"Rescued" M816 Wrecker

[Jeepsinker]

Take the shoes and linings to a truck brake and clutch shop. They can set the rivets there. Or you can buy a riveting machine like I did.

 

[Valence]

Short of building an extension on my garage or some form of car port covering, I used the bed rail stake slots to build a frame to cover the rear of the truck.

In the future I would rather go the route that I've seen in a few of all ya'lls wrecker covers of using the same bows and corners that my deuce uses. But with limited funds, skills, and time before the snow hits (we've had an a usually warm December in Utah so far, highs in the 50's, lows around freezing) and the rain has abated so the truck has mostly all dried out, I went for the basic 2x4 frame covered by a 20'x30' 8oz Polly tarp.

I was hoping for a quicker setup/take down solution for future use, but I'm okay with this as-is, for now (the future curved bows and corners will likely provide the quickness/ease I desire). It's all screwed together with metal adjoining brackets since the truck will be stationary for an indeterminate amount of time.

I bought five 12' 2x4s and cut them in half for the vertical sides. (Made for a very comfortable working height inside the tarp cover). It was a bit tedious to cut and trim the end to fit into the bed slots though.



I took the belt sander to the top outer corner to provide some stress relief for the tarp when it folds over the edge, but the front/rear corners will probably be a primary failure point though.



Assembly in the dark

 

[Valence]

I ran a couple of boards down the center just like I did on the M105 cover to help prevent water pooling. Obviously I would have preferred a single center board over two, but the two 8' were easier to transport in my little truck.



The 20'x30' tarp was the perfect length to cover the cab to, and including, the protruding boom out the rear. I was concerned about the edges creating rapid wear points on the tarp and thought through many possible solutions. However, the lowest and cheapest tech option seemed to work great: card board! That's the very box the tarp was shipped in. 10/10 for reuse



I can actually still get in the driver's door very easily, or climb into the back from the driver's door, just undo a couple of bungee cords.

And of course, not to forget the exhaust stack! Mountain High Yogurt fit like a glove.

Does this make me a Red Neck now?

 

[Rmtaunton]

No the yogurt won't get you redneck status , now if some sort of canned meat then yes

 

[Alexsha]

Nice work. That should keep it well protected.

 

[Valence]

I forgot to mention that I spent over an hour cleaning out the bed rail side pockets. They were filled with debris, mud, old wasp nests, bolts and etc.

Even, what I believe, were a pair of plastic military elbow flash light lenses, clear and blue. They've probably been in there since some hapless soldier accidentally knocked them in.

I didn't want to deal with water at about freezing temperatures outside, so I used prayer, lots of compressed air, a metal rod to reach in and break up debris, and a pair of telescoping magnets. The bolt was especially difficult and packed in mud.

 

[wcuhillbilly]

Good luck with your 816 I roaded mine back from western CO to North eastern WY back in Oct. handiest tool in my inventory yet. Pulled and loaded a few engines and installed a 6' diameter Well service pit to name a few jobs. Remember check the parking brake shoes on the T case drum. don't pitch them as they are not made anymore, just have the local truck shop re line then for approx. $100 vursus the NOS (new old stock) at the vendors for $185.

 

[Valence]

Good luck with your 816 I roaded mine back from western CO to North eastern WY back in Oct. handiest tool in my inventory yet. Pulled and loaded a few engines and installed a 6' diameter Well service pit to name a few jobs. Remember check the parking brake shoes on the T case drum. don't pitch them as they are not made anymore, just have the local truck shop re line then for approx. $100 vursus the NOS (new old stock) at the vendors for $185.

THANKS for the much needed advice there!

The parking break does need work.

 

[Valence]

Now that I've owned the truck for over 6 months it saw it's first real work at attempting to revive it this weekend. Previously Red and Ji had taken a gander at the truck and helped point out a few cracked fuel lines. They were right along with gimpyrobb who said "A guy I work for once in a while won't even try to start a 250 till he replaces the fuel line from the wheel well filter to the IP."

That line was full of cracks.

After removing that line (I do have to pause here and say I found those inner-fender engine access panels pretty cool!) I just kept moving backwards, and inspected the fuel filter (The previous owner had used a torch to unfreeze, according to him, the water bound filter). Inside the fuel filter housing was a lot of dirt and debris, and even some corrosion. I've got a filter on order and the housing seemed to clean up nicely. The drain valve doesn't seem to work the best, some fluid will drip out but I'll probably need to work on cleaning it out more - but at least it opened and closed.

I noticed that the hardline connecting to the input (back) side of the fuel filter had movement and appeared to also leak. Removing it lead me to be staring behind the driver's side tool box at the fuel tank selector contraption. I recalled many other threads pointing to the tank selector as a common problem for air getting into the system and I thought if one rubber hose was dry rotted, surely more of those 6 under the cab need to be replaced. As in all of them. That tank selector sure is in an inconvenient place. Removing the driver's side toolbox was the easiest way for me to access the tank selector.

At this point red showed up to lend me a hand and he's the man for laying in the filthy cab. He pulled the primer pump from the dash as I finished removing the entire tank selector.

In all, we took the following to Evco, House of Hose in Ogden, UT for them to fabricate replacements:

1. Injection pump fuel input line from the fuel filter
2. Fuel return line
3. Flexible airline on the engine near the above 2 (attached to a line that went to the lower air tank).
4. Hard line from the fuel filter input
5. All 6 flexible lines on the tank selector valve
6. Air tank drain hard line (cracked)
7. Poly vent line from on top of the driver's fuel tank

Then a short visit to the local Ace Hardware to replace the 2 small o-rings on the dash hand primer, and the 2 o-rings in the tank selector.

Looking forward to maybe trying to start the truck next weekend

 

[Valence]

Judging by how much sandy red dirt was INSIDE the selector valve and fuel filter, I'm thinking the fuel tanks will be FULL of settled dirt from it's previous location. They probably should be cleaned... =/

 

[silverstate55]

WOW you're off to a good start! Keep at it, it will be running & operating before you know it, and you'll be grateful for it!!

When I cleaned out a couple of Deuce fuel tanks not too long ago, I was told by some old-time radiator repairmen to clean it out by hand as best you can, then put some Muriatic acid in the tank (available from hardware stores & pool supply outlets) and let it sit for 15-20 minutes per side that it's covering...then rotate it to the next side to sit. Afterwards CAREFULLY drain (and dispose of properly), and flush with clean water with all drain plugs/fitting removed to completely clean it.

As this will undoubtedly remove any remaining protective coatings inside the tank, you can pickup fuel tank lining (pour-in liquid) from NAPA or Carquest to protect from rusting out the bottom, and after that cures, re-install tank. Worked great so far for the ones I've done (4 tanks on 3 trucks), and seems to hold up to biodiesel as well. Be sure to clean out any fuel pickups that drop into the tank as well...

Good luck!

 

[area52]

pump

Hey I don't get on here much anymore but my 816 had hydraulic pump problems also. You can pull the pump (from under the boom) without lifting the boom or even disconnection the hoses ( unless they are bad)

On mine the coupling had gone bad. Found a nice person on here with a parts wrecker and got it replaced without too much hassle.

 

[Valence]

On the 4th of July (in the heat! and fighting yellow jackets who decided to build a colony on the front winch) red helped me finish installing the remaining flexible fuel lines and new fuel filter. Had to take a watermelon break and consult the TM (I think it was the -20 unit maintenance) to find the petcock drain valve for the in-cab hand primer pump. Also, just following the lines from the hand pump out of the fire wall will find it.

We got it to run for about 5-10 seconds using brake cleaner to start it (ran with a bad knock). But would not restart on its own, as pictured in this pointless video, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezb2kkh6VWE

The hand pump with 2 new O-rings works beautifully now, but the pressure quickly bleeds away. From the sound of it, it sounds like the hiss of pressure loss is coming from inside the engine around piston #4 or 5. red says probably an injector issue (I'm way outside of my knowledge range here).

 

[wcuhillbilly]

On the 4th of July (in the heat! and fighting yellow jackets who decided to build a colony on the front winch) red helped me finish installing the remaining flexible fuel lines and new fuel filter. Had to take a watermelon break and consult the TM (I think it was the -20 unit maintenance) to find the petcock drain valve for the in-cab hand primer pump. Also, just following the lines from the hand pump out of the fire wall will find it.

We got it to run for about 5-10 seconds using brake cleaner to start it (ran with a bad knock). But would not restart on its own, as pictured in this pointless video, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezb2kkh6VWE

The hand pump with 2 new O-rings works beautifully now, but the pressure quickly bleeds away. From the sound of it, it sounds like the hiss of pressure loss is coming from inside the engine around piston #4 or 5. red says probably an injector issue (I'm way outside of my knowledge range here).

The hand primer pump does nothing more than piss a stream of diesel into the intake while your cranking, To many pumps and continuous use for a long time and you will wash the intake manifold and the valve galley with raw fuel... I eleminated mine when I turbo'd it and used the Civy aftercooler manifold.
If your trying to start it, pull the boot to the big air cleaner can and use WD-40, WD will not dry out the cylinders like Ether or brake clean. These older engines are rather tolorant of ether.
Sounds like you have a fuel delivery problem as in an air bubble in the supply from the tank to the PT (injection pump). Most folks think the hand primer is priming the inj pump, but in reality its just pissing fuel down the intake.

 

[Valence]

I have been meaning to post. Back on Friday the 14th I actually got the wrecker running for a good minute or two straight but required constant throttle attention to stay running. The engine would respond to the floor pedal, though it seemed sluggish (may be just the size of the engine?). I was fiddling with the throttle position cable trying to get it to stay idling on its own but apparently that doesn't work right either. In that process the engine died. The engine would crank but wouldn't start. I used a little bit of the hand prime lever and immediately the engine crank sounded totally different. If I had to guess the engine is not turning over.

I have let the truck sit and my most recent attempt was Sunday, 23rd, morning. It still sounded the same. When the engine was running back on the 14th I don't recall very well but I was looking at the gauges and I want to say I think I remember oil pressure. Still, it seems like fuel issues (fuel on top of the cylinder?) or something wrong with the starter? I am just guessing.

Here's a short video of what it sounds like now:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onfBH85FGOE

Scroll up a couple posts for a reference, as to what it sounded like trying to start when red was helping me back in July.

 

[Csm Davis]

Believe your batteries are weak

 

[red]

2 ways to turn the motor by hand.
1. Transmission in neutral, place a socket and breaker bar on the harmonic balancer bolt and try to turn it with the breaker bar.

2. Transmission in 4th, tcase neutral. Turn the stub shaft.

This will only confirm if the motor is locked up or not. I remember seeing oil pressure when I had it running for about 15 seconds.

 

[Csm Davis]

Believe your batteries are weak

If the batteries are hot and the motor is locked the starter will hit one time and humm

 

[therooster2001]

If the batteries are hot and the motor is locked the starter will hit one time and humm

It does, but also saw an M934 have the same symptom as that and turned out to be a bad ground. We thought it was seized at first. And the starter would only engage by crossing the terminals. The video does sound like low batteries...

 

[red]

There's only 2 batts instead of 4 right now as well.

Time to charge the batts Zane!! Hopefully it's this simple.