Probably another start trouble thread

[c19dale]

Hey guys,
I just took delivery of my 2000 M1123 today. It needs quite a bit of work, but in the description of the auction, it had a video of it starting right up and running. I cannot get it to start today. I am new to Diesels, I run and work on my Ford Raptor so the HMMWV is new to me. Here is what happened. The truck driver rolled it off the trailer in front of my house. I tried to use my golf cart to jump start it because it didnt have batteries. I made sure i disconnected 2 batteries on my cart so i had 24 volts and the glow plug light came on for a few seconds and went off. I tried to start it and the starter jumped, the cables connected to the terminals in the HMMWV sparked and it didn't turn over. I realize this may have been a mistake to try this but i needed to get it out of the street asap. I tried a couple times with no success. I got it in the garage pushing it with the cart, picked up 2 batteries this afternoon, connected them, and now it turns over real strong but wont start and im getting white smoke out of the exhaust while it turns over. It tried to fire once but never started up. Its in the 40's here today, and it came from California so maybe the temp allowed it to start easy there and not here? I have read several threads on starting issues but i thought someone might have some specific insight on my current situation. Thanks!!!!

 

[Coug]

https://gear-report.com/help-hmmwv-wont-start-humvee-glow-plug-start-system-maintenance/ is a good place to start.

 

[c19dale]

thanks. I stumbled on that thread as well. I read down the list and am going to go through some of the steps. Was just hoping someone might have a specific suggestion for my circumstances. Really appreciate the info. - Chris

https://gear-report.com/help-hmmwv-wont-start-humvee-glow-plug-start-system-maintenance/ is a good place to start.

 

[FKAM]

Depending on how long it has been sitting the fuel may have gone bad. Diesel tends to absorb water from the air much faster than regular gasoline. Did you try putting in new diesel fuel?

 

[c19dale]

it’s registering 1/4 tank so I’ll get some fresh diesel this weekend

Depending on how long it has been sitting the fuel may have gone bad. Diesel tends to absorb water from the air much faster than regular gasoline. Did you try putting in new diesel fuel?

 

[Milcommoguy]

I could (we) guess all day long and stumble on to a quick fix. Not saying it wouldn't be helpful, but certainly exciting to hear " Hey Guys !! checked and now running"

My free advice. White smoke good sign ? of fuel showing up in the cylinders. These rigs need "glow action" for first time "cold starts"

Disconnect batteries. Control boxes can be a bit " finicky to voltage transits" Give it some time disconnected. Check batteries for 12.3++ Volts each

Check glow plugs, one at a time with Ohm meter (1.5 to 3). It's NOW HUMV owner time. Good Ohms move on. Bad, replace.

Eyeball all connections under the hood & under the dash. ( just wondering out loud as to ?? cut wires loose connections normal or man made ?)

Read up in the TM's. Your most important tool and brain power. It's all spelled out in simple to understand text with pictures, flow charts.

Put it all back together ( connect batteries ) Fingers crossed & legs crossed in the driver's seat rotate RUN - START switch to RUN and note "WAIT LIGHT" if it stays on for 4 to 9 seconds try to start AFTER it goes out. 15 sec. try. Turn it OFF & WAIT 5 minutes. Repeat and WAIT 5.... a couple of times say 4 -5.

GOOD LUCK

If no START... Shut down and hit the TM's and ask more question. Might hold up (IMO) on to many start attempts ( Ya I know it's new ) as control box issues could spell for addition troubles and $$$ until more data is obtained.

And this is just a shot in the dark. Many more thing to test & check for a bumper to bumper pre-start check out.

This is the advice I gave my boy when he first tried to fire up his diesel truck " Do you feel lucky today" CAMO

 

[Coug]

thanks. I stumbled on that thread as well. I read down the list and am going to go through some of the steps. Was just hoping someone might have a specific suggestion for my circumstances. Really appreciate the info. - Chris

White smoke indicates that some fuel is getting to the cylinders. The fact that it started an ran in California where it's likely quite a bit warmer than where you are at only indicates that they got it started. You never know if they used starting fluid (which is bad for these) to start it or anything else.
Most likely smoke but no running when cold is related to the glow plug system, which then requires you to go through and check everything out.
Milcommoguy gives a good list of things to check, the only thing I disagree with is the battery voltage. A fully charged battery should be at least 12.6VDC, when it gets down to 12.2-12.3 it's considered nearly dead, and should be recharged. It might start on that low of voltage, but it's hard on the batteries, and hard on the starter as the lower the voltage, the higher the amperage required to turn the starter.

Also, definitely use a multimeter of decent to good quality should be used. The gauges in the dash give you a general idea of what's going on, but are notoriously inaccurate, so verifying what the gauges say vs what a multimeter says gives you a good idea of what the gauges actually mean, as opposed to what they appear to say (clear as mud?)

You don't want to use the glow plugs repeatedly. If it doesn't start first try, do as Milcommoguy said and WAIT 5 MINUTES before doing it again, or all you will do is damage the glow plugs, maybe even cause them to swell so they don't come out when you try to replace them.


That list I linked pretty much IS the suggestion for your situation. You start at the beginning, and make sure everything is functioning how it is supposed to before jumping into the next step of the troubleshooting, or you'll end up spending thousands of dollars replacing things unnecessarily hunting down a solution that you might have caught had you started at the beginning. I don't know about you, but I know that I don't have that kind of money to waste compared to a few minutes of my time.

 

[c19dale]

Thank you all for the responses. I’ll go through the steps and test things one by one. I guess I was more concerned with possibly narrowing down my issue since I fear I damaged something while trying to start it with no batteries jumping it off my golf cart and I got sparks at the terminal/jumper cable connection. Didn’t know what exactly I may of damaged doing. That. Definitely have a lot to learn about diesels!
This is what I’m used to lol

 

[DREDnot]

This is a pretty informative video on troubleshooting the hmmwv.
Even though its NOT about a no start condition, It shows you how to test the glow plugs

 

[Coug]

Thank you all for the responses. I’ll go through the steps and test things one by one. I guess I was more concerned with possibly narrowing down my issue since I fear I damaged something while trying to start it with no batteries jumping it off my golf cart and I got sparks at the terminal/jumper cable connection. Didn’t know what exactly I may of damaged doing. That. Definitely have a lot to learn about diesels!
This is what I’m used to lol

There IS a chance you damaged something trying to use jumper cables. The cables don't have anywhere near enough load carrying capacity for this. The military uses a slave cable to jump vehicles, which has cable the same size as the starter cable and battery cables in the HMMWV in order to carry the necessary current. Worst case scenario is that you damaged the start box/glow plug controller when you did this, and you're out the $500 or so it will cost to get a replacement (or you build a bypass). But until you go through all the other checks, you don't know for sure.

 

[papakb]

When I got my 998 20 years ago it had been sitting behind a fire station in Northern California for 5 years. After doing the repairs on it and putting in new batteries I figured what the heck, I might as well try to start it and if it didn't I'd go thru the fuel system and fix whatever was wrong. I hit the start switch, the engine fired up after about 10 seconds and it ran just fine so I'm not so sure about diesel fuel "going bad". I'd heard all the stories about stuff growing in the tank but my experience was very different. This was my first experience with a diesel so maybe it was just a case of blind luck.

Note on HMMWV electrical systems: the way these trucks are made they aren't like your family sedan that's all spot welded together and is an efficient electrical conductor. Between the use of steel and aluminum and panel bonding adhesives and rivets these trucks truly suck at being good electrical conductors. When they're new and everything is shiny and tight they do a passable job but after driving through God only knows what and heating and cooling and rain and corrosion they start to degrade. This is why keeping everything clean and tight is so important. It's also the reason that the supplemental grounding harness becomes important. They are available at low cost or can be made by even an inexperienced mechanic and are worth their weight in the problems they can prevent.

The control boxes have been pathetic since day one and anything and everything you can do to keep from damaging it is worth learning about and following every time you work on these systems. Keep your battery terminals clean and tight. NEVER arc anything in the system if you can help it. ALWAYS disconnect the batteries when servicing electrical components. USE an anti-oxidant grease on electrical connections. All of this is cheap insurance that will keep that $500 for a new control box in your pocket.

 

[FKAM]

I'm mot so sure about diesel fuel "going bad".

All fuel goes bad. Just do an internet search on "how long does diesel fuel last"

 

[sallystrothers]

If I'm not mistaken, aren't golf cart batteries 6v each?

 

[Coug]

If I'm not mistaken, aren't golf cart batteries 6v each?

Yes, but wired in series to either 36V or 48V depending on model. Deep cycle batteries, not designed for the high amperage draw of cranking.