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My mostly successful recovery

noaccount

New member
28
0
0
Location
NW MO
I suppose I should post something here about my recovery given the help I received from three wonderful members.
My thread on the Inspection/loadout forum set things in motion. After my EUC came back in less time then I could really even process that I had bought a deuce 1400 miles away, BadMastard, Silverstate55, and Airbornebandsman stepped up to do a inspection on the truck and hopefully relocate it to Airbornebandsman's storage until I was able to get out there. They went above and beyound actually, they gave it a good once over, cranked it off a slave cable and drove it off the lot. :D
Airborne gave me some details on a few things the truck needed and even did some of the work on it before i arrived... a month and a half later.

Fast forward to last week, I am finally free to go to Vegas to get the truck. This is where things start to get interesting. The person I had planned to go with me tells me at 10pm the night before we were to leave that a personal issue has come up, not his fault, but I had delayed my leave date 2 days so that he could go which meant I had less time before i had to be back. One quick phone call and I have a different friend lined up that can go, unfortunately he isn't mechanically inclined, can't drive the truck, a little annoying, but most importantly he can go.
We left the next day for Vegas, about the time we were going through Denver I get a call from Airborne informing me that there is a problem. The deuce was started, moved, then died and won't restart... oh well, half way there.

We arrived in Vegas earlier then expected. I hadn't taken into account the time zone changes or that we could make the 1434mi drive in 18.5 hours. We slept well that night, and met Airborne at 7am the next day and set in to changing the fuel and air filters, replacing the J-pipe, and a few other little things. After changing the fuel filters we still had no luck getting it started and determined that fuel pump wasn't moving any diesel... This was Saturday at 0915.... A quick call to Barstow Truck Parts and a call back at 0945 determined that they had 1 rebuilt pump on the shelf and a bin of used ones, but the closed at 1200... 165 miles of I-15 in 2 hours 15 minutes while crossing the desert and mountains? No sweat in fact we did a little better than 2 hours.
Back to Airborne's, we hooked up the fuel pump and immediately began spraying fuel out of a dry rotted line between the FDC and IP aua
Its now around 1630 on a Saturday and I need a fuel line.... A trip to a local auto-zone for a piece of hose, back at Airborne's again some hose clamps, a hacksaw and a lot of cursing later and we had a fuel line made up (That didn't leak a drop the entire trip home).
After all that the truck fired right up ran wonderfully. We pulled on to the interstate at 7pm and drove until I was tired... about 6 hours I think. From here out the drive was fairly easy. We took a more southern route along I-40 to try to avoid the really steep mountain passes and for the most part the drive was allot of fun. I met a few interesting people and had some great conversations about the truck along the way, some of them were even with other people :razz:

Some time around KC, about 100mi from home we stopped for fuel a quick bite to eat I walked out to the truck, did a quick walk around to check for leaks. Got in and noticed she was a little slow to start 0.75 seconds instead of the typical instant I had been getting, not really slow, just noticeable. I didn't think about it until I got on the highway and noticed the lights were a wee bit dim :? The charge indicator is in the yellow and not going up. 100mi from home, a truck thats not charging and the sun has set... Well I had come this far, that wasn't going to stop me. The lights were nearly gone by the time I pulled in but I made it.

Now to figure out the charging issue, replace the top and boards on the troop seats and sides, and scrape, sand, and paint the entire thing....
 

dozer1

Member
833
13
18
Location
Sargeant, Minnesota
What WM said. Also if there is a battery disconnect switch anywhere on the truck and someone shuts it off while the truck was running, that will kill the alt. I helped recover a 109 recently where that seemed to be the case with that one. Get ahold of this guy for a good deal on a take out alt. ARMY 6X6
 

noaccount

New member
28
0
0
Location
NW MO
It was charging fine until the last day. I did allot of miles at night the first couple of days and was checking all of the gauges frequently.
Yes trying to charge dead batteries with a alternator can kill it, as can running it with out a hot exciter wire (e.g. the batteries dead or the disconnect flat). I just find it odd that it would go from fine to nothing like that. I did some testing with it today after charging the batteries (love those optimas lol).
Turned on the main switch and the exciter wire was hot. Started the truck, and d/c'd the batteries and there was no power to be had, just a very dim glow off the test light (can't find my multimeter) off the alternator. There is a guy locally that rebuilds and does allot of alternator/generator work so I am going to talk to him for futher testing, maybe i'll be lucky and it will just be a voltage regulator issue.
 

dozer1

Member
833
13
18
Location
Sargeant, Minnesota
Good luck on the local alt repair shop. My local guy said there was no parts available for these alts in the civy world. Maybe your guy will have a different story. Be interesting to find out.
 

kennys@wi.rr.com

Active member
1,472
23
38
Location
Waukesha, WI
The important thing is that you made it home and you had the help of some great SSers. Now comes the fun part of owning a deuce, working on it. Enjoy the truck and all the new tools it brings your way. Best of luck with it.
 

M35A2-AZ

Well-known member
Steel Soldiers Supporter
3,220
390
83
Location
Tonopah, AZ
Glad you made it home safe and sound!!!
Guys here on SS are great!!! Will always help out!!

Great write up. Good luck with the truck!
Now we need pics!!!
 

silverstate55

Unemployable
2,075
872
113
Location
UT
Glad to hear you were able to get her home; she's a good old truck, pretty solid and a good runner once you figure out that electrical issue.

Sorry I couldn't have met with you; my uncle passed away & his funeral was today (US Navy Vietnam Vet).

But you were in good hands with Mik & his wife; they're great folks.
 
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