New to me 1985 M1009 CUCV

[KLRBILLY]

Long story short, I just purchased a 1985 M1009. I bought it off of eBay sight unseen. I have had a lot of contact with the seller and I am currently working out the details of driving it from Houston, TX back to eastern NC. Current issues with the truck are as follows according to the seller:

Needs a brake job. Seller says at slow speeds the steering and brakes pulse. So, I'm thinking this is not a break issue as much as a hydro boost issue. Anyone know of a thread detailing a flush of this system?

Speedometer doesn't work. Seller says it will work up to about 30-35 MPH and beyond that it bounces. This has been an issue since he bought it a year ago. I suspect it is a result of an NP205 swap. Any suggestions for this issue? I will post pics to help identify the exact NP205. I will also need to replace the rear seal on it so I will need to ID it in order to get the correct seal.

Dash panel needs new light bulbs. From the pics he sent me it appears that the gauge cluster has been replaced with a civilian model (no idiot lights). What size do I need? Is there a thread on this? I have read about some of the issues with the connections on the back of the panel.

All fluids need to be replaced. I will be posting some engine pics because the stock fuel filter has been replaced and I don't know what kind of fuel filter is on there now. I plan on doing an oil change, fuel filter change, and coolant flush and change prior to putting any serious miles on it. I will do this in the parking lot of an autozone more than likely and then make a 3+ hour trek to Fort Polk and utilize an Auto Service Center there for anything more drastic. I also plan on getting some Archoil for the oil and fuel.

Rear window has a new crank but needs new regulator and seals. The truck has a soft top so the seller hasn't fooled with the rear window since he bought it and had no use for it. Luckily he kept the window and hard top. He is putting the hard top back on so I can get all of it back home, I will just need to get the rear window back in.

He is agreeable to me sending parts to his house so I don't have to fly with them. I plan on ordering what I need from LMC truck and mailing some tools. He is providing a set of V belts. Is there any other parts I should order that I won't be able to find at an auto parts store?

I'm viewing this trip as a challenge. This M1009 has been heavily modded by the PO so I'm hoping it's not a pandoras box of bad work. It has a turbo out of a 6.5 and an A/C out of a 90 Blazer.

Oh the seller also mentioned a whine coming from the transmission despite shifting smoothly as it should. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance, I know you guys are a wealth of knowledge.

 

[porkysplace]

Your best bet is to have it hauled . Second best bet it to take a credit card with a high limit on as there is a good likelihood your going to need it.

 

[Digger09]

The brake pulsing is more than likely rusty or warped rotors. It will shake the steering wheel when the brakes are applied. Has it been sitting awhile?

 

[KLRBILLY]

It hasn't been driving much. Hasn't had any extended periods of sitting.
What if the brakes act normal at speeds above 10MPH?
I plan on replacing them anyway, just curious.

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[PJL]

Trailer it. Looks nice though. Good luck.

 

[KLRBILLY]

Let's say for arguments sake trailering is out of the question. I'm not planning on taking interstates and breaking up the trip over 3-4 days.


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[Recovry4x4]

If you plan on doing a fluid change and since the dash has been changed with unknown function, I would add a cheap 3 gauge combo while fluids are down. You really need to know whats going on as much as possible. Figuring out all the stuff you have now will be a crapshoot at best. I always take a multi function jump box. Shumacher makes a super nice one for a hun at Wally Mart. I've had one for 5 yrs, use it alot and still has original battery.

 

[NovacaineFix]

I would say if trailering is off the table, then drive it for a good 20 mile trip around the seller's home and see what happens. Your close enough for a cheap tow and reassess from there if it breaks down.

The good thing, it's not a Deuce, 5-ton or bigger, so in reality, breaking down is more just a inconvenience and adds a bit more costs instead of possibly being extremely dangerous.

Now about the things you mentioned:

The speedo - very common, transplant another from any civi or CUCV to fix it, ir buy a repop model. The bushing dries up and gets caked up with dust from 30+ years of driving. I have gone through 3 myself on my 1009.

The pulsing in the brakes and steering are most likely from warped rotors like Digger mentioned. If the hydro was bad, it would be very spongy or rock solid and hard to apply the brakes. Remember, it is a "booster" so when a booster goes bad, the brakes get harder. If you had to flush it out, power steering fluid, and "Not" under pressure.

The instrument cluster can be okay but needs to checked to make sure that behind it is not a can of worms. The civi units will bolt up and plug in just fine, just have to take into account that the wire harness that plugs into the back of the cluster if they are in the correct location for the gages to work and to remove the one 24 volt lead that feeds through the generator lights. The MV and civi units are the same with the exception of the one lone 24 volt wire.
You're going to have to cross reference the CUCV's wire colors to a civi wire schematic to see how they are routed. I did this one on a Pontiac, used a Trans Am cluster in a Formula Firebird, they worked perfectly, just had to rearrange the wires to the correct position on the plug. PIT, but it can be done and done well, as long as it hasn't been cut and butt spliced all to heck.


As for all the filters and everything that has been modded, the owner will have to help you on that.


Otherwise, nice looking truck, wish you the best of luck.

Keep us posted and send us some pics.

 

[OuttaTheWayPECK]

My advice follows the majority, trailer it, rent a truck and tow it, so anything but attempt to drive that thing until you are secure in the truck. When i bought mine and drove it home, first thing that went right off the bat was the pass alt belt. then some how the radiator by some mirical evaporated all of the coolant out from the coolant system and was bone dry and traveled over 200 miles like that. then the plung plug in the IP came loose cause of a tiny little E clip that holds the arm on the side of the IP. fuel spewed out at an alarming rate. So trust me. my only savin grace so far was that I was very close to my home. The cost of paying to ship the truck or trailer it will be far far less than you breaking down in the middle of bum F egypt without a paddle. Listen to these guys bro. be smart. good luck

 

[OuttaTheWayPECK]

regarding the whining noise. I'm new to my m1009 also. i have the same year. I don't know if we have an idler pulley, cause I'm new to diesel engines. But you can get a whining noise from a loosened idler pulley that will fall off while you drive down the road cause you won't know it will happen when it does. So others will know better than I, but on a gas engine vehicle i had, that happened to me and it was the idler pulley worked itself loose and made an almost turbo sounding whining noise. You'll also lose all power steering immediately if the part falls off. again, not sure if the part is even on the 6.2. but trying to help ya. bring tools, battery terminals to splice in just incase. bring a map, don't rely on just a gps. white flag or shirt incase of breakdown and ya have to leaave it. if i think of something else i'll post.

 

[Tinstar]

A lot of unknowns for such a long drive.
I agree about the brakes. Easy fix. But.....stopping hard from full speed will be like driving along a railroad track.
Keep it slow and keep plenty of distance.

Sounds like your going to drive it anyway.
As long as you have the time, cash, and insurance, have fun.
I agree on the trailering recommendations.
You could still trailer it and have a wonderful drive back.

I've done that with all mine. And the last two were capable of doing the drive without a trailer.

 

[ODFever]

Welcome to Steel Soldiers!!!

I bought my M1009 sight unseen. I decided to drive it 600 miles home. Looking back, I wish I would've eaten the extra cash to trailer it home. The alternator belt blew out in the middle of nowhere in Western NC on a night with absolutely no moonlight. I limped the truck 30 miles to an auto parts store 15 minutes before they closed for the night. Thankfully, they had the belt I needed, loaned me the tools I needed, and stayed open well past closing so I could get my truck back on the road. I would've avoided that situation if I rented a truck and trailer and hauled it home. I'd hate for you to experience that or worse on a drive from Houston to Eastern NC. My advice, for whatever it's worth, is to rent, borrow, or convince a friend with a 3500 series truck to help you recover your truck. Rent a UHAUL trailer and bring it home safely. If you don't want to go that route, look into shipping companies that can transport it for you.

Regardless of how you get it home, you will absolutely LOVE your M1009. I've owned mine for 10 years. I love it!

 

[joeyaguirre21]

Consider all options you can. I just bought my CUCV couple months back in the same city but decided to get it towed just to be on safe side. Just be safe and keep us updated

 

[Hal O'Peridol]

I bought mine in 2009 from a seller down near San Francisco. Answered all my questions, sent detailed photos, had three to choose from at 2500 dollars. I flew down on a cheap commuter flight from Seattle to San Francisco, 49 bucks one way, return flights later that day were same price.

Seller picked me up at airport, drove to his house in Petaluma, on the way he stopped and got me coffee. I picked my choice of three, got the required paperwork and took off. I had a credit card, and a AAA premium account.

523 miles into the trip I blew a tire. Could not get the lugs off. Called AAA and they sent a truck out. He had to use an impact wrench to get the lugs off. Back on the road to Blaine without further mishap.

That is an ideal recovery 913 miles with just a flat.

Your truck sounds problematic. Many "mods" done by someone with unknown skills. You say you don't want to break up the trip into several days trailering the truck, the flip side is driving the truck and getting stranded several days. If you don't want to trailer the truck, have a buddy drive out there with you, and follow you back home. If worse comes to worse, you can park the truck somewhere and still have a way to get back home.

 

[KLRBILLY]

Despite everyone's sound advice on towing the M1009 home I made the drive. I attacked the trip as a challenge and expected to have issues arise. I picked it up from the PO on a Wednesday night. I drove 14 miles to an Autozone and topped off all of the fluids. Of note was the steering fluid being incredibly low. After topping the fluids off I ventured from the greater Houston area via back roads to Fort Polk Louisiana and rolled into the Auto Service Center so I would have access to a lift and whatever special tools I might need.
As it turned out the low steering fluid was caused by a leaking hydroboost. It was leaking from the seal in the back onto the drivers side floor board. I picked up a new one from O'Reilly's and installed it. It was a bit of a PITA but doable. I replaced the rear pinion seal and the rear output seal on the transfer case. Replaced all four shocks (the old ones were completely spent).
I kept having a charging issue when I had the headlights on at night so I pulled the alternator and had it tested. It tested fine so I charged up the batteries prior to continuing the journey. While at fort Polk I also pulled out the dash and replaced all of the dash lights. Once I had the dash working I pressed on towards NC.
The ran great until I got midway across Alabama and the temperature gauge spiked. I panicked pulled over to the shoulder and killed the engine fearing the worse. I fully expected to see radiator fluid coming out the top.
I found nothing of the sort and was now stuck because my charging issue had caught up with me again. I took the time to tighten the belts and just as I finished a good sumaritan stopped and gave me a jump. Now that it was light out again and I didn't need my headlights the batteries were able to charge back enough for restarts at gas stations.
I headed to an autozone a few hours away in search of a new alternator.
They didn't have one on the shelf but a huge autozone in Atlanta had one on the shelf so I headed there since it was on the way. I put in a new alternator in Atlanta after getting the wrong one initially. The charging was better but not much. I grabbed some dinner and went through all the wires. The one connected to the starter was loose and once tightened seemed to charge a little better. Now it was dark again and I had to run the headlights again. My batteries were again running down so I stopped at a Super Walmart and picked up two new 840CCA batteries and as many new battery cables I could find (2).
From that point on I had no more charging issues regardless of the lights being on or off.
He journey was long and if I had to do it over again I would. Since my return I have begun replacing all of the 1 and 2 gauge battery alternator wires. After I replaced the 2 gauge alternator wire my voltmeter now reads around 14.4 volts as it should. If I had only replaced that wire in LA who knows how much easier the trip would have been.
I averaged between 16 and 18MPG going off my GPS that was also my speedometer.
I have changed the fuel filters and the o rings that hold the metering solinoid in the top of the injector pump. I replaced 3 other rubber bits of fuel line yesterday and confirmed my fear that the fuel pump is leaking. I have a new one from Napa and will be replacing that this weekend. I will also be flushing the radiator and replacing the temperature sensor. Knock on wood there are no leaks in the cooling system and it seemed to stay at 190 the whole trip even though I didn't have a gauge for half of it.
I noticed the roof skin has a poor patch job and is in need of a new skin. I found a good donor at a junk yard and will be getting it for $150. It's one of the only panels not available in the after market. From the looks of it I will be able to cut spot welds out of 90% of the patch and weld them back. I'll have to start posting in the what have you done to your CUCV thread with all future updates. Thanks for the advice even though I didn't take it. If anyone has any tips for replacing the fuel pump I'm all ears!


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[Ordak]

Glad to hear you made it back to NC. I just replaced all 4 shocks as well, the rears were a PITA. How long did it take you from the time you start to finish?

 

[NovacaineFix]

Good Job, glad you made it.

Now you have a new perspective on this vehicle as you have already been indoctrinated in the repair process.

 

[KLRBILLY]

It got to Texas late on a Wednesday. I got to Fort Polk the following morning and spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday till around lunchtime working on the hydroboost, shocks, dash (PITA).
I drove from LA to NC leaving Saturday afternoon and arriving Monday morning. So it took me less than a week. I would have taken my time a lot more but I had to get back to work.


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[beltfedonly]

Where are you located in NC?
Beltfed

 

[KLRBILLY]

Camp Lejeune.


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