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M1031 Contact Maintenance Truck Arctic heater install

CUCV_ut

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Ogden, UT
We occasionally have pretty cold weather in Utah, not the coldest, but enough that I would want to at least use a block heater. The Contact Maintenance truck is not used often compared to our daily drivers and may not be near a power outlet so I began gathering parts for the arctic heater kit. I bought a partial kit online years ago but once I found the instructions posted here I realized it was missing tons of parts. I found a great guy locally that got his hands on many arctic CUCV kits, some of which are amazingly complete. A real complete kit would fill the back of your truck easily and has tons of boxes and large fuel lines, insulation etc. His are for the M1009 so they have a lot of the custom insulation and wood that goes with the blazer, but most of the other parts are the same between kits. If anyone has been looking for parts for their arctic kit let me know via PM what you are looking for and I will pass it along to him.

This past week I finally got the ambition to get started. I figured with winter coming I should start with the hardest parts to install. Since I'm working outside I decided on the oil and transmission pans. The kits comes with a totally new pan for each that has a box welded around the bottom of the pans to heat them using the exhaust from the coolant heater.

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The transmission pan wasn't too bad and I decided it would be a good time for a new filter and gasket anyway. I'm glad I started it when I did because the bolts on the pan were very loose, I'm surprised it wasn't leaking ATF. The oil pan was much more fun. You have to remove the transmission inspection cover, and transmission cooler lines. I used right stuff for the oil pan gasket. It's the first one I've done on a 6.2 and I'm hoping it went well. The instructions say to install the part within 5 minutes but it took me over 25 to get the pan in place and the bolts on. There is a small stainless flex pipe that goes between the oil pan and transmission pan for the heat. Since I was down there I also installed the new oil cooler lines. They are longer than the stock CUCV lines so that they can be routed up near the top of the fender so that they are not in the way of the heater mounts and exhaust pipe. These three items took me most of a day, but the next morning the truck fired up and I didn't notice any leaks.

The coolant heater ties into the coolant crossover and the heater line going into the radiator. The kit comes with a new coolant crossover / thermostat housing that has a 3rd pipe thread fitting that points straight forward. You reuse the 2 pipe thread to hose barb fittings, the thermostat, and the top radiator hose part of the housing. You'll need new crossover gaskets (2) and one for the thermostat housing. Since this is a M1031 I had to remove the Woodward actuator for the generator control. That involved two bolts that secure it to the engine lifting ring, two bolts that connect to supports going down to the intake. I had to remove one of these supports and the intake manifold bolt so that I could get to the crossover bolts. The passenger side alternator had to be loosened and the top support bracket removed to get to the crossover bolts. You might want to replace the short hose going from the water pump to the crossover while you've got it off. I'll add more pictures of the installed parts once I get some better lighting. The actuator appears to block the hose from the heater to the crossover, so I might have to deviate a little to go around it.

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I'll post more pictures as the install progresses. I'm going to focus on the coolant heater first, I'm still not sold on if the compartment heater for the cab and batteries is totally necessary for my use. I had thought about installing it in the tool box of the M1031 to warm that area, not sure if there would be much benefit to it.
 
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Tinstar

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You’ve gone this far, might as well install the whole thing.
Last time I was in the mountains of Utah, temps dropped to -18*.
To me, that definitely qualifies install of whole kit.
 

Bighorn

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I probably should have gone this route with my M1009.
7 degrees here this morning.
View attachment 706188
All winter my truck will be 3 miles from the lodge where there is no power.
I bought Optilube winter additive and a new old stock, Phillips Zero start propane powered coolant heater.
My injection pump is an arctic model, or at least, Oregon fuel injection tuned it that way.
I think they tweaked the cold start timing advance.

It gets to minus 40 up here and regularly minus 20 to a high of zero during DEC, JAN, and FEB.
How much does a complete Arctic kit for an M1009 cost anyways?
I am up here till at least 2020 on a contract so I might be interested in a kit.
Depends on how old hauling propane bottles by snowmobile and making trips to start the coolant heater gets.

Those oil fired heater kits with the transmission pan and oil pan heat.. that's the real deal.
 
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m715

Member
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western ma.
That heater will make a world of difference when that truck has been sitting in the cold .I just saw a listing on a large auction site with the blazer winter kit including the cover for the tailgate and the top. Seller has many heater kit parts like oil pan and tranny heat box that will fit other models.
 

Bighorn

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That heater will make a world of difference when that truck has been sitting in the cold .I just saw a listing on a large auction site with the blazer winter kit including the cover for the tailgate and the top. Seller has many heater kit parts like oil pan and tranny heat box that will fit other models.
I think I found your auction guy.
Ogden Utah listing for 12 acrtic kits.
One of the is complete and weight 450 lbs!
Okay, maybe I will take a hybrid approach like the op is doing.
M1009 already weighs 5,200 lbs.
 

m715

Member
237
16
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Location
western ma.
Yes that is the auction I saw. If I had deep pockets, and a truck to put the heater kit in I may have bought it. Also you may be able to buy other parts you need not just the whole kit. I just thought someone might like to know before the auction ends.
 

CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
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Location
Ogden, UT
Well I worked on the install some more today. One thing led to another and I ended up going for the full kit. Now my fender liner, batteries and trays are all out of the truck. I wanted to get the fuel lines put in for the coolant heater and realized it would be easier to reach the T down on the frame rail with the battery tray out of the way, then one thing led to another and the fender liner was removed. I got the old blower removed and cleaned up the housing.
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Here's a picture of how the fuel line ties in to the existing line.
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Here's how the fuel pump and filter mount on the drivers side.
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My next steps are to find the new blower and get it installed. I've had the parts for some of this for almost 8 years now. I can see why I had put off installing it, it's a ton stuff to change. The manual calls for some really unusual size drill bits like 21/32 and 15/32. Good thing I got a surplus drill index with drill bits my normal set doesn't have.

Here's the crossover with the woodward actuator. It blocks the path of the hose that runs to the heater from the crossover. I'm trying to decide if I should use a 3" nipple and then an elbow to extend it out towards the radiator, or I could turn the fitting so it points straight up and have the hose go between the actuator and the throttle cable.
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snowtrac nome

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western alaska
One of the problems we had on the Alaska guard rigs were the th400's shelling out front pumps. I would suggest a change to synthetic atf and a oil pan heater on the transmission. a good electric softplug heater will warm the block evenly and have you ready to start up in a couple of hours, we removed all the coolant heaters and replaced them with swing fire heaters. The swingfire heater will have it ready to start in about 15 minutes at -20.
 

CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
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Location
Ogden, UT
Here's the exhaust hose between the oil and transmission pans and the hose from the transmission pan out-
I'm still attaching the exhaust to the fuel tank guard but it got too dark tonight.
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Here are pictures of the replacement blower assembly that allow the personnel heater to heat the cab-
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I just noticed one big snag on putting in the battery boxes. There is a black metal bracket bolted to the fender near the standard front battery tray. I think the original battery hold down bolted to that, but my truck came without the original hold downs and just used a standard 2 point battery hold down bar. At some point my bracket must have been removed. Does anyone have a parts truck that has one?
 
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CUCV_ut

Member
89
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Location
Ogden, UT
Here another part of the arctic kit you never see included. If I hadn't seen it in the manual I wouldn't have even thought to ask if they had one.
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There is a package of 24 clips that push into the holes on the hood to hold it. It took a while to clean up the hood and touch up some paint before I put it on. Hopefully it will make the truck quieter as well. These are probably hard to find as a lot of places store them in pole barns and a lot of theirs had been chewed up by mice. I believe these came flat originally so it's one more indication of just how huge this kit must have been.
 

CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
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Location
Ogden, UT
I was able to get more of the winterization kit installed today. I had been painting the right fender skirt since I had to take it out to install the new blower assembly. The instructions are not very clear on where you need to drill additional holes in the skirt. I made the best guess and then painted it up. I was wrong on two of the holes. I got the battery boxes out and tried to fit them before I installed the skirt back in the truck so I could mark the two holes and drill them before re-installing it.
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Once the skirt was back in the truck I was able to get the heater mounts fitted.
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Next I Installed the duct adapter and diverter ends on the heater.
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Then I mated up the heater to the blower housing and test fitted the installation.
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That's when I realized I couldn't find the microswitch that mounts on the diverter, so I called it a night. I also installed the two wiring harnesses and the control box. I've actually got a monitor mounted to the bracket where the control box usually mounts, so I mounted the control so it covers about half the ash tray and bolts directly to the dash. When it's light I'll take some more pictures of the controls and wiring.
 

rustystud

Well-known member
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Location
Woodinville, Washington
One of the problems we had on the Alaska guard rigs were the th400's shelling out front pumps. I would suggest a change to synthetic atf and a oil pan heater on the transmission. a good electric softplug heater will warm the block evenly and have you ready to start up in a couple of hours, we removed all the coolant heaters and replaced them with swing fire heaters. The swingfire heater will have it ready to start in about 15 minutes at -20.
I agree. You should at the very least get a new "silicone" front pump seal along with using Synthetic ATF. The silicone seals are usually "red or reddish in color" . They can handle extreme heat. The racers use them. I installed one in my CUCV just because.
 

CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
8
Location
Ogden, UT
Thanks for the suggestions on the transmission. when I get in there I'll work on the silicone seal. Until then I'll be careful with the heater. I worked on it some more today. It's slow going. I contacted a guy I've bought some CUCV parts from before and he made me a great deal on a battery box bracket for the front battery box that I'd removed from the truck years ago. I was able to get the front battery box mounted now.
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It's frustrating work. In all the little baggies of parts I still can't find the little switch that goes on the diverter and the hose clamps for the orange hoses. The last thing I was working on tonight was the coolant heater mounting brackets. the manual shows where you need to drill some holes, but it's very hard to tell where. The factory put little dimples in the fender skirt to mark locations for future holes, but after years of use there are little dents and extra holes. I moved the brackets around until the angles looked right when held over one of the dimples. I think I've finally got it but it started getting dark.
 

CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
8
Location
Ogden, UT
I ran into a few snags finishing up the arctic install. I had most of the personnel heater installed and was double checking the manual and realized I hadn't put a rubber elbow and metal tube in the lower heater core coolant line. I pulled out the rear battery box and put them in once I found them. The drawing in the manual is so busy it was hard to notice it, and I must have not read the steps for that part. I got that heater totally installed and found some batteries that would fit in the boxes. I mounted the control box on the dash below the normal bracket since I have other equipment mounted there.
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The personnel heater fired up great following the instructions in the manual. I was pretty smoky while it first ran, but it works great now. Is the Hi Low setting working on anyone elses heater? It seems to only run at one speed. I have a battery cut-off switch installed that disconnects the positive and negative leads from the batteries. With all the extra equipment in the engine bay I had to find another solution.
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The coolant heater is giving me some problems. I hooked it up and when I fire it up it will blow some white smoke, then you can hear it ignite and it starts making pulsing sounds similar to a swingfire heater. They get faster and faster until you hear it go poof and it blows itself out. Once the heater cools it notices that the flame is out and tries it again with similar results. I followed the instructions to bleed the fuel system. Is that sound normal? Is there something I need to take apart and clean?
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CUCV_ut

Member
89
10
8
Location
Ogden, UT
It looks like the glow plug is ok, it fires right back on when I hear the fan bog down as the glow plug comes on. I'll keep experimenting with it. I think the fuel valve might be dirty or need calibrating.

I noticed something I don't recall on the M-1031 before now. In the back tool bed the ceiling was covered with condensation. Does anyone else have that happen in the winter?
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It's been down to the low 20s at night and might hit 40 during the day but no snow here yet. I wonder how I can keep that to a minimum. I did noticed I keep getting some water puddling in the passenger forward compartment where the welding stuff goes. Any idea how to mitigate this problem?
 
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rustystud

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Woodinville, Washington
It looks like the glow plug is ok, it fires right back on when I hear the fan bog down as the glow plug comes on. I'll keep experimenting with it. I think the fuel valve might be dirty or need calibrating.

I noticed something I don't recall on the M-1031 before now. In the back tool bed the ceiling was covered with condensation. Does anyone else have that happen in the winter?
View attachment 712538
It's been down to the low 20s at night and might hit 40 during the day but no snow here yet. I wonder how I can keep that to a minimum. I did noticed I keep getting some water puddling in the passenger forward compartment where the welding stuff goes. Any idea how to mitigate this problem?
There's really only one way to prevent condensation from forming and that is to install a small heater in your vehicle. You will have to leave it on all the time now until spring. In my deuce I keep a small heater running. If I don't the insides look like a rain forest !!! Large drops of water falling on your head ! I've insulated the crap out of it too ! Now with the small heater it stays nice and warm and "dry" inside !!! Someday I will have my shop finished and will be able to store the deuce inside. Until then though the little heater stays in.
 
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