Shaking Down an Old Deuce and New Deuce Owner

[SteveKuhn]

These last 2 replies clarified & helped a lot. They're also consistent with the new deuce owner threads I've been reading on things to check. Thanks.

 

[Karl kostman]

Congrats on the truck Steve and your video is made of the music that keeps ME in the game! Those little issues (boots) can crop up and they will but just deal with them as they do and fix them right the first time and they will generally be gone for as long as you own the truck, My Deuce has tought me many lessons but probably the most important lesson its still teaching me is Patience! You have a great looking truck and you will be rewarded in MANY ways just by owning it Steve! Welcome to the GREEN CLUB from ND
KK

 

[SteveKuhn]

Good News, Bad News, Good News, Bad News . . .

Good News: Last Friday evening, I looked at the blown boot and noticed all the lube splatter had dried out and there was no dripping anyplace. Figured I'd test the theory that the seals had gone and the boot blew from diff oil degenerating the rubber. Couple of tentative blocks, no oil, no drips, nothing hot so throughout the weekend I drove it about 6 - 7 hours and determined no leaking seals.

Bad News: Sunday night just before parking, I noticed some coolant leaking - not bad but a drip from the lower hose area.

Good news: Mebbe a bad hose. Found all the part numbers for NAPA.

More Good News: Got it to Abe and Alex Monday a.m. and the slot was open. By nightfall, the driver's side was off just like the Step-X-Step. That seemingly good zipperless was just deteriorated to the point of being next. Figured we'd go all the way in on a clean side to check things out before getting into something potentially messy.

Well, Heavysteven had a great 1st guess - if only we'd known it would have been boots only. Everything is in marvelous shape - clean grease, tight seals, good brakes & drums.

Even more Good News: I didn't try to do it myself. I'd most certainly have 7 herniated disks getting this far instead of the 5 I had when I bought the truck.

Bad News: Rain held up the outside work for the times we could get on the truck on Tuesday and Wednesday. Marine Goop still didn't shown up in the mail.

Good News: Last night we went after the source of the leak before starting the other wheel. Clamps are pretty loose so we'll tighten them up and hopefully stop the leak.

Bad News: Nope, that's not it. Leak starts up and we trace it back to the water pump.

Good News: Guy who sold me the truck had a brand new one in spares so I got it at a good savings. Picking it up today.

Bad News: I went through the TM for instructions on changing the water pump. Start by taking off the radiator and fan. Not a 1-2-3 pump swap.

Good News: I had already found the thread, 'While the radiator is off." Now I'm going through it to see if there's something we should do before we get a chance to do it all again.

More Bad News? No thanks. Check with me in a couple of days when I'm done having fun with what I've got so far.

 

[SteveKuhn]

I figured someone would post:

so I made another attempt at uploading them.

 

[x-ray]

Welcome to the club

Much as I like the color, I'm not sure I'll be able to stand the way the semi gloss shows surface imperfections. I'm fixing rust and Rust Morting, removing runs and filling scratches, but I'm not going to do a like-new body job. .

I agree - the semi-gloss really shows the imperfections - and had I knew how many dings there are in a M109 box, I would have stuck to flat on my project. The flat is forgiving, and looks better finished - hiding dings and dents better.

The Gillespie flat marine forest green is a good alternative to the semi gloss 24087 in my opinion.

I like the 24087 OD color on mine, but the gloss shows all the dents.

 

[SteveKuhn]

Thanks for this post. I appreciate a candid post from a semi-g owner. The paint thing is still very up in the air while I get through the mechanical shake down/fix up now underway.

I'm still waiting for some test cans from Rapco (finishing my collection of at least 1 of every base color starting from WWII through current.) If there's any value here and the FlipHD can do what I think it will, I'll try to put together a post with pictures of the results. I tried a couple a few days ago on the tailgate test area but it was a beautiful evening and the darned semi-g was reflecting so much you couldn't see anything but blue sky, clouds, or my face depending on the angle.

Meanwhile, on-the-road spare parts inventory is building up & progress is being made on the repairs. Some finished, some waiting for parts. Roadworthy by Friday is the goal.

Sure sticks out in the 'waiting' line of cars at the Exxon. Musta met at least 8 new people because of this truck.

 

[attackone]

Welcome to SS and the fun of owning a big green truck. I just saw this thread wish I saw it sooner my shop is in Clifton and I have a lot of room and tools. Give me a shout you can use my parking lot and shop. Lots of luck Joe

 

[SteveKuhn]

Thanks. Email sent.

BTW. Your truck is really nice. It'll be a while for mine to get there.

 

[SteveKuhn]

Resuming Shake Down - Transmission Terms & TM Pointers, please

Friday the work was finished: Boots, front seals & bearings packed. Water pump replaced along with all hoses and belts and the radiator sent out for cleaning, pressure test and repair. No leaks when running but it was very muddy when drained. It popped leaks in the pressure test so they were repaired. We think someone back a ways used StopLeak. Radiator shop even went out and bought OD spray paint to send it back.

So . . . yesterday we loaded up and took her out for about 8 hours/90 miles, up to Sussex (10 mi from the 'Augusta' show) and back. 40 - 45 mph/1800 - 2000 rpm max on the Interstates, lots of local traffic and 2 lane roads. Ran very well.

Lots of interesting stuff happened just because of the truck, but I won't bore everyone with that unless asked (I do have pictures now and more coming.)

Howevah, . . . there was a problem.

The formerly leak-free truck started to leak in the last 45 mins or so. 'Lil wet spots started to appear under the transmission (see photo.) Stopped when it shut down (just like the thread below explains.)

So this a.m. I got on the site and found this thread on leaking transmissions Went out, took a bunch of Flips, then cleaned everything up real good and checked that the trans oil was full (it was.) Then I took it for a ride to find the source. Caught it right as it started to happen. The result is the attached ('before') photo w/ annotations of the 'after' discoveries.

But now:


I can't seem to find the right TM nor can I figure out what the parts in question are called. Went thru the transmission PDFs but these are obviously not part of the trans itself. Read half the '...Unit Maintenance...' PDF before I realized it was for an A3.

I plan to:
1. Check the vent operation (if indeed there is one)

2. Replace that loooonnnggg hose. (What is it called? It follows the frame up over the flywheel and terminates under the cab's trans cover someplace.) It's old and when you handle the area by the drip, you can feel the sheathing move around the core. The drip appears to originate right at the pointer. Nothing flows toward it from the fitting or up yonder along the rest of the hose. From that drip, it goes to the front of the transmission housing, follows the contour, and blows all over the place and drips from the bottom.

3. Tighten up that metal thing-a-ma-jig that threads into the transmission. I think it has worked itself a bit loose. (What IS it called?)

But none of the above until I read all the TM stuff and then search the site for the right terms. I'm hoping for mercy in the form of the right part names and TM(s) to start. I went thru the transmission PDFs but couldn't find them. I don't mind RTFM, but which one(s)?

Here's the photo w/ the questions.

Thanks.

 

[G-Force]

Thats the speedometer drive and the "hose" is the cable. And I believe its on your transfer case and not your trans.

 

[G-Force]

Try this link Steve

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/40932-transfer-case-leak-help.html

This one by gringletruab has dimensions of the seal that is inside

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/ss-mai...e-have-new-tm-section-up-soon.html#post854621

Another Gringle link.....The man is the "Deuce GOD"!!!!

http://www.steelsoldiers.com/deuce/29471-speedo-cable-leaking.html#post354570

 

[SteveKuhn]

AWRighty then! I can unequivocally state that my transfer case is NOT low on oil.

Thanks.

IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...

 

[USAFSS-ColdWarrior]

AWRighty then! I can unequivocally state that my transfer case is NOT low on oil.

Thanks.

IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...IYamNotAnIdiot...

​

​

 

[SteveKuhn]

So mebbe this is a good time for some of those photos . . .

For the past couple of weeks, a good ways back off Rte 23 on a local street, we've been seeing what appeared to be a Deuce, partially tarped, sitting beside some sort of commercial-style building. On the way home last night, we decided to get off, explore, and try to get a closer look at it.

Well, after negotiating a spaghetti ramp and overpass combination like only NJ can design and a helpful person to follow, we were on the right street.

The building turned out to be an American Legion with a co-located EMT station. Seems an afternoon picnic was winding down and as we came around the corner to the parking lot, the truck got a round of applause and hoots as only a bunch of afternoon picnic-ers at 7:15 p.m. can give.

One woman came running out of the building toward us, asked, then climbed up into the cab. She went on to tell us stories of being stationed in Germany in the early 80s where she drove a truck '...just like this one...' on the Autobahn. She knew the truck, too. (In retrospect, perhaps it would have been a good idea to get her input on the source of the leak, above.)

Anyway, here's the truck. They said it was brought down from upstate NY on its own power. I can hardly wait to see it renovated. I wasn't able to get a clear answer on what the plans are, but I suspect it might have something to do with the EMTs. That area is prone to big time flooding.

As we were about to leave, the lady grabbed me and gave me a bear hug. She thanked us for pulling in and letting her get in and gun it a bit for the sound. She said it absolutely made her day to hear the sound again.

No, ma'am. Thank you. . .

 

[Karl kostman]

When I replaced my speedo cable on my Deuce I thought I had it tight enough BUT I was wrong and it was leaking kind of BAD at the conncection your indicating here, its a tough spot to get at to tighten appropriately after discovering my leak witht he new speedo cable I ended up putting some pipe sealer on the threads and taking another 10 minutes to install correctly and the leak was gone, that was 2 years ago and have never had a problems since! Good luck and take your time!
KK

 

[SteveKuhn]

Thanks for the tip. I'll certainly check the fit 1st thing. I'm looking around for a new seal and would like to have a replacement before pulling it apart to check the existing one. Good to know I can add another type of sealing for insurance.

I really should have snapped an 'after' picture post-cleanup, with the leak just starting again. I really did see the very start of fresh oil in only those 2 spots I pointed out, then only after warm up.

It wasn't leaking for the past 6 - 8 weeks. 'Course as long as it sat, it's not hard to imagine any number of things working loose now that it's being driven again.

 

[SteveKuhn]

...I ended up putting some pipe sealer on the threads and taking another 10 minutes to install correctly and the leak was gone...KK

Karl: I've been going back over oil leaking at the speedometer cable in a couple of different threads posted above and suspect the source of my problem is described here in the form of the mentioned leaking seal.

I suspect that because the leak started as I've gotten it out and running after sitting for an extended period. I haven't taken any of the assembly apart as you did in replacing the cable, and I also have slight dripping right up at the junction of the adapter and transfer case. Looks to me like the seal would permit leaking in both locations.

When you did your fix, did you seal the cable connection to the adapter or did you apply it elsewhere? In the larger thread, they point out that with a failed seal the oil pushes the grease in the cable shroud back over time.

I'm hesitant to stop the leak beyond the seal, only to trap oil in the cable.

I also dropped a note to the seal supplier mentioned in the thread to see if they make a seal that will work, and if so how to get them.

 

[Karl kostman]

Steve what I did is when I got the new cable I pulled cable out of it and greased up the internal drive assembly really good, then I unscrewed the attachment out of the transfer case and put thread sealer on that before re-installing then I also put thread sealer on the speedo drive where it screws onto the transfer case, make usre you get it properly tightened at this point Steve, after all this I have no leaks and my speedo now works! Hope this helps!
KK

 

[SteveKuhn]

An ad lib In Pursuit of the Elusive Speedometer/Transfer Case Seal

In the post I linked above, gringeltaub wrote: "...There is a small oil seal (9/16"OD x5/16"shaft diam.x 1/4" height) inserted in the outer end of the threaded sleeve, where the speedo adapter mounts to the TC... not so good that it probably is a hard to find item over there...?"

He's right - those aren't easy to find, but I found a vendor who will supply ones that are 9/16" OD x 5/16" ID x 1/8" height.

I plan to put 2 side-by-side to make up the 1/4". They should be here in a couple of days. If it works, great! If it doesn't there's always pipe sealer.

Come to think of it, either way I've got the problem of figuring out what I'm gonna do with the other 10 seals in my minimum order of 12.

How often do these things need replaced? Ok, guess I have enough spares . . .

 

[SteveKuhn]

Waiting for Seals, Moving on to Paint & Bumper Numbers

Well, I'm waiting for the insurance adjuster to show up to fix my wall, so I'm doing lower cost stuff for a bit. Seals are still somewhere in transit or washed down the Passaic River. I'll give those a few more days 'fore I call.

Paint: I've gotten every Gillespie spray color and tried it on one thing or another, including a massive metal chock I was given that is now Early WWII OD and a pair of pinch block tandem chocks that are Late WWII OD.

Great paint and cans, but I can't get the color of the original truck that I was hoping for (which is visible - see comparison photos.) The ones that have been done with it here look great but the semi-gloss finishes just emphsize more body flaws than I care to try to work out. Most of all, it's not a match. I realize that things age in shades and finish in 42 years, but the comparison photos, while perhaps not color accurate on your screen, show that there's a big difference that aging just doesn't account for.

So I decided to try to get the color and sheen of the original truck, just 42 years or so later. Off to my Ben Moore guy, and 3 gals of different acrylic house, patio, and alkyd industrial are being matched to original chips from the truck. The winner will be chosen on sheen and durability. Application by roller or spray is still up in the air but spraying is starting to look like the answer. Now I just gotta learn how.

Or I'll throw up my hands and make it Lusterless Forest Green and spray can the whole darned thing.

Bumper Numbers: Following the advice from here, I've started to slowly work down through the paint layers and BEHOLD! There are hieroglyphic ruins from the NYARNG 133rd. Now if I can just get them exposed and traced out, those will probably be the ones I use. Then on to the engine covers and doors to see if I can salvage those. Much work with 0000 steel wool, Magic Marker tracing seems to be in my future. For insurance, I've contacted the NYS Military Museum to see if that have old photos that will apply.

Comments, guesses, advice always welcome.