About my new 1028

I just picked up a m1028 and the seller told me that there are no batteries and the engine doesnt run but would run with some ether.
got the truck home and with batteries she turms over. No start. Glowplug card is bad. Glow plugs are bad glow plug relay possibly bad. Tried to start with wd40, nothing. Tried to start with kerosene nada. Tried to start wirh a shot of ether , nothing. No fuel from fuel filter bleed screw. More of kerosene and two cycle oil mix. Want to see if it raises the compression. Short start. Lots of blow-by from oil filler.

If you know all those parts are bad, replace them before trying to start it.

Do not use ether unless you want to rebuild engine.
Ether also will break the piston rings.
Ruins compression.

The guy i bought the truck from stated that she will start with ether, so i dont know how many times he has done that.
Did you notice the part where i mentioned a lot of blow by even while cranking.

I dont get a deep skip while starting, but that doesnt mean that there is no compression on all cylinders or something similar condemning.

Yes I did.

I still recommend replacing parts that you know are bad before doing anything else.
More ether is making problem worse.

At this moment I won't use any Ether.
I posted this thread to get some feedback on wether I should go the route of buying new parts. Or realizing the fact that there may be too much damage to this engine already.
Maybe I don't have enough experience to make this decision in a proper manner or I missed something, or maybe I need to do more diagnostics, like doing a compression test.
Which might be a good idea anyway.

I replied to your Email. I have a CUCV plow truck that has had either run thru it so many times I lost count. I don't recommend it but in moderation and with fuel present it works. But spraying it like paint down the intake might kill it. If you whiff/mist it I see no issues. The glow plugs are inoperable and that is what would cause the explosive detonation. So Don't do it but do it mildly. You must have fuel past the injection pump and thru the nozzles. With no fuel you are binding the engine on ether vapors. Good Luck. Proceed with caution. These are not space craft engines they do have a good bit of resilience. They are old cast iron engines that take a lot of abuse. Still don't go wild with starting fluids. Get a good set of high CCA batteries and a good starter and bleed the fuel system front to back and then proceed from there. Again Good Luck. Blow by is somewhat normal. It should go away as the RPM's increase. PM if you need. Thank you.

Compression test would be the first thing I did, no reason to do anything to the engine if your going to have to pull the whole thing to do an overhaul, rebuild, or new engine entirely.

If your getting significant blow-by just running off the starter motor then I would be willing to bet the bottom end is fubar'd.

Tinstar said:

If you know all those parts are bad, replace them before trying to start it.

Do not use ether unless you want to rebuild engine.
Ether also will break the piston rings.
Ruins compression.

Click to expand...

Head gaskets don't really like ether , either.

If you plan to ever drive the truck, you will need a functioning glow plug system.

Fix it now, and worse case, if you change the motor you will need to swap the new glow plugs to the next engine.


Ether does not work as well in an indirect injection engine, such as the 6.2.

If un molested there will be a warning sticker on air cleaner cover. It is there for a reason and in my opinion it is an understatement.Don't ask me how I know that. I am kind of trying to suppress the memories of replacing a perfectly good low mileage 6.2. More than once!! My take away-Use no Ether unless you want to do unneccessary replacement of expensive parts. Just walk away and accept your no start condition come back after some diagnosis and fix it correctly. My experience has been if someone says it will start with ether assume you will have to replace engine.Crankshaft is likely damaged at least. They seem to fracture in three places reliably when exposed to repeated preignition. Wrist pins very unhappy rings broken combustion chambers damaged or unseated. This is my post failure observations. Other diesel engines seem to be more tolerant of ether but not this design.Maybe someone might disagree with me but I am sticking to zero ether.

OK after all that. Is this truck running yet? I hope so. If you followed my directions and have fuel coming out the lines at the delivery nozzles it should start. Please report back on your progress. If you like PM. That way we can discuss your progress without debate. My suggestion of thoroughly bleeding the fuel system is a good start. I can honestly say I have never checked compression on any CUCV I ever owned. It started and ran or it didn't and I worked on it till it did. I had several that would not get fuel thru the injection pump. I would put an injection pump on and 99% of the time that was the problem solver. I agree the glow plugs should work. But getting fuel delivery is more important so the glow plugs are not cycling every time you are turning the key to a fuel less engine. Report back and good luck. I do have all the parts you requested and will need a few days to gather and package. PM me an address for ease of shipping quote. Thank you. Good Luck. I am anxious to hear of your progress.

To by pass the glow plug system. Take a piece of at least 14ga wire. Strip it back on both ends. Then put one end on a glow plug (they are wired together so power will go to all and the other on the 12V side of the battery. Count to 10 sec then pull the wire and quickly go inside and try to start it. If the plugs are working and the card is bad this will get the plugs hot enough for a start. While holding the wire on a plug you should hear a very small pop or two. This lets you know the plugs are getting hot enough to ignite the fuel. For engines that haven't ran in a long time I have had to repeat this a few times to get it started. You should let them cool about a min between attempts. This also heats the prechambers. The more heat you have in this area helps with getting old fuel to burn. As far as the blow by goes. Once it is running and up to temp check it then. The rings may need to reseat. And last but not least change the oil before you do anything. Old oil that has been in a running engine will separate for the additives. This oil won't lube very well. And won't seal around the rings allowing more blow by.

How much does the engine turn before the fuel pump push rod moves? Mine is against the plate and with a whole revolution (stopping at various points) with a bar and a 24mm socket on tbe crank, i did not find the spot where the pin is supposed to be able to slide up into the block

Why are you removing or installing a fuel pump? (did I miss this part of the discussion)?

OK. Just remove that cover plate via the 2 M6 bolts. Let the rod come out and put some wheel bearing grease on the rod. Push the rod back up in there. Now reinstall the plate and leave the bolts slightly loose. Install your fuel pump and put the hard fuel line on first and like I said leave everything loose. Once everything is started tighten everything up. Make sure you have the correct fuel pump. I know they list a few that are incorrect. The resistance on the push lever should be immediately on compression the first 1/2-3/4" does all the pumping action. If you have a fuel pump with free play on the lever you have the wrong one. I understand where you are going here. You are trying to get fuel pumping thru the system before you are concerned with glow plugs. You are on the right path. Continue. I hope that helps. Report back when you get fuel pumping. Good Luck.

For sure have to have fuel at the injectors before anything else matters.

So i got the fuel pump in and im getting fuel to it. Im getting fuel to the filter bleed screw. Dont see any fuel past the injection pump yet

So, did the truck not have a fuel pump?

I'm confused

could it be the shutoff solenoid? Or is it more likely the injection pump itself is the issue?

Well at least he’s starting to fix known problems and not using ether.