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New M1010 with electrical gremlin

ballencd

Active member
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Location
Columbus, NC
Just got a 1984 M1010. I drove a M1009 for 18 years as a DD but it has been sold for probably 8-10 years now so I am familiar with the CUCV vehicles but not polished up of late.
I have replaced the harmonic balancer due to age and cracked rubber, the flex plate due to several chewed up spots on the teeth, also pulled the glow plugs and found all 8 were toast so they were replaced too. With new batteries installed the lights didn't work.....none of them. I did inadvertently leave the headlight switch on when I stopped working that night and during the night they came on. I figure around 0500-0600 because the battery was not discharged much. They are working fine now....I am thinking the headlight switch cleared itself....??? I took the glow plug card out and used a shot of either to get it running the first time as it had not been in I think about 10 years. Hind sight I should have flushed the fuel system before I tried to start it but it did start and smoked a good bit for awhile. Since then I have drained the tank and put fresh fuel in and it starts and runs much better. Still not what I want but better. It has only run for an hour or so. The starter also stopped working when I was trying to figure out the flex plate issue and that has also been replaced with a good working unit.
To the problem.
After the flex plate and starter got reinstalled it started fine but now the low oil pressure light does not come on at all. Seems like all the other dash stuff is working but no light. The low coolant (yellow) light comes on and the dash lights work but that is all. I am not familiar with this dash compared to the M1009. The first few times I started it before I repairs the light did come on and go off as soon as it started. I looked at what I think is the oil pressure switch on the back of the drivers side head and it is connected.
I am not sure where to start on this. Fuse, power, light bulb…..Is there a good place to start or something that I overlooked?
Thanks
ballencd

PS....I'm trying to get some pictures up here as I know you guys like pictures.
 

WWRD99

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Looks like a sweet truck! So the oil light I'd start with the easiest thing I could get to which to me is the sensor itself on the back of the head. With the engine off the top where the wire bolts on should have 0 resistance however you want to test it...volt drop or ohms. If you jump that wire with the key on it should light up...if it doesn't then you're playing with the bulb and socket which can be reached from behind the dash but you gotta find the 17 year old self to contort to actually get to it. To me pulling the cluster isn't horrible but I do everything to it when I do. Clear coat the cover and paint the backing with a high gloss white paint. Leave the cluster plugged in and check voltage on both sides of the bulb with the key on...could be just a basic bulb n socket issue. Could be you popped a fuse too. Could check those or just change them all now so they're not corroded.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk
 

m1010plowboy

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"Parasitic Drain" and "Electrical Gremlins" are decent search terms I recall for the 1010. The bundle of wires through the fire-wall was something to check. My electrical problems were mostly solved when my 1010 jumped me so all I have is landscape advice. That is some beautiful landscape around your M1010. There's a decent testing tutorial on a Parasitic Drain thread buried here somewhere. If you don't have it solved already by the time you read this, I'll hunt for it.


Such a fun truck. You never know what you'll get invited to do once you have a 1010.

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ballencd

Active member
198
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Location
Columbus, NC
Looks like a sweet truck! So the oil light I'd start with the easiest thing I could get to which to me is the sensor itself on the back of the head. With the engine off the top where the wire bolts on should have 0 resistance however you want to test it...volt drop or ohms. If you jump that wire with the key on it should light up...if it doesn't then you're playing with the bulb and socket which can be reached from behind the dash but you gotta find the 17 year old self to contort to actually get to it. To me pulling the cluster isn't horrible but I do everything to it when I do. Clear coat the cover and paint the backing with a high gloss white paint. Leave the cluster plugged in and check voltage on both sides of the bulb with the key on...could be just a basic bulb n socket issue. Could be you popped a fuse too. Could check those or just change them all now so they're not corroded.

Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk
Thanks for the response. I am about an hour away from the truck until I get it running well enough to drive it home. I plan to head back up on Monday if the weather is good and do some more to it and will start with the sensor. I did look at it and it was plugged in but I was bushed after putting in the flex plate and 2 starters by that time. It did start right up though....a good sign. I will let you know what I find. Also planned is a revamp of the power system with two (2) 12V alternators and wire it like the M1009. I don't need quite as much power as they designed into the ambulance and I don't like all the extra wires under the hood. And the M1009 system worked well for me for a long time. Thanks again.
 

ballencd

Active member
198
78
28
Location
Columbus, NC
"Parasitic Drain" and "Electrical Gremlins" are decent search terms I recall for the 1010. The bundle of wires through the fire-wall was something to check. My electrical problems were mostly solved when my 1010 jumped me so all I have is landscape advice. That is some beautiful landscape around your M1010. There's a decent testing tutorial on a Parasitic Drain thread buried here somewhere. If you don't have it solved already by the time you read this, I'll hunt for it.


Such a fun truck. You never know what you'll get invited to do once you have a 1010.

View attachment 918058 View attachment 918059 View attachment 918060
Thanks for the reply. I am interested in parasitic drain so if you find that tutorial let me know. I am sure the headlight thing will come back to haunt me but for now they are turning on when the switch is on. All the lights are working except for the blackout ones on the rear bumper. They are different than my M1009 so I will have to do some research on them. I liked to use them on the M1009 when I was parking in a dark location so I could find my vehicle. Very handy and low draw on the battery. I hope to remove all the dual voltage wires and put in two (2) 12v alternators to make it simpler to maintain and test. There are simply too many wires in the current system for me. Later
 

chevymike

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San Diego, CA
Thanks for the response. I am about an hour away from the truck until I get it running well enough to drive it home. I plan to head back up on Monday if the weather is good and do some more to it and will start with the sensor. I did look at it and it was plugged in but I was bushed after putting in the flex plate and 2 starters by that time. It did start right up though....a good sign. I will let you know what I find. Also planned is a revamp of the power system with two (2) 12V alternators and wire it like the M1009. I don't need quite as much power as they designed into the ambulance and I don't like all the extra wires under the hood. And the M1009 system worked well for me for a long time. Thanks again.
Do a search here for the "Plan B" mod for M1010's. It uses two 12v alts that fit the factory mounts. You can wire them so you still get the 24v like stock. That is how mine is currently setup.
 

ballencd

Active member
198
78
28
Location
Columbus, NC
I hate computers. I plan on doing the Plan B with the12V alternators as soon as I can scrape up the cash. The M1009 was easy to troubleshoot and easy to maintain and understand. I never understood why they used two different alternators though....ground to case and isolated ground. Seems it would have been easier to just use two isolated alternators.
 

m1010plowboy

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Edmonton, Canada
With the rear box of the 1010 all 24 volt, heater, lights, fan etc, feeding 24v to the back using a 12 to 24 convertor might be easy enough after you change the alts to 12v.
Any way you do it, once a family closes the back door to catch some sleep, the 1010 is the best bed ever.

Using the search magnifying glass on the top right doesn't always find the info. Using the "parasitic drain" term leads us to a few handy Rabbit holes https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/do-all-cucvs-drain-their-batteries.77205/page-2 and this decent page for trouble-shooting. https://www.continentalbattery.com/blog/the-impact-of-parasitic-draw-on-your-car-battery-s-lifespan

A few more bits of info https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threa...tch-bypass-with-pictures.186369/#post-2198185

The CUCV manuals are a terrific hot tub read and had the odd answer......until modifications of the original systems start........ then a person is stuck with too many wires and writing their own PM manual. https://www.steelsoldiers.com/threads/tms-for-the-cucv.77609/

PB220654.jpg

There's always you tube.

The neighbour, an electrician, keeps tossing electrician in a can at me and tells me to clean every contact, remove bulbs, grounds, housings,....clean and replace. Electrician in a can. https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/motomaster-electrical-contact-cleaner-150-g-0381740p.0381740.html

P6110086.JPG
 

ballencd

Active member
198
78
28
Location
Columbus, NC
Follow up on post #1 above,,,,,,,The lights have been working fine for 3.5 months now but while driving the other day I noticed that the dash blinker display lights were not working and upon further investigation I found all the lights in-op. I drove home carefully and proceeded to investigate. I found no voltage on the 30A headlight fuse but when I removed the fuse I got 12V on the supply side. Strange! I knew back in March that this would come back. I am glad it was during the day as the M1010 with camo paint is not very visible at night without lights. I pulled the firewall connection apart (as M1010plowboy suggested I do back in March but it had started working so I dropped it at that time) and found lots of old, gross, dirty dielectric on the pins and the bracket that pulls the halves together was broken. I contacted a great friend who happened to have a stripped M1009 sitting in his scrap pile with the engine and cab side of the plug intact. Most of the wires were cut but that was OK by me. After a bunch of cleanup, I swapped out the pins in the engine side of the shell and filled it with new dielectric and bolted it back together. Everything seems to work fine and the lights are brighter then they have been since I bought the M1010. Win - Win.
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