Strange happenings, truck wont start, need a starting point.

[Johnny Bravo]

Hi all,

Needed my truck today, it's been sitting for at least a month. Started up just like any other day and everything was working as should. Pulled the truck I had stuck out and put the CUCV back in the garage. About 20min. later got the other truck stuck again and went to go fire up the CUCV.

When I went to start it I noticed that the Gen 2 light was not lighting up, the glow plug wait light was not lighting up, the voltmeter was reading nothing, only thing that lit up was the Gen 1 and oil light.

Checked the batteries and they seem fine both holding over 12v. The truck will still crank over like it's nothing, but the glow plugs wont go on so it wont start. Last year the Gen 1 light came on, replaced the alt. and haven't had a problem til now.

I"m 100% clueless and have no idea where to begin. So what do you all think the first step should be in trying to figure out whats gone wrong ?

On the plus side I did check the horn and it still makes noise

 

[jeepin]

Well JB you will surely get some grief about reading the manuals before posting questions so I will get that out the way first... There are manuals on this site and others so get those for your truck for sure.
When you check the manuals check the section about the glow plug controller, that is the under the dash and cycles the glow plugs and wait light. Not sure about the voltmeter but maybe start with the glow plug circuit. Using the troubleshooting section you can figure out if the controller card is working correctly or not. There are threads on this site about bypassing the controller as well either permanently or temporary also.
Use the site search feature and technical manuals feature. Folks on this site are very knowledgeable but are much more helpful if you ask questions after you get the basic troubleshooting out of the way.
Good luck!

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Don't let the post count fool you, been on here for some time, but my post count got reset I guess. I've been searching on here all night, but haven't found anything that really fits. I did try checking the alt. wire but I'm not too good with the electric side of things so don't even know if I did it right. Ill be checking out the TMs after I get some sleep.

Was just looking for some direction on what you all thought would be most likely. Not sure where I need to start first, the volt meter not reading, the Gen 2 light not coming on, or the glow plug light not coming on ?

 

[swbradley1]

Jeepin gave you the first step. The manuals. Go to the CUCV forum here and look at the stickies. Your answer is almost assuredly in there.

 

[Warthog]

Have you checked the 24v fuse? Very bottom of the fuse box.

 

[Barrman]

Read the manuals, but that bottom fuse is what controls the 24V side of things and will probably be your best starting point. I had one in there that was broken, not blown inside the plastic leg. Drove me nuts trying to find what was causing power loss at odd times.

 

[scottladdy]

Aside from piggy backing on the 24 volt fuse, sounds like you are going to have some fun with your favorite multimeter if that doesn't fix it.

Keep us posted on what you find ...

 

[Johnny Bravo]

Think I made some progress today. Dug into the fuse box and the 20 amp accessory fuse was blown. Changed it out and everything lit up as should, but put my stuff away & went back to start it and the fuse was blown again. Changed it out again and got the truck started, checked it a couple more time to make sure it didn't blow again and all seems fine as of now.

I don't know what all runs on the accessory fuse, but clearly the Gen 2 light, wait light, and voltmeter run off that fuse. Everything in the truck was turned off other than the 4x4 light was on. Looks like ill be spending some quality time looking at the TMs trying to figure out what blew the fuse in the first place.

 

[scottladdy]

Sounds like you have a short somewhere downstream of that fuse. Intermittent. Unfortunately they tend to be toughest to find. Follow the circuits.