, I'm going to buy a better grade and just do it all over again. In warmer (and hopefully drier) weather, I'll pull all the wheels off and repack the wheel bearings and inspect the brakes and axle seals. Oye...that's going to be a job. I'm going to want one of those Soldier B Hub Helpers. Then, there's draining the transmission, transfer case and all 3 axles and putting new fluid in them.

I also topped off the batteries with a battery charger. The batteries are brand new and new batteries are usually not at 100% charge when you buy them. I do not believe that I've been running the truck long enough to replace the energy used for starting it, so combined with starting off partially depleted, they were only at around 60%. Once the batteries were fully charged, the engine really fired up easily from cold iron. :)

Of course we took a couple of victory laps around the block to work all the new grease into everything. :)
 

US6x4

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Oye...that's going to be a job. I'm going to want one of those Soldier B Hub Helpers.
You may be in luck - I just had 4 more cut on the laser today that should be ready to ship in a week.

I really enjoy reading your posts because everything you're doing is on my list and you're about 2 months ahead of me on your projects. Keep it up!
 

Ajax MD

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You're doing it wrong.

The truck is getting persnickety about engaging the electrical system when I turn on the dash "Battery" switch.
It often takes several flips before the voltmeter registers and the starter switch will operate.

I can hear the relays in the PCB clicking on, yet the voltmeter indicates nothing and the truck won't start. I did give the PCB several good smacks with a hammer, but this had no effect which leads me in the direction of dirty grounds or perhaps a failing dash "Battery" switch. I have a Prestolite PCB, for what that's worth.

Sometimes, when I give the switch a few flips and the voltmeter does finally indicate, the voltmeter swings erratically across the red and yellow range before I ever touch the starter switch *with the truck not started, not running!* After a few seconds, it finally settles down into the high yellow, and I start the vehicle. This part seems pretty odd to me.

The "guts" of the battery switch seem a bit sloppy when I operate the switch, so this could be the problem. An easy way to troubleshoot, would be to remove the switch and simply jumper the leads and see if the electrical system comes on without fuss. I can also put a meter on the back of the switch and see if it still indicates open or an erratic closed condition when I turn the switch on.

In the "You're doing it wrong" category, I've noticed that there is definitely a technique to using the cold start system on the 809 series.
After turning on the glow plug and waiting for it to pre-heat, when you prime the fuel system with the hand pump, you must not delay in hitting the starter switch after priming the fuel system.

If I hit the starter immediately after priming, the engine starts on the second revolution, puts out very little smoke and doesn't miss at idle and warms up nicely. If you're slow with the starter switch, the "lit" fuel extinguishes and now you just have a cylinder full of cold fuel. The truck requires extensive cranking and smokes like Jackie Gleason, the engine has a slight miss and the truck shakes like an alcoholic on a dry-out until I get the engine temperature up. I'm not sure if this is specific to my old truck or if this is normal for the 809 series. In any case, once the engine warms up after 5-10 minutes, it's smooth and rock solid. When driving, the temperature is a perfect, 179F degrees.

My coolant heated personnel heater seems to be operating erratically. It was only blowing cold air yesterday, even with the engine up to operating temperature. I know the heater has its own thermostat, so I'll have to look into that.

I have one wiper motor operating erratically (plastic version) so I brought it inside for disassembly. It just needs cleaning and new O-rings. I'll see if I can source those today, after work.
If you open the supply valve too much, the wiper motor "stalls" and chatters, stuck on one side and when it does operate it has an asymmetric rhythm which seems to indicate that an O-ring on one side of the piston isn't sealing well.

These are all fun little projects that keep me occupied and thinking during the winter. Good times.
 
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Scar59

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Ajax,
Your observations are pretty typical of these old trucks. "Nature of the beast". The "dead" battery switch is very common, it 's issue resides in the PCB. Old relays, just cycle the batt switch until the volt meter come alive. My 925 has that issue occasionally. As for the primer on the 813, a good start technique is to keep the primer pressurized as you engage the starter. Do not let the pressure drop off. Right hand pumping, left hand engaging the start switch. I'd source a spare PCB and then rebuild your unit. Pretty easy to replace the two relays, a little time and patience. Is your 813 a Kaiser Jeep manufactured truck, if so, what's the s/n? My 813 is a '71 Kaiser, might be close relatives.
 

Ajax MD

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Ajax,
Your observations are pretty typical of these old trucks. "Nature of the beast". The "dead" battery switch is very common, it 's issue resides in the PCB. Old relays, just cycle the batt switch until the volt meter come alive. My 925 has that issue occasionally. As for the primer on the 813, a good start technique is to keep the primer pressurized as you engage the starter. Do not let the pressure drop off. Right hand pumping, left hand engaging the start switch. I'd source a spare PCB and then rebuild your unit. Pretty easy to replace the two relays, a little time and patience. Is your 813 a Kaiser Jeep manufactured truck, if so, what's the s/n? My 813 is a '71 Kaiser, might be close relatives.
Scar,

Mine is also a '71, but the manufacturer is shown as "General Products Division" of the Jeep corporation. That was the 9 month period after Kaiser-Jeep became Jeep Corporation and just before everything was sold to AM General.

I agree that I should keep an additional PCB on hand, but I'm not positive that the PCB is the issue this time. I know I have some grungy grounds because the turn signals sometimes flash too rapidly and once, for a brief period, they just stopped working altogether. I lost brake lights too, so that might indicate the 3-way lever switch.

Edit: My build numbers are 05A 84671. My whole VIN is: 05A 84671 C125 12522. Just for fun, here's the VIN plate.
 

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Scar59

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Yep, same data plate, my truck's vin: 05D78771 C13710163. I think they're cousins. Also source a spare battery switch. Simple R & R. And trouble shooting.
 

Ajax MD

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Here we go... :tigger:

Took the truck to Home Despot for a load of large, heavy stuff and NAPA for parts.

- The front axle passenger side boot now has a small split at the bottom. A little grease escaped and flung greasy poo on the inside of the tire.
That puts me squarely in seal/boot/re-pack wheel bearing/brake job territory.

- The shutoff valve on top of the fuel pump has a Class 1, maybe 2 leak. A weep. I never see anything on the ground but the top of the pump is wet.

- I crawled around underneath and finally got a good eye on the soft brake lines. None of them are "great" but they are all pliable. None have any cracks except one that I saw on the rearmost axle, which did not thrill me.

- I was inspecting lines tucked along the frame. The air lines running to the rear for trailer brakes are copper? I definitely found a length of copper line. It seemed kind of soft. Surely these aren't brake fluid lines?

- Lastly and least important for now, either there is a bubble in my cab heater or it needs reamed/flushed out. Flow is blocked or very restricted. The input line is hot and the output line is cold. After awhile, the core does get warm. I can turn the blower on and have warm air for about 30 seconds before the core is cold again because there's not enough flow. I did attempt to bleed it and I did get some "burps" out of it.


I kind of expected that this would happen once the truck started moving around again. Good thing the Soldier B hub helpers are ready!
 
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Ajax MD

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How about some pictures of your truck. Ajax MD?
I put some up when I first bought it, but I can crawl around today and take more detailed photos of everything.

I just finished reading many threads in the archives on axle boots. Sheesh, what a mess. None of them seem any good. I can't see any reason to torture myself with single piece boots unless I plan on off-roading or fording water. I'm just trying to keep the grease in and the dirt out.
 

Ajax MD

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Toby,

Not sure if you wanted to see anything specific, but here are several photos- The Good, The Bad & The Ugly.
 

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Ajax MD

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Well, I'm glad I take a lot of short test drives.

Something is definitely going wrong, but I haven't been able to identify it yet. Once or twice, I heard sort of a howling when I drive the truck. It really reminds me of a dry throw-out bearing but I'm not certain that's what it is. I think it might be wheel or brake related.

I heard the howl yesterday, so I turned around to head home. Then, I heard a distinct, high pitched, metal rubbing sound as if something were rubbing in a brake drum. Sort of a "Shhh-shhh" not a squeal. Then the sound stopped. On the final approach to my driveway as I rounded a corner, the truck seemed to hop as if the brakes had hung up for a moment.

Ok, now I'm back in the safety of my driveway.
- None of the wheels were hot, or even warm to the touch.
- The brakes have always operated normally. Firm (not hard) pedal. They don't pull, they stop the truck normally. There is no fluid leaking anywhere.
- The brakes don't drag. The truck has always rolled freely upon releasing the pedal.
- Once or twice, I have heard a pretty heavy "thunk" upon releasing the brake pedal, which I thought was odd.

I think I have a few things going on here- the air pack might be misbehaving a little and I might have some adjusters or shoes starting to hang up. The howling may be a wheel bearing but I'm not sure.

I guess it's time to park it and take the wheels off.
 

Ajax MD

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Ok, thanks to my Wife Soldier B helper, the rubbing around was isolated to the parking brake not fully releasing. That's my fault because I adjusted it too tightly.

The howling and the occasional thunk, I'm still working on.
 

US6x4

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Hey Ajax,

Any updates on your wake up project? Last I read you were installing a new T-case...what's the latest?
 

tobyS

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Ok, thanks to my Wife Soldier B helper, the rubbing around was isolated to the parking brake not fully releasing. That's my fault because I adjusted it too tightly.

The howling and the occasional thunk, I'm still working on.
My 817 had a similar problem. At 30 mph there was a lot of noise that I thought were dry wheel bearings. I even bought new bearings. I took it to a friends shop. We took the front and rear driveshafts off and ran it up to speed. I could see the emergency drum had some play and was a big part of the noise. I took hold of the drum and moved it up and down. It had too much play.

Long story short, it was a nearly new transfer case that had not had the (3 internal shaft) bearings properly set. All three shafts were loose. We took it out and I took it apart, seeing bearings, seals and gears were new condition (so lucky). I re-assembled it and set the bearings to a light pre-load. All was well in 817 land after that. I hauled 120 loads from demo on my downtown property....what a truck...miss it.
 

Ajax MD

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Mayo, MD
Hey Ajax,

Any updates on your wake up project? Last I read you were installing a new T-case...what's the latest?
I haven't given up, just been wrapped up with work and summer. Mainly, the issue is getting the new transfer case of the can and moving them around.
 
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